photos - assistance - part 5

Many countries have teams that are staying at the airfield.

The airport is a busy place.

Military helicopters are kept busy transporting supplies. There is a large need for humanitarian aid here in Haiti.

The US military is on the docks too. The docks suffered heavy damage during the earthquake.

The USNS Comfort Hospital Ship is in the Port-au-Prince bay as well as navy ships. This hospital ship is huge.

photos - assistance - part 6

Wednesday was the official end of rescue operations announced by the Haitian government. We give the Lord thanks for all those who gave their best to find survivors trapped in the rubble.

The result of the earthquake is orphans. This 3-month-old baby lost her mother in the earthquake. The aunt is holding her and can't provide her with the formula she needs. Dorothy of Faith, Hope, Love Infant Rescue will be helping the family out by caring for this baby until the aunt can provide for her. Pray for Dorothy's efforts and for the family as they struggle to survive.

A lot of people are leaving the city. This is the Exavier family. 5 of his children are students of Adoration Christian School. They stayed here at Coram Deo for a few nights after the earthquake. The father is handicapped and he was relieved to be able to bring his family out to the countryside.

Next to food and water the most common respect especially from mothers is shelter for their family. We have some tarps but not enough to meet the demand of all those who come to our gate. You can tell by the look on this mother's face how thankful she is to have a tarp.

Jeff was able to scrounge some tents from the airport and this is now our temporary home until it is safe to move back into the house.

haiti update - january 28, 2010

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3-10

This update focuses on the destruction caused by the earthquake in terms of buildings and human lives. One of the people who have taken refuge in our yard told me that his house was destroyed in about 5 seconds. In our running around we were confronted by destroyed buildings and death everywhere we went. The only thing to do in the beginning was to ignore it. The next couple of days people were trying to figure out what to do with bodies. When bodies were removed from buildings they were put nearby for families to find who were searching. It quickly became apparent that there were many bodies and something had to be done with them. Government wasn’t functioning and no vehicles came by to pick up bodies. After a few days bodies were still on sidewalks and open spaces near streets. One vehicle we followed behind had a stack of at least 30 bodies in the back of his “canter” and when we got stuck in heavy traffic on Ave. Martin Luther King the driver and another guy got out and took the bodies out and stacked them on the sidewalk. These bodies were of children, men, women and elderly. They joined the many other bodies we saw lying along the roadway. The smell of death is a terrible smell and after a couple of days in the sun the smell is very powerful. We would talk with people and ask them to contact the mayor’s people and they would come back and say that the mayor’s department didn’t have the resources to do this. We encouraged the people in our neighborhood to bury bodies on government land areas near the road. I told them that we would contact UN and other authorities later when things settled down to remove them and rebury them. This is what many people did throughout the city. Fuel was rare in the beginning. If we could have we would have hauled the bodies in our area to the morgue to join the stack of bodies there. There was one young woman whose father had died in the rubble of her house and his body was on the side of the street for a couple of days. The men in the area encouraged her to allow them to put her father’s body into a “temporary” grave. Reluctantly she did so, but I think now she is feeling better about the decision. So many bodies were dumped into mass graves and she knows where her father is (even if he is at the side of the street in a shallow grave). Jeff saw a body that was dumped in a manhole. Other bodies were disposed of by burning them on the street. All this was done out of necessity by the people.
When we brought Tanya, Marlene and Teresa to the airport on Tuesday a couple of Canadian rescue workers asked us if we could drive them over to the Hotel Montana site. If you would like to read about their efforts follow the link to www.internationalrescue.ca
They told me about how frustrated they were at the Caribbean Supermarket site on Monday. Heavy machinery was brought in to work and they were not done the rescue search yet. They couldn’t support what was being done and walked away from the site. They decided to go help out at the Hotel Montana site on Tuesday. This same team had pulled out some of the UN members killed on prior search days in the beginning. The one team worker had been to 11 earthquake disasters in his career and he said that the Haiti earthquake was the worst one he had ever been to. The next closest earthquake disaster was the one in Iran. Pray for all the rescue teams that came from all over the world to help out searching for trapped people. The Haitian government announced on Wednesday the official end to the search. Now the clean up phase begins where heavy equipment and bulldozers go to work.
According to a UN estimate, 1 million children and adolescents are either orphans or have lost at least 1 parent as a result of the earthquake. Some children as young as 3 years old are on the streets of Port-au-Prince. At the clinics that were held 2 people came and asked for help because the mother was killed in the earthquake. In both cases the child was an infant of 3 months old. Dorothy of Faith, Hope, Love Infant Rescue is going to help both these babies until they are able to return to their extended families. In both these cases the families don’t want to give up these babies for adoption but want a helping hand.
We went to the GOC University site, which is located on Ave. Martin Luther King yesterday. This is the university where 2 people of the Coram Deo family, Samuel Marcelin and Jackenmy Milien lost their lives. Their bodies are still not found. We don’t know if they have been hauled away with the other bodies and dumped into mass graves or if they are still in the rubble of the school building. At the site we found 3 bodies lying on the rubble as well as human bones along the site. Many students lost their lives at this site. We know where Samuel and Jackenmy were at the time of the earthquake. They were studying in a room with friends. When the earthquake hit they raced out to the stairwell to run down the stairs. The female student that was with them couldn’t move because of the shaking building and she then layed on the classroom floor. The building collapsed with her but she wasn’t killed. She kept in contact with her family by cell phone and the rescuers removed her from the rubble alive. This student told the others here at Coram Deo what happened to Milien and Samuel.
A friend of Marie’s, who comes here often to Coram Deo, lost 4 family members at her collapsed home. Almost every Haitian person I talk with tells me that they have lost their home. Pray for the people of Port-au-Prince. It is going to take a lot of work to reconstruct the city.
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

photos - destruction - part 1

2 of the members of our Coram Deo family died at the GOC University which is located on Ave. Martin Luther King. Samuel Marcelin and Jackenmy Milien never made it out of the building after the earthquake hit. What follows shows what happened to the building and the students inside. The third photo is graphic in that it shows the harshness of death. Scroll down if you don't want to see it.

This is the building site of the GOC University. It was a large beautiful building that crumbled in seconds.

We were at the site yesterday. The government officially declared an end to all rescue operations on Wednesday. Now it is a matter of bringing in the big equipment to remove the rubble.

**WARNING** This next photo is graphic.

There are still bodies in the rubble of the site. In this photo are the remains of 3 people. There are also human bones strewn amongst the rubble. This was the fate of Samuel and Jackenmy. We don't know if their bodies were removed or are still hidden in the rubble. We know that they are Christians who are now in heaven and what they left behind is their "shell". Please keep their families and all the families who lost loved ones here in Haiti in prayer.

What we need to remember is who they were. Jackenmy is the young man standing to the right. He was a dedicated young man who worked hard to get ahead in life and was a caring and patient teacher for the handicapped children. It will be difficult to find another person like him.

Samuel Marcelin is shown carrying a box of food in the background. Amos, his younger brother is in front. Samuel is now with the Lord and Amos is carrying on helping the injured. He worked tirelessly with us as we raced to help the wounded. Yesterday he was worn out and sick but rested the day and is now feeling better. Pray for Amos as he mourns the loss of his brother and works to help his people.

photos - destruction - part 2

The Palais National (Haitian Whitehouse) is destroyed. The public park in front is used by the homeless to set up their shelters.

I think that the entire building will have to be reconstructed.

Port-au-Prince was broken in a matter of seconds and many historical buildings were lost. Now the Palais Nationale is a symbol for a broken city.

This building was used by the police and is next to the Palais Nationale. Heavy damage occurred there too.

The large Sacre Coeur Catholic Church was destroyed. The cross remains standing.

photos - destruction - part 3

The Cathedral is destroyed. It was one of the symbols of downtown, Port-au-Prince and the country.

I don't know if the rest will be taken down or repairs made around it. At the Boutiliers lookout point you can easily pick out the Cathedral. The landscape of downtown has been permanently changed.

These children are playing in an old suitcase. The UN estimates that 1 million children and adolescents are orphans or have lost at least 1 parent due to the earthquake. Children as young as 3 years old are wandering alone in the streets.

The Champ Mars has been turned into a sheet/tent city. People are drying their clothes on the hill of this monument. The Champ Mars is a large public park. Now it is home to many people who are homeless.

People set up sheets/tarps/tents as their home in the park.

photos - destruction - part 4

Life goes on amidst the rubble. People need to survive . Street vendors are setting up shop where they can.

The US military was guarding the front of General Hospital.

Several pharmacies in front of General Hospital were destroyed or damaged.

Money transfer businesses were the first to open all across the city. Each one had large lineups of people. Family overseas are helping haitians continue on here in Port-au-Prince by sending money. There are not many formal banks open.

Heavy equipment is now being used to clear all the rubble and to take down unstable buildings.