OUR CHURCH YOUTH IN HAITI SINGING AT CLINIC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/americas/8489069.stm

Was informed about this link today thought it might interest you. "My Hiding Place" out of the Blue 'Cast Thy Bread' is what they are singing.


ROBBERY IN NORTHERN HAITI

Noah Slabaughs in Haiti were robbed at gunpoint last night. $6,000 was stolen. The couple was naturally quite shook up and are apparently on their way home. We should pray for our workers in that country it could get really bad there yet.

Kevin's Frontline Update from Haiti Via Blackberry

Time for another update. This one will not be as adrenaline laden as some
in the past, but from our standpoint that's a good thing. Somebody around
the house a few days ago commented that they have had all the excitement
they could handle.

Conditions are changing rapidly. We were deep in medical evacuations at
the last update. By the end of last week, the number of untreated patients
coming in dropped dramatically; we were mostly seeing people coming in for
bandage changes etc. Field hospitals have been set up by many different aid
groups, and they are doing surgeries on site. Nurses are still being
brought in for post op care. The days of cowboy medicine by Leatherman are
fast coming to an end.

Large amounts of aid MUST be pouring in. We see convoys from the DR daily.
I would guess a C5 Galaxy lands every hour. It would appear that the aid
sending countries are better at getting it here than they are with
distribution. The street price of food is climbing steadily, and is now
over double BQ. We see many hungry (I mean severe hunger) daily, and
starvation for many of them cannot be far away. Many of the ruins and piles
of rubble are being stripped of any recyclables or salvageable materials
that can be exchanged for food. This demo/salvage is being done at great
personal risk, especially with the continued tremors.

The distribution problem can be illustrated with the tent situation. We
have been looking to build and/or buy some tents to distribute. We have
been told they are available at the UN compound. Some of our group have
been there several times. They have registered, so now they would be
allowed to apply to receive tents from the large pile sitting there.
Several days later, we have decided that it will be unlikely that any tents
will be forthcoming, and will proceed for now on our own, and have ordered
some from Canada. And the tents continue to lay in piles on the UN
compound.

Loren, Raymond, and I have taken a couple days to go back to the mountains
and tie up the loose ends so we can shut our project down until next year.
We have a rented excavator and the CSI backhoe, and we are trying to decide
if we can put them, and the scarce and precious fuel needed to run them, to
better use cleaning up and reopening roads, cleaning up piles of rubble,
etc, so that some rebuilding of lives and infrastructure can begin.

We have found our supply containers in the port at Miragaone, and we are
making every effort to retrieve them. we have not cleared Customs yet (see
below).

We are also investigating doing site work for tent cities for CDR. Many
1000s are living under tents built from bed sheets etc in open areas, such
as parks and soccer fields. It may be years before they can all have 'real'
housing, so aid groups are putting up better tents. Rainy season is only
6-8 weeks away. CDR has asked me to handle the survey & site design /
layout, for simple drainage and latrines.

Along the way, we have been able to take food and supplies to 2 orphanages
whose facilities were damaged. There are likely others in need as well. We
are keeping our eyes open for other ways to help individuals in need.

We spent today driving around the Cazeau congregation looking at the
seriously damaged and un-liveable houses. We were looking for ways to get
the excavator in through the winding narrow streets to demo them. After
spending as almost as much as an hour on several of the houses, we think
that we could salvage many of them.

We are using the criteria "Could this be made as good as it was BQ". This
would certainly cost less than demolish and rebuilding them. These brethren
are looking to us to help determine if their houses, which represent in
most cases their life's income and only asset, must be destroyed, or if
they are worth the effort to try to save.

We ask ourselves "If we do what we are considering, would we move our own
family into this house?" The answer is at best a hesitant "yes", and
sometimes "no". What if we spend a bunch of money, effort, and time on a
building, and then another quake takes it down, likely with loss of life?

We were at one site where the house is flat, and the family of 4 lives in
a compact station wagon that was damaged but mostly intact. The sister was
cheerfully combing her little girl's hair, sitting in the passenger seat.
Another young couple lives under several sheets in a makeshift tent.

A 'big picture' problem is that the Central Government is more or less
wiped out. The Palace (Capitol Building), Legislature, and main government
dept office building, are all beyond repair. Some of the gov officials,
including Sen. Lambert, are injured, and others were killed. Judges,
policemen, town councils, etc are the same. (On a village level, enough
officials survived that the locals can operate).

This problems spreads through the entire economy. There are vehicles on
several car lots, but even if you can come up with the cash to buy one, you
can't register it, because the dept of motor vehicles or whatever is
defunct. We can't clear customs with our containers, because there is no
officials in the head office to sign off on them. I have heard that all the
adoption paperwork that was started has been destroyed, and the list goes
on and on.

A few banks have started to open, with long lines. Even those who had
money couldn't get to it for many days, but hopefully that will start to
ease soon.

Work continues on turning the FP church into CDR headquarters. The dorms
are about built, and we worked on wiring them yesterday. They were supposed
to pour concrete for the showers and laundry today, the kitchen is under
construction, and some CDR brethren are working on the plumbing. It should
be ready for use within a week.

We are doing quite well in our house of +/- 1600 sq ft. We average about
20 at mealtime, with a recent high of 29. We have lights, gravity water
from a tank on the roof that feeds our sinks and two bathrooms/showers, and
enough cooks to have an amazing variety of meals. We have three couples,
one with children and a schoolteacher, one CSI board member, and 4 of us
'singles' in permanent residence; the rest are transients and sleep in the
gallery (porch), or in a local motel.

There is no doubt that what we have experienced has affected us all
emotionally. The continued aftershocks keep us jumpy, and unknown rumbles
cause us jitters. I get choked up emotionally, and sometimes cry a little
over things that would not normally affect me that way, and I see some of
the same emotions in the others. We have group devotions every morning, and
they seem to center around these topics, so that must be where individual's
personal study and meditations are taking them. I sense a real need and
desire in everyone's heart to know if being here is happenstance, or if we
were sent to the country 'for such a time as this'.

Continue to pray for us that we may accept the things we cannot change,
the courage, energy, supplies, equipment, knowledge, and security to tackle
the things we can change, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Kevin Bronson
Fond Parisien, Haiti
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Lasstic Ship Containers are In Port!

Dear GNIF Friends:

Everyone knows what happened to Haiti. It seems like it really made people stop and think. A big reason is because Haiti basically had no infrastructure before January 12, 2010. The bigger reason is because at least 3 million people will never be the same. Tens of thousands of that number lost their lives in an instant. Whats happened after that day? Shock. Aftershocks, 52 to be exact. By January 24, at least 52 aftershocks have hit that were a 4.5 or greater. Another type of shock, is what people are experiencing now, what is left of their life.

Raymond is friends with a Haitian Senator as some of you may know. He did survive, but not without some injury(broken leg?). The Hatian government is shut down, birth records are destroyed, adoption records(what were in the process) and the judge that signed them is dead. The land records have also vanished! No records of property lines only adds to the confusion.

All the houses that have been destroyed need to be demo'd to build new ones. People are starting to do demo work by hand, which is very difficult and very dangerous. Since all land records are gone, surveying will need to be done also. GNIF could keep two crews going, one to do the site prep for the tent cities and one on the demo work. This would mean equipment rental, fuel, living cost, etc. On their way to the canyon the other day there were lots of boulders on the roads, it would be a job just to clear those off, and lots of other road and drainage clean up, if we want to do it.

Lastic Canyon Project - A native brother whose business is importing trucks from the US, and is very familiar with the port area was hired to go there and check on our shipment. Sure enough, our ship came in! The Senator is negotiating the duty and taxes. They are finding trucks to haul the containers and hope to have them available by sometime early next week.
In wanting to be as transparent as possible, there will be a financial update next week. Reg has gone to his Uncle's funeral in Alberta this weekend, so when he gets back we will update you on that. Thanks.

