Haiti Fund, Inc

Update - Feb. 3, 2010
Hello Folks,

This update comes at the end of a busy week of preparation and planning for the next trip into the project in Haiti. We'll be posting photos of both trips when the folks return from the upcoming trip.

The Carlins: Mike and Scott arrived in the states a week ago after spending about a week in Haiti. You have already received an update about that trip. Many of you are aware that Pastor Gabriel’s house is intact and sustained little damage. However, his family, like most Haitians, are terrified to stay inside (of any concrete structure) for fear of the continuing tremors. On Thursday, Mike and Nicole lead a class on missiology and spoke at a luncheon about Haiti at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. On Friday, they made a presentation at a local Bruderhoff community, on Saturday Nicole presented at a breakout session at a women’s gathering in Pittsburgh. On Sunday, they met with a representative from a local community of Columbians that desired to make a contribution to the work of CODEP. Finally, on Monday, Mike and Nicole along with their four children flew to Florida as they began making preparations to return to Haiti.

First Work Trip: We are currently coordinating a trip to return to Haiti. There are four main tasks we seek to accomplish:

•* to begin facilitating the relief work within our project zone and the 40-50,000 people in our areas
•* to continue to make basic repairs to the L’Acul facility so that our systems for water and electric will be able to support the presence of the Carlins and work groups
•* to assess rebuilding and reconstruction needs to homes and facilities in CODEP; and
•* to define a short term plan for the next 6-12 months that will respond to the immediate needs of the individuals and facilities in CODEP.

Participants on Trip: The team will leave tomorrow, February 4th. We will fly into Santiago, Dominican Republic and then on Friday morning fly into Jacmel, where we will be met by Mimi and Clement. The Jacmel road is open, but only one lane exists in many places. The individuals that will accompany this trip include: Mike Carlin, long term board members Jim Sylivant and Russ Thienpont, Bill Mebane of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, Jack Stoner and Mike Stoneking from Building Goodness Foundation, and John Winings. We expect to return on Wednesday, February 10.

Statement of Support: Nicole and the children expect to return to Haiti on February 14th, (pending successful system repairs at L’Acul). We have seen through Mike and Scott’s visit that our presence has lent courage to the people of Haiti. In this ordeal they are able to point to our presence and see they are not forgotten or abandoned. They know they have partners who care deeply for them and for their future.

Support from You: We have been humbled and amazed at the outpouring of support we have received from you, both in prayers and finances. We will continue to support the work of CODEP through planting trees as requested by the animators and staff in the project. We also will be establishing a response to the immediate need people have of food, shelter, potable water and hygiene. We look forward to being able to communicate more about this response as we finalize the plans we have been considering.

Grace and peace, John

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FROM THE WEBSITE:

Update Friday, Jan. 16, 11:00 PM
Hello Again Folks,

It is with a sense of thanks, humility, and joy that I report to you tonight the following information from today: This afternoon at 1:20 PM we received the following news about Sharyn Babe, who many of you have been asking about:

According to Nancy Babe, Rodney's sister, who is with Sharyn at North Broward Hospital. Sharyn has 3 vertebral compression fractures, multiple fractured ribs, and significant crush injury contusions of her thighs. She is resting with the help of some pain medication. They have measured her for a body cast but it appears that she will not require surgery. Nancy mentioned that Rodney returned to the apartment building and it is a miracle that she is alive. Rodney is working to join them and he is looking at being able to get to the US in the next couple of days, possibly coming through the Dominican Republic. For anyone wanting to send a card, Sharyn is in room 356 bed 2. I don't have the full mailing address, but the main number for the hospital is 954-941-8300. Thank you all for your prayers for Sharyn, Rodney, the people of Haiti, and all who are working so hard to help them. May God use each of us to show his love to others.

Note: The address of the hospital is:

North Broward Medical Center
201 E. Sample Road
Deerfield Beach, FL 33064

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And then, at approximately 9 PM tonight we received this news from Jim Sylivant who has many contacts throughout Haiti and especially in Léogâne. Yesterday, he was contacted by Wesly Pierre a technician who, in the past, has assisted us with our satellite system at L'Acul. Jim asked him if he could visit the L'Acul Facility to contact Clement and Paul and see its condition. Wesly was able to make that trip today and he contacted Jim who in turn filed this report:

The time is 9:00 PM Friday, Jan. 15, 2010

My good friend from Léogâne, Wesly Pierre, took time from the desperate situation in Léogâne to drive out to the L'Acul Facility. He reports that Paul and Clement were there and he went inside and saw no damage to the buildings. The only damage he reported was to a part of the wall near the entrance gate. His words were:

I went to Lacul this morning, I saw Paul the guardian. I went Inside I saw no damage. At the entrance, in your left the edge is broken. The house is oke. I talked to Paul he said Clement was there. Oke Let me if you need more infos.

Also, I was able to successfully Ping* the HughesNet satellite modem at L'Acul and it sent back replies with no errors. From that I conclude the electricity is working and the satellite dish is still aligned.

*Editors Note: Pinging a satellite dish or web site is a utility program that sends packets of information to a specific internet IP address to determine if there is a response. If the satellite system is working, the packets of information are sent back. The meaning of this is that the satellite has power, is working, and is the dish is properly aligned.

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Finally, we must report that we have no information on any of the people in the mountains. We reported yesterday we were attempting to send a motorcycle from Jacmel to APKF and Siloe, but we have heard nothing as of this point.

