Editor’s note: Immanuel’s Lydia Circle has been collecting items for health kits for Lutheran World Relief this summer, with the goal of sending 50 kits to help Lutheran World Relief efforts in Haiti. They’d like to double that number, if they could.
You can help by gathering items for the health kits (find a list of what’s needed here) and placing them in the display case outside the office at Immanuel.
Baltimore, July 12, 2010 — Six months after Haiti’s devastating 7.0 earthquake, Lutheran World Relief (LWR) remains hard at work assisting those who are still dealing with its aftermath and will be for years to come.
LWR, with a 14-year history in Haiti, is focusing the majority of its efforts on underserved rural populations. Many rural communities found themselves hosting an influx of people who fled the capital city of Port-au-Prince after the quake, putting a severe strain on already limited resources.
“It’s a tenuous situation,” said Alex Wilson, LWR’s deputy regional director for Latin America, who visited Haiti in June. “Lots of families left the city initially, but then went back in search of shelter, work and educational opportunities. However, the situation in Port-au-Prince remains critical, and many have now returned to their communities of origin a second time.”
LWR is working with local partners to support rural communities through cash-for-work programs to build soil and water conservation structures, distribution of additional seeds in preparation for the rainy season and training on agricultural production, to ensure that people have some income and that farmers are able to grow sufficient food to feed everyone. In addition, LWR is supporting the construction of latrines and low-cost water filter systems to accommodate the additional populations that have fled to rural areas.
“We lost one child during the earthquake in Port-au-Prince, and we didn’t even have time for a funeral,” said Monique Orestil, a participant in LWR’s program in Maissade, a rural community located about a four hour drive north of Port-au-Prince. “I brought my remaining five children here, and LWR helped me participate in a cash-for-work program. It was like God landing in Maissade. I left Port-au-Prince without anything, but now I can work for my family.”
As a member of the global aid consortium ACT Alliance, LWR has also supported life-saving measures in and around Port-au-Prince, since the days immediately after the earthquake. ACT Alliance members have provided food, water and sanitation, shelter and other services to more than 341,000 people.
“We are in a transition period now, moving from immediate relief efforts into the rehabilitation phase so that rural families can re-establish their livelihoods,” Wilson said. LWR, taking a long-term approach to rehabilitation and recovery, plans to work with earthquake-affected communities for five years.
“This was a devastating crisis,” Wilson added. “Recovery will take a long time.”
On the domestic side, LWR has mobilized its supporters to advocate to the U.S. government for cancellation of Haiti’s debt, and for emergency funding to support reconstruction programs. As a result of advocacy efforts by many organizations and individuals, in February the Obama Administration announced support for canceling Haiti’s nearly $1 billion debt and in April, President Obama signed the Debt Relief for Earthquake Recovery Act into law. Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a supplemental funding bill that includes crucial funds for reconstruction and agriculture efforts in the country. LWR continues working to ensure that policy-makers hear the voices and understand the needs of Haitian civil society.
Also in the U.S., LWR has partnered with Nebraska Lutheran Outdoor Ministries (NLOM) in an unprecedented effort to have summer camp participants work to assemble 32,000 LWR health kits – enough for an entire shipping container – to be sent to those in need in Haiti.
“I’m delighted that LWR sought us out with the idea,” said Dave Coker, executive director of NLOM. “And I’m excited for the kids who will come to camp this summer. The health kit service project will help them connect to their faith in powerful ways.”