--
Good News International Foundation
Associate Writer - Daniel Jantz

Too Poor Even To Help???

Dear GNIF Friends:

Nicholas Kristof wrote the article below that was found in todays Modesto Bee, a local paper for central California.



On my blog, a woman named Mona pointed to Haitian corruption and declared: "I won't send money because I know what will happen to it." Another attributed Haiti's poverty to "the low IQ of the 9 million people there," and added: "It is all very sad and cannot be fixed."

"Giving money to Haiti and other third-world countries is like throwing money in the toilet," another commenter said. Not everyone is so frank, but the subtext of much of the discussion of Haiti is despair about both Haiti and foreign aid.

Americans have also responded with a huge outpouring of assistance, including more than $22 million raised by Red Cross from text messages alone. But for those with doubts, let's have a frank discussion of Haiti's problems:



Why is Haiti so poor? Is it because Haitians are dimwitted or can't get their act together?

Haiti isn't impoverished because the devil got his due; it's impoverished partly because of debts due. France imposed a huge debt that strangled Haiti. And when foreigners weren't looting Haiti, its own rulers were.

The greatest predation was the deforestation of Haiti, so that only 2 percent of the country is forested today. Some trees have been — and continue to be — cut by local peasants, but many were destroyed either by foreigners or to pay off debts to foreigners.

Last year, I drove across the island of Hispaniola, and it was surreal: You traverse what in places is a Haitian moonscape until you reach the border with the Dominican Republic — and jungle.

Without trees, Haiti lost its topsoil through erosion, crippling agriculture.

To visit Haiti is to know that its problem isn't its people.

They are its treasure — smart, industrious and hospitable — and Haitians tend to be successful in the United States (and everywhere but in Haiti).

• Can our billions in aid to Haitians accomplish anything? First, don't exaggerate how much we give or they get.

Haiti ranks 42nd among poor countries in worldwide aid received per person ($103 in 2008, more than one-quarter of which comes from the United States). David Roodman of the Center for Global Development calculates that in 2008, official American aid to Haiti amounted to 92 cents per American.

The United States gives more to Haiti than any other country. But it ranks 11th in per capita giving.

As for whether aid promotes economic growth, that's a bitter and unresolved argument. But even the leading critics of aid — William Easterly, a New York University economist, and Dambisa Moyo, a banker turned author — believe in assisting Haiti after the earthquake. "I think we have a moral imperative," Moyo told me. "I do believe the international community should act."

• So, is Haiti hopeless? Is Bill O'Reilly right? He said: "Once again, we will do more than anyone else on the planet, and one year from today Haiti will be just as bad as it is right now." No, he's not right. And this is the most pernicious myth of all.

Haiti in recent years has been much better managed under President Rene Preval and has shown signs of being on the mend.

Far more than most other impoverished countries — particularly those in Africa — Haiti could plausibly turn itself around. It has an excellent geographic location, there are no regional wars, and it could boom if it could just export to the American market. A report for the United Nations by a prominent British economist, Paul Collier, outlined the best strategy for Haiti: building garment factories. That idea (sweatshops!) may sound horrific to Americans. But it's a strategy that has worked for other countries, such as Bangladesh, and Haitians in the slums would tell you that their most fervent wish is for jobs.

As we help Haitians rebuild, let's dispatch not only aid workers, but also business investors. And let's challenge the myth that because Haiti has been poor, it always will be.



Read more: http://www.modbee.com/opinion/national/story/1017977.html#ixzz0dMuzcjLM

--
Good News International Foundation
Associate Writer - Daniel Jantz

GOOD NEWS INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION LASSTIC REPORT

Dear GNIF Friends,

Here's another picture of earth shaken Haiti. The initial emergency medical work there is coming to a close, as Kevin put it "the cowboy medicine with my leatherman is fast coming to a close" and the runs into the D.R. have stopped as a result. But of course the clinics are still running wide open with lots of "re-work", patients that need more care and follow ups after initial surgeries etc. CDR has 4 nurses that are currently working at a medical clinic called Double Harvest with more on the way. They are working 12 hrs on/off and staying at a motel now, but will stay at our church in Fond Parisien when work to build bunks is completed there. Supposedly 500 orphans are to be delivered to Double Harvest tomorrow! In a country that had so many homeless children pre-earthquake its almost impossible to imagine.....