Please continue to pray with us that CODEP people are safe and well.

Grace and peace, John

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Questions you have been asking:
What is the status of CODEP and L’Acul guest house?

It has been a huge problem for us to make contact with any of the people in CODEP. The prime way of communicating in Haiti today is cell phones through the Digicel network, which has tall cell phone towers above Port au Prince – these contain the switchgear and beaming antennae which connect with the cell towers. Some cell phones on another network in Haiti are working, but not Digicel. But, this makes us hopeful we will be back up in a few days. In the meantime, we are working to send someone out to L’Acul to contact Clement and find out the status. Same for CODEP further up the Jacmel road. We will keep you posted.

What about the buildings and CODEP facilities – Siloe School, APKF, and others?

Again, we do not know. We are taking steps to get a current high-resolution satellite photo of the area so we can inspect damage at all locations. We hope this will be the fastest way, so that we can begin making contingency plans.

Do you have plans to return, and if so, when?

Yes! As noted, our first priority is to find out the situation on the ground and what the needs are – food and water, medical, housing – so that we can take the proper team. We don’t know how long it will be before commercial transportation will be available, but we are trying to plan for several different methods. We will have contingency plans finalized in the next few days.

What is the need for relief for CODEP people, especially since you are a development project and typically don’t do relief functions?

This is a valuable question, and is especially good at this time. We expect that the roughly 600 CODEP people may be somewhat better off because they live in rural areas where there are no large buildings to be affected by the earth tremors. However, these people depend on the existing systems, such as they are – roads, vehicles, food markets every few days – to get along. These systems are non-functional everywhere in Haiti. A special problem is rice – which is all imported to Haiti – and the black market price is expected to significantly rise in the next few days and weeks. Plus, many of the CODEP people’s homes may not be usable following the earthquake. So, we believe that we will essentially be in the relief business for the next several weeks, if not months, as CODEP gets back on track. Our thrust is to take care of these people and their families and communities for as long as is needed.

We want to donate some funds to help in this effort. Why should we donate to CODEP now?

This is an excellent question, and is perhaps best answered by two people who have been long familiar with CODEP and who wrote compelling answers to this very question today. They are quoted in part below:

From Jamie Rhoads – a former employee of CODEP who is now working near Cap Haitien and has six years of experience living in Haiti.

Many people have been asking the question of where to give. Large organizations like American Red Cross and Partners in Health are quite active in the immediate response. However, there is a HUGE popular response to their demands and they won’t be in need of money for the immediate future. In other areas they were oversubscribed and had so much ear-marked money left over that they had to find ways to spend it. Plus, they have the US news media and the international community essentially doing their fund-raising for them.

The question that haunts me is: “But what will happen after that help, like so much here, has vanished?” It seems selfish to ask for money for organizations that don't do "relief," but I have a feeling that everything will be relief for a while. I chose to work with groups that are reliable stewards of money and are committed to the long term success of Haiti. For example, The Haiti Fund works in the area reportedly the most damaged by the quake. The epicenter was a few miles from my old house. Perhaps as many as 600 people rely directly on HFI for support and thousands more indirectly. The need there was already overwhelming and I can't imagine what it is like right now.

I just want to make the point that everyone will be hurting there right now. When you give money, give to groups that are known and established in Haiti (there are supposedly 10,000 private volunteer orgs working in Haiti!), but pick one that won't be the recipient of the general bubble of funds. Also, pick one that is focused on Haiti's future beyond the next few days and weeks, when it has fallen from the top story in the news.

From Joel Millikan – a Haiti Fund board member for many years:

In the wake of the devastating earthquakes in Haiti, the people need our help. Many lives have been lost and many more have been injured. As Rodney Babe, our Presbyterian mission co-worker puts it, “the situation in Port-au-Prince is very dire”. His wife, Sharyn Babe was injured in the quake, but is now recuperating in a hospital in Ft. Lauderdale. But, Sharyn’s story is one we know. There are untold others who are suffering in Haiti whom we do not know.

At this early time, the strongest response we can make is to provide financial assistance to those organizations already in Haiti and equipped to serve. Haiti Fund, Inc. is uniquely positioned and equipped to respond. We have over 600 CODEP workers in the immediate area of the epicenter who know the people, the communities and the needs. While CODEP/HFI is geared toward long term development, there are moments when immediate assistance is necessary. This is one of those moments.

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1/12/10 from website -

We Need Your Help for Haiti
In the wake of the devastating earthquakes in Haiti, January 12, 2010, CODEP and Haiti Fund, Inc. are working to establish communication with our Haitian staff at our facility in L'Acul. We have no information at this time about the extent of damage to the project or the compound. We have had reports of property damage and some loss of life in other communities, but we must wait to connect with Clement and our folks on the ground to get a clear picture of the type of relief effort necessary for CODEP. Historically CODEP has primarily been a reforestation project but we have always assisted with water, housing, education and medical needs. In preparation, we are planning to meet the immediate needs of people in the project as best we can, once the full extent of the situation is defined.

Many of you have asked, "How can we help?" CODEP/HFI is prepared to receive your donations to assist in the immediate relief effort and the ongoing task of rebuilding and development that will follow. Remember that our project is geared toward long-term development, but there are moments when immediate assistance is necessary; this is one of those moments.

Join us as we pray and work alongside of the people of Haiti and CODEP to help.