Haiti (MNN) — Mission Network News' Greg Yoder has returned
home from Port-au-Prince. He describes how the quake
inspired a generosity born of poverty.
Almost immediately after the quake struck, Compassion
International launched into action.
"Aid came even as the aftershocks jolted survivors, but it
wasn't coming through the channels you might expect."
According to Yoder, the first round of help came from the
Dominican Republic Compassion project
participants. Logistics manager Ken Terry says they collected enough items to
help 9,000 people, or 1800 families.
Those who have nothing know how critical
food, water, clothing, and shelter
become in the hours following this kind of disaster. Those who have received help to escape the
death grasp of poverty know it better than most.
Terry was humbled and grateful by the response of Dominican Republic Compassion. "It was totally spontaneous. They weren't
asked to assist; they just decided that they were going to do
that and shipped it in."
Because of their longstanding presence in the region, Compassion
is shipping almost all of their aid through the Dominican Republic; in this way, they're
avoiding the well-known "bottleneck" at the Port-au-Prince airport.
Terry explains, "Although it's slow through the border
and the roads, the aid is able to flow freely. The Dominican Republic airport is
actually less congested, so the only
delay that we have is the travel distance from Santo Domingo to Port-au-Prince
and then distributing it again."
Compassion International has a goal of helping 75,000
people through their "Help Haiti with Compassion" campaign; more
importantly, they want to share Christ. You can help. A disaster of this proportion means
rebuilding a nation. The process will
take years, and funding is needed desperately. You can help. Click here for details.