The rented GNIF house is staying full at an average of 20 people, including a teacher, CSI, CDR and GNIF! Apparently they are making good use of the laundry area and the porch for sleeping quarters!

Yesterday, some went to church in Fond Michelle. This is the poorest congregation in Haiti and it has only gotten worse. Many of the young people had left and went to Port au Prince where there was job opportunity and sent money back to their parents/family. But now the tables have turned and they now came back home for help! After church they went to the deacon's house for lunch. In the conversation he quietly admitted that they were getting desperate for the basic needs to provide to all the extra family that has returned home.

There are thousand living in tents everywhere. Some places there could be 10,000+ people living side by side with approximately 8' x 8' of space to defend! CDR is currently working on getting tents set up to provide shelter, but as you can imagine everyone wants one at the same time! Security is always an issue, with so many, so desperate.

All food convoys driving from D.R. are escorted by the U.N. soldiers. Because distributing aid is very slow on the ground the sky is full of helicopters dropping food and supplies. One aid group, Operation Blessing, is sending a ship with about 700 truck loads of food, from the ship they will deliver with a helicopter. They have asked us for help in the distribution of all this food and US Army Rangers have offered protection!

The ship has still not appeared on the GNIF radar. Its not surprising since all ships bringing in aid take priority at this time. The roads to the port are really broken up and travel in that area is really risky. So, we will continue this almost familiar "see what happens next" scenario.

GNIF is considering what humanitarian capacity we can fill right now. Clean up is needed everywhere! Buildings, roads, drainage ditches, the list goes on! Some volunteers could stay at the church where they are now building sleeping quarters. With the Lastic Canyon Project on hold at this time, we want to shift our focus on the earthquake relief. We need your prayers and thoughts on where GNIF shoud be in this new effort. We know you want to help in this disaster, so there will be another update tomorrow (01/26/10).


Good News International Foundation
This letter was written by Daniel Jantz of Ballico CA

Lasstic Operation Members on CNN

Kevin Bronson and Raymond Withers happened to catch the Media's eyes on one of their "deliveries". It is a couple days old, but for those interested.
http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2010/01/20/pkg.obrien.haiti.orphans.cnn

Haiti Update: Day 8

Robert Toews report in Ste. Mary's, Ontario was a real good report. I was impressed with the response and commitment needed to help Haiti in the time to come. Haiti's economy is based on Port-au-Prince. Now in a sense the Port is no more, so the whole country's collapse is relative to the Ports collapse. As the Port's citizens rely on free food from abroad the country's farmers- already on fringe survival and reliant on the Port's trade- are going to go over the edge. Let's not be depressing but that country consists of all the odds and is Murphy's Laws biggest patron. You try to correct one evil only to create another. I really wonder how Jacmel is faring in the south. Robert touched on that as well. Sounds like our Church may be looking for the areas that are falling through the cracks. Here is Kevin Bronson's most recent letter.




Time for a general report to send to the group:

Since my last update, we have found a Mennonite group called IFM that has
set up medical triage areas in vacant compounds that have reasonable
security. They have a few doctors, nurses, and medical students, and seem to
have a good amount of supplies. Wounded come flooding in from the
surrounding area, mostly with homemade bandages, which means that they have
not known where to find help. The bandages are from every type of cloth, and
much of it must have been filthy before it was used for bandaging. The
people are being carried, drug, or wheelbarrowed in, generally with not much
of what we would call correct procedures. I saw one lady being carried, held
in a choke hold with arms wrapped around her chest, and somebody else
carrying her feet. She hung in a half circle between them.
The wounds we are seeing, from simple head wounds to multiple compound
fractures, are 5 to 6 days old, and we see decomposition, gangrene, septic
shock, infections, and nasty conditions of all kinds. These wounds would not
have been that serious if they could have been properly cleaned and bandaged
right away. Many that are decomposing have the accompanying smells. I
thought a few days ago that a rotting body was the worst smell possible, but
now I think it is somehow worse when it is attached to a living body. The
medical team dresses the wounds, hands out antibiotics and painkillers, and
decides who needs hospital care. We haul those that need care in the beds of
pickups about two hours or more into the DR over bumpy roads. They are
amazingly stoic, although hitting a speed bump or big set of ruts too fast
usually brings a chorus of screams and groans. The supply seems undimishing.
Yesterday we hauled a man who had been dug out just a few hours, having been
buried for 5 days. One load I had 3 patients on IV, so that kept us hopping.
Last night we heard that IFM had found a parking lot near a hospital with
2000 untreated patients. The guys headed that way this morning to see if it
really so. Many of the patients we transport will receive amputations for
treatable conditions if they were the only ones, but the magnitude of the
workload makes it so they can't take the time required.
Today the young men are still hauling, but us old guys are out doing recon,
both for areas that need work, and for a place to house workers and stage
materials.
Through a round about way, we heard about an orphanage in a hard hit area
of town that was supposedly in dire straits. A prospective american adoptive
mother was spreading the word. It took me a couple days to find it, but
yesterday I took infant formula, bottled water, charcoal, cooking oil, and
rice. I was able to find the little 3 year old girl named Nephtalie and give
her a hug and kiss from her mom. As we were working, a CNN crew saw what we
were doing, and got some of it on tape. If it was a slow news day, it should
have aired last night or this morning.
The aid convoys roll in all day long, making travel difficult. The UN has
been here for several years, but are now out in force. Many intersections
have some form of police directing traffic and / or watching over things.
Search and rescue teams and medical teams are here from many countries. The
is enough cargo planes, military planes, executive jets with media, and
helicopters in the air to have an almost continuous drone. With as many
trucks and airplane loads that must have come, there seems to be little
actual aid on the ground. Very few major stores have reopened since the
quake, so the little that the boutiques had is all that is available. Many
things are in short supply.
The many homeless and displaced are sleeping out on the streets, sometimes
literally, and in open spaces such as school yards. Our plans are not
finalized, but we think that we could build a framework from rebar, and
cover it in tarps, to end up with a 10 X 20 shelter with one closed end and
a curtain wire on the other. This would help get them through the coming
rainy season, and the rebar could be recycled into their house rebuilding.
A big future problem is that the rubble of their house needs to be removed
so they can rebuild. The houses are packed in tightly along narrow little
streets, that are too narrow for equipment. We are scratching our heads over
that one for now.
It looks like logistics will be a major issue for the future. We were
fortunate to be on the ground and working, with vehicles, houses, some
personnel, and knowledge of the area and language. Many aid groups are
struggling to get going.
Till next time
Kevin
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Day 6 Update, All Members Survived!

That seems to be one bright spot in an otherwise bleak picture. We just have to trust God that there is something in this for all of us to learn. God is love and if he allows this to happen there must be a reason. To me it mirrors the end of the world. To me it is a warning of what is yet to come. To many Haitians the trumpet has already sounded. It is up to us all to take the warning seriously and not to take it in vain. I am impressed with the amounts of hearts this tradgedy has touched.
As for news- the telephones, computer screens, and pulpits have been humming with activity. It is more of the same, with the exception that complete stories are being formed of what happened with our brothers and sisters. I am not interested in trying to post all the latest tid bits. You will hear them soon enough. I only know that prayer and supplies is what those people need now. If some one has a e-mail or letter of a complete story I would like to read it.
The latest I have is that some of the Lasstic brethren have been running an eight hour circuit hauling the wounded from Port to the DR.
Most members in the Port area suffered some kind of damage to their homes.
More than that I would most likely repeat something you already know.
After tommorrow night there will be a lot more information shared in Ontario from a report by Robert Toews.

Haiti Earthquake Update: Day 4, Friday Night

Here is another update letter I have received from Reg Bronson the treasurer of the Good News International Foundation that was working towards completeing an irrigation project for the people in Fond Pairisen. We call it the Lasstic Canyon project. They arrived Sunday and found themselves involved with Earthquake relief Tuesday on. This is the news as of Friday night.



Dear GNIF Friends:

Another update on Haiti, I spent awhile on the phone with Kevin this evening, wow what an experience! Basically our group (GNIF & CSI) worked through two nights giving medical care, helping dig people out of the rubble and generally giving relief. The last update I gave I reported that for safety they had decided to evacuate to Fond Parisien. They made the trip okay, sticking to back road to avoid the crowd, arrived safely and moved into the house in Fond Parisien that we had rented, they ‘crashed’ after having about 6 hours of sleep in three days! They moved some furniture, fixtures and food from the CSI house as well as what they had already acquired for the Lastic Canyon project. Today, Friday they spend doing some updates on the house to make it more livable according to North American standards. While the CSI personel went back to the CSI house to get a few more supplies. They feeling quite secure in Fond Parisien, are happy to be there and seem to be able to relax quite comfortably! (with 15 people in a three bedroom house!)

Words can’t describe what they have seem, the death, destruction, chaos and violence! Seeing people fight over a box of food! People wandering around in a daze not knowing where their family members are!

Our native members have sustained quite a bit of property damage, one family has lost a young child, one a teen aged daughter and one wife and mother has been badly injured, probably paralyzed!

Saturday they plan to join a group of convoys and transport people into the Dominican Republic for medical aid!

It was late when I was talking to Kevin and he sounded very tired, emotionally strained and weary. He said he knows tomorrow will be a tough day both emotionally and physically, but they are joining the effort because this is the urgent need at hand.

Now some GNIF information. The ship with our containers and drill on it sailed from Miami today and is scheduled to arrive at the St Marc port by Tuesday. It will still there a few days and then go on to Miragoane where are goods are to be unloaded. It has been loaded for about a week and our stuff was loaded in the first batch, because it is scheduled to go to the second port. I asked if we could have our items unloaded before it left and he said ‘no way, it’s backed in there pretty tight’. So, we’re committed! What can we say! However it’s not all bad, the food and clothing items which the Walnut Hill congregation stuffed in the corners will be greatly appreciated. We’re not sure yet how we will handle the equipment once it arrives.

Kevin has a new cell phone called a’ world phone’ which is made to adapt to different countries networks, it has been the only phone they have been able to communicate with North America.

We’re not sure where God is leading with this whole thing, please keep praying for us and for our project. We wonder where we fit in in this whole picture, we are currently doing relief work which was not our plan but where from here? Do we join forces with CSI/CDR as they mobilize? Do we drop out and come home? What about the costs? Do we pay for some and they some? I mentioned using Kevin’s phone, the calls are very expensive, our call this evening will probably cost ±$100, CSI has offered to help with some of the costs because they have used it quite extensively, which we much appreciate.

As we (being GNIF) see it, it seems we should stay a little while and join with CSI/CDR. Are we on track?

A note to our volunteers, there quite likely will be an opening for your help with the relief efforts if you are interested. We feel strongly that the Lastic Canyon project will happen at some time and would like to have your availability for that project. However if there is a need immediately and you are interested in going to help in this cause as well, just stay tuned, we will keep you posted as things develop.

We are a private organization and not an official church entity so we will look to you as individuals to help us with the costs, as well as some direction on how to proceed. We really appreciate your interest, many of you have sent emails or called. As we have said in prior emails, we still have financial commitments for the Lastic Project which we need to meet and now the focus seems to be switching to relief efforts. GNIF’s official standing is to ‘provide humanitarian services worldwide’. Humanitarian by definition is ‘pertaining to the saving of human lives or to the alleviation of suffering: (such as) a humanitarian crisis. I think we are still within the bounds of this directive and where do we go from here?

