Samaritan’s Purse continues to work in Haiti three years after the earthquake by bringing physical, emotional, and spiritual healing through our programs
Therese Louis can be seen picking up plastic bottles and cans on the streets of Haiti. She’s not only helping keep her country clean and preventing disease, but she is also earning money to provide for her family.
Through the Samaritan’s Purse recycling program called Ramase Lajan (“picking up money” in Creole), the city stays clean and scores of people can earn an income. Since the project started, more than $135,000 has been generated for participating communities.
“If I come and bring plastic, I get food for my kids,” Louis said.
The recycling program is just one of the ways Samaritan’s Purse is working to reduce unemployment, sickness, and poverty in the country still trying to recover from a devastating disaster.
Three years have gone by since a massive earthquake ravaged Haiti. Hundreds of thousands lost their lives on Jan. 12, 2010. Millions were left without homes, food, clean water, and other basic necessities.
We responded within 24 hours of the disaster and we’ve been helping ever since.
“Before Samaritan’s Purse [came] it was terrible, but step-by-step we will help our community,” said Duclos Louisidas, a leader in the town of Masketi.
One of the primary ways Samaritan’s Purse is helping is through strengthening the church by developing leaders. We are conducting pastors’ conferences, marriage retreats, discipleship classes, and teaching business and stewardship to pastors and the faith community.
“We believe God is working to purify His church in Haiti, to raise men of faith and integrity to lead within the church so that the church becomes a place of love, acceptance, safety, and relief within communities,” said Charles Mathews, Country Director for Haiti. “I have seen Him using Samaritan’s Purse to facilitate and encourage discipleship in communities and churches.”
All of our relief and development efforts focus on bringing physical, emotional, and spiritual healing to communities still trying to recover from the quake.
Our response in the aftermath of the quake included providing 15,010 shelters for 75,050 people and distributing 12,938 tons of food.
Many heavily populated areas were destroyed and left unable to function. Through the use of heavy equipment, we have removed 135,103 cubic meters of debris and rubble, preparing 331 home and business sites for reconstruction. We also have restored 29 kilometers of road through this project.
A cholera outbreak quickly followed the disaster, threatening the lives of thousands of people. Our staff and volunteer doctors and nurses treated 23,210 patients at our treatment centers and clinics.
Samaritan’s Purse also opened a general medical clinic in Cite Soleil—the largest slum in Port-au-Prince—to provide free medical care and health education. Since January 2010, we have treated over 144,000 people through our initial emergency response, cholera treatment centers, and general and mobile medical clinics.
To further prevent the spread of disease we implemented water, sanitation and hygiene programs, including distributing hygiene kits, drilling 18 wells and disinfecting contaminated ones, and providing 1,596 latrines and 36 water filtration systems. Our staff has worked to give hygiene and disease prevention messaging to over 100,000 people.
The earthquake not only left rubble and contamination leading to disease, but also children without families.
Samaritan’s Purse built the Greta Home and Academy to care for 73 boys and girls who either lost parents in the disaster or were abandoned. The campus features a two-story building with six dormitory-style bedrooms, a seven-room school, a library and media center, offices, a nurse’s station and a cafeteria.
The grounds include a commercial kitchen and an expansive outdoor play center. The Greta Home project operates on the foundation of the Gospel, providing biblical education along with the other general studies.
“For this beautiful home to come into existence, it took a lot of people—people who worked, people who prayed,” Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham said.
Our work with children has also extended to nutrition and disease prevention programs. The maternal and child health initiative in Haiti has reached over 7,700 mothers since the earthquake and has provided a health clinic in a rural area for pregnant women, mothers, and children that have little or no access to medical care.
Above all, and in everything we are doing, Samaritan’s Purse is sharing the Gospel and supporting the local church in ministry. Over 9,000 people have made decisions to believe in Jesus Christ since we began working in Haiti.
About 120 church leaders come together each month for spiritual growth seminars. We are also engaging with high-risk youth by giving 40 young men and women an education and discipleship training, and we have begun a radio ministry program to share the truth of God’s Word with thousands of listeners across the country.
“We are going to invest more in preparing the church and Christian community to respond to the needs of their communities,” Matthews said. “We are also going to invest in informing the congregants of who they are in Christ.”
A lot of work has been accomplished, but there are still many great needs. Hundreds of thousands are still living in filthy tent camps and it is reported that only half of the children there are able to attend school.
Please pray for the Haitian people as they attempt to rebuild their country and their lives. Pray that God will continue to bless the work of Samaritan’s Purse, and that many will come to faith in Christ through our programs.
Our Work in Haiti in 2012
Medical
• 30,924 Patients treated at Cite Soleil General Clinic and Mobile Medical Clinics
• 73 Volunteer medical professionals have served with Samaritan’s Purse in Haiti
Maternal Child Health
• 1,135 Mothers trained in maternal and child health and nutrition
• 231 Community health workers trained in maternal and child health and nutrition
Gender Based Violence
• 33 Pastors trained in Gender Based Violence
• 162 Youths sensitized on GBV issues
• 5 Radio talk shows on GBV conducted
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
• 6,153 People trained in hygiene education using the PHAST curriculum
• 8,569 Elementary school children trained in health and hygiene
• 92 Permanent latrines constructed
• 18 Permanent wells drilled
• 19 Sanitation facilities (bath and laundry pads) constructed
Livelihoods
• 1,330,463 Lbs. of recyclables collected through the Ramase Lajan collection centers
• 95,776 People trained in hygiene and recycling concepts
• 135,425 US dollars generated for participating communities
Rubble Removal
• 9,950 Total cubic meters of rubble removed
• 37 Sites prepped for reconstruction (buildings cleared)
• 16.2 Kilometers of road rebuilt using rubble
Shelter & Construction Projects
• 1 Permanent orphanage completed
• 135 Volunteers have participated in construction projects through SP Volunteer Teams
Ministry
• 1,300 Decisions for Christ through the Festival, Medical Teams, and Chaplains
