I Still Have Hope for Haiti

As most of you probably know, yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. The statistics are grim. Haiti was already the poorest country in the western hemisphere with 80% of the population living below the poverty line and a 52% literacy rate. An estimated 300,000 people were killed, one million left homeless, and countless injured. Despite tons of money being donated through very large organizations, little progress has been made in Haiti. To see my own writings about our trip to Haiti in June of last year go here,  http://africainourhearts.blogspot.com/search/label/Travels%20in%20a%20Small%20World   What struck me was that six months after the earthquake it looked as if it had just happened. From what I have seen and read not much progress has been made. News reports indicate that only 10% (probably a high estimate, other sources say 2%) of the rubble has been cleared  (http://abcnews.go.com/International/haiti-year-quake-cholera-babies-school-walls/story?id=12592198). To make the situation worse cholora has now clamined the lives of more then 3,000 individuals with 181, infections reported ( http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Haiti+cholera+toll+tops/4103074/story.html )   Then there is the difficult task of determing who Haiti's next president will be, resulting in further government instability and public rioting (http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/01/05/haiti.election/index.html?iref=allsearch).

In the face of all of sobering pictures, stories and news it is all to easy as Americans to just shrug our shoulders and say to ourselves that there is nothing that we can do. I have heard people tell me so many times that Haiti has always struggled and always will. I however refuse to believe that there is not a solution. Why? Because I heard the stories of women and children in Haiti who are so incredibily strong. They have faced one obstacle and loss after another and yet they have not given up hope. And so it is my belief that there is hope. Hope that comes through the amazing work being done by one person for one person at a time. What I saw in Haiti was that most of the direct assistance is being done by the small organizations. The organizations who are run by or employ Haitians, the ones who already were working miracles before the earthquake, and who were there when it happened.

For a glimpse into one organization doing such work I invite you to check out some of my links under Haiti blogs/projects. To hear specifically what my daughter's orphanage has been up to in the last month check out a letter from Pastor Pierre:  http://forhisgloryoutreach.blogspot.com/2010/12/word-from-pierre.html

I won't give up on them: