Things are starting to become clearer as we hear from Calvary Chapel groups and others that are actually on the ground providing relief care to various areas of Haiti. But the point that is clearest of all is that things are still in a great state of confusion. This requires us to be focused in providing well defined specific relief response efforts. As was indicated last week, there are several independent efforts by Calvary Chapels going on that we don’t have information about. However, we are receiving continual updates from the more major efforts being undertaken by Calvary groups. This update will just address those that we are aware of and who are communicating with us on a regular basis. Our focus is still on providing more of a longer term approach that will allow us to provide ministry and relief for an extended period of time as the devastation will take years of support and ministry. Our primary objective is spiritual so that will continual to be our focus as we minister to both spiritual and physical needs.

It appears that doors are now opening for relief teams to come in but they are required to provide for their own needs. The current need is still for doctors, anesthesiologists, and emergency medical personnel. With the limited food and housing issues they want to focus on the medical needs. We can see improvement every day in terms of supplies and aid being provided but, for now, we are still primarily in the preparation and donation acceptance mode as we get prepared to fully deploy teams and resources once we get some infrastructure established.

As I stated last week, our West Coast team has developed a four prong approach focused on a long term relief effort. We are currently in the analysis and preparation stage in at least three of these areas while the team in Canielle seems to be currently providing direct relief support.

1. Jacmel – A small team led by Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa arrived in Haiti last Saturday and made there way to Jacmel during the week where they met up with two other CC teams from CC Ft. Lauderdale and CC Old Bridge. The team is arriving back today and we will be debriefing next week, Jacmel appears to be a strategic location for us and the plan is to establish a base camp in the area that will allow us to schedule relief teams, house and feed workers, and store supplies needed to provide aid. It appears that we have some strategic advantages here in that a local CC pastor is married to the daughter of the leader of the Hands and Feet Mission at Jacmel and we also have some key relationships with the mayor and city government. Jacmel provides a deep water port that appears to be open to receive supplies. However, we will wait for the debriefing to confirm this and to identify what will actually be required to establish the base camp and begin a secure and effective relief response effort that would allow for housing and deployment of relief teams. You can refer to last week’s e-mail for some of the specifics of what this involves.
2. Dwight Douville (CC Appleton) has a work in Caneille and Brian Bell (CC Murrieta) in Hinche. Both are inland areas and are very close to one another. We have had an ongoing communication with Dwight and Canielle work but have not heard form the Hinche team this week. There is a large and continual migration of refuges from Port-au-Prince and the coastal areas that were hardest hit. There are rumors that Port-au-Prince will not be rebuilt and will remain in ruins as the city has been almost completely leveled, but time will tell. The work in Canielle appears to be active and effective and is the only effort that we are aware of at this time with a base camp and that is providing actual ongoing support.

   Here is an update on the work in Canielle directly from Dwight Douville:

   Caneille is located 45 northeast of PAP and 8 miles SE of Hinche. We currently have missionaries at an established Calvary Chapel Church/School there. The   pastor there is a Haitian, Huguener Bastia, who is a graduate of CC Bible College Murietta and who faithfully attended Calvary Chapel of Appleton for a couple of years prior to that. Bastia married a gal from Calvary Chapel of Appleton and is also a registered nurse. We are part of the relief efforts currently taking place, allowing refugees to flee Port-au-Prince and find food, water, and shelter in the outlying areas.

   Because of the land and resources we have, the Lord has given us a relief camp to oversee. We recently purchased land adjacent to where the church and parsonage are located, had it graded and leveled, and added gravel for protection during the upcoming rainy season. We already have 60 people, including families with children, who are looking to us for subsistence living. They arrived because they heard of this camp, and more show up daily. We have stockpiled food, rice, beans, oil and a minimal water supply. We had a well but it is nowhere near sufficient for daily needs (drinking, cooking, laundry, bathing) for even 1 family, let alone a relief camp. Our assets include a large dump truck and other transportation options, and today we purchased as many tents as we could with the resources we have. Twenty-five disaster relief tents will be shipped to Florida today, and as we are affiliated with MFI who have the resources to get them into Haiti

   Our main need at this time is additional tents, and a water purification system.  The water system we need is solar powered with a backup generator option, which we can make use of, but which costs more and more to run due to the skyrocketing price of fuel, making solar the most reliable and efficient power source available to us. This unit will purify river water as much as 1000 gallons per day. The cost of this unit is $10,000.

   We also have a radio station that is 95% completed. Our hope is to purchase 150 hand crank radios for distribution, which also have a built-in flashlight, much needed for a camp situation. The price for one of these radios is $21 and would enable us to bring the Gospel to so many via the airwaves, as well as any type of news updates critical to the Haitian people and their situation.

   CC Appleton has set up a fund, “Haiti Quake Relief”, for ongoing contributions to meet these needs http://blog.ccappleton.org/.

3. CC Ft. Lauderdale is working alongside Samaritan’s Purse. Chet Lowe was in Haiti this past week so we are waiting for a report from him as a part of our debriefing meeting next week. We are still planning to possibly come alongside CC FTL and Samaritan’s Purse in their relief efforts by sending people and money once they have an operational plan in place.
4. Foster care and adoption are areas of continuing need. Although the need is immediate the solutions are not that easy. CC Ft. Lauderdale seems to be a little further ahead in this area than the West Coast team but both are moving forward. CC FTL and their Florida4Kids ministry indicated that they are focusing on receiving and transporting Haitian children coming into S. Florida to the needed medical facilities for care. They have also started the required adoption interviews. The House of Ruth is working with Olive Crest to structure the needed full adoption capability. Although we read of some people completing adoptions, these are adoptions that were already in progress. We have been told that new adoptions have not yet started.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Not much has changed in this area since last week.

1. It appears that the best approach is still to wait awhile before sending people or teams to Haiti. We have seen some good progress since last week to provide some stability in Haiti but the situation is still far from being secure and sustainable for relief teams. Over the next week or two we hope to see continued progress and a lot of efforts implemented to maintain control and establish some infrastructure. It appears that the only area capable of accepting some support may be Canielle but the camp is still small and the focus is centered on aid to the Haitians rather than supporting relief workers. It is still recommended that you wait until we establish a base camp of operations and some additional security before teams are sent.
2. Until the base camp is established we will continue in the preparation mode. The focus will be on collecting funds and not supplies, as there is no place yet established to house supplies. If this does open up we will notify you of what is needed and where to send it. The funds can be used to buy what is needed when the real needs are determined and when the ability for direct response opens up.
3. Start to prepare teams with some basic disaster relief and outreach evangelism training. Teams will need to be trained on debris removal issues such as what to do when you encounter a dead body or body parts. This is similar in some ways to what we encountered in NY after 9/11. But the added risk of disease will be present.
4. If people inquire about adoption, just take names at this point and we will try to communicate the next steps once a plan is in place. Since CC FTL is better prepared at this point to address foster care and adoptions, this may be the best contact point currently but we don’t want to overwhelm them with calls and limit their ability to meet the immediate needs.
5. We have established a Haiti Relief Donation system through CCOF and CC Costa Mesa if people would like to give on-line and you do not yet have the ability to offer this. You can direct people to www.calvarychapel.com or www.calvarychapelcostamesa.com.
6. It is likely that several inoculations will be required for people traveling to Haiti. You may want to check with the Health Agency to determine what is recommended. Some of these may be a series of shots given over a period of a week or two so you may want to start that process now. Even if inoculations are not required, it may be prudent to get them. You can access the CDC site at www.cdc.gov
7. Please do not contact the key control points in Florida and Costa Mesa as we don’t want them to be inundated with calls and inquiries. We will try to keep you updated as things develop. If you have questions or input, please contact me at or CC Costa Mesa at
8. Make sure that your passports are up to date.
9. Check with your Property & Casualty insurance companies to determine any coverage issues for employees and volunteers that you may want to consider for travel and relief efforts in a foreign country. What happens if one of your relief team members gets injured while serving in Haiti? Your insurance company may also be able to help you with additional Medical & Liability Release Forms which each team member should sign.
10. You can access the Parakletos Ministry website at www.parakletosinternational.com for periodic updates.

And above all, PRAY!