Thanks for your continued interest
Reginald Bronson, EA

Haiti Earthquake Update

The last I heard yesterday was that one of our Haitian members was found dead. Actually it has come back to me that it was a member's child. The nature of such reports are tricky. I hesitate to post something too quick. I like to have more than one source before I post. If you have an news that you think could be of value here send it via e-mail. The CSI unit had to leave Port due to unrest. The letter below underlines that.

Google earth has updated satillite images for the Port-au-Prince area. It is to help in the relief effort. You can see the damage and the distressed people as seen Wednesday the 13th. Down load at:

Seehttp://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1953379_1953494_1953677,00.html



Dear Brethren & Good News Supporters;

It’s time for another update, the word this evening is the group made it safely to Fond Parisien so we are very thankful.

It is my understanding that some CSI leaders are flying into Dominican Republic tomorrow to assist in the efforts.

GNIF has a house rented in Fond Parisien (from one of our native brethren) for the Lastic Project, we wonder if CSI has moved into it?! Maybe we’ll know by tomorrow, unless someone has some accurate information.

Thanks, have a good night and keep praying for the Haiti brethren!
Reginald Bronson

My Crash Course on Haiti History

Most of Haiti's history is a broken record of government corruption, revolts and coups, etc. The average farmer in the mountains probably wasn't affected much, it just how things are. However there are a few sparks of interest that are peculiar to the place called Haiti. The first Black US President helping out the First Black Republic was a concept that just popped into my head yesterday. It was the most successful slave revolt. In value Louisiana and Canada were sacrificed by France in favor of that little colony that became Haiti. Slave generals outmaneuvered Napoleon's troops, kicked off the French and conquered the whole island in a few short years. What happened. Cursed? (just as a question)
The thing about Haiti is that it is a ongoing problem that is swept under the rug because their is no quick easy fix. Do we even support the Church enough there when considering our own responsibilities? Hopefully with the current situation that now can be the time to really see what can be done to help. Here is a brief overview for those that want to be in the know:

CRASH COURSE ON HAITI

Even though I do not seem to have any family left in Haiti, I have always taken an interest in its colorful history, culture and hopelessness. My grandfather died in 1989, with my father in Montreal as his only legitimate offspring. For those that haven’t studied Haiti’s history here is a crash course.

Of course we will mention that the Indians managed to work there way across the Bering Strait down N. America into S. America, and a few island hoped from there north unto the island of Hispaniola.
Christopher Columbus and his brother’s and sons set up the first settlements on the Island. The neighboring country of Dominican Republic’s capital is the America’s oldest European city(1496). The Spanish enslaved the Indians digging for gold, but let the island go to seed looking for greener pastures in Cuba, Mexico, and Peru. French pirates set up camp in the mountainous western part of the island preying on Spanish shipping(1600‘s). Eventually France would lay a claim on the area (1665)and start shipping slaves from Africa to cultivate sugar, coffee, and indigo.
The early sugar industry was a brutal trade. There was enough profit to work the land year round in sugar and import foodstuff. They could literally work their slaves to death and afford to buy fresh stock. Haiti called Saint-Domingue was the most valuable colony in the world 1789 before the revolution because of its sugar production. The slaves were in general from Africa or only a generation away due to the high death rate. French Sugar slavery made the American cotton slavery look mild in comparison. Except for the fact that the slaves came from all over Africa they largely kept a lot of their customs and culture. The Africanized French brought them all together. The French had to resort to harsh measures to keep their slaves under subjection, because they were not always grown up into the system. Large groups would hide up in the mountains and raid the plantations from time to time. They were the maroons.
A peculiar law allowing freedom to mixed black and white children (mulattoes) made way for a caste system that would plague black and whites alike. Mulattoes became rich and powerful, but were not equal with whites, but could own black slaves. Alexander Dumas the famous author was one of these. When the French Revolution toppled the French king and proclaimed all men equal it made an uneasy situation in Haiti. Whites and mulattoes did not want the slaves to be freed.
Finally the powder keg exploded in 1791. The slaves revolted against their masters. Too many interest groups in to small an area all pulling in opposite directions. The slaves and the maroons took advantage of the situation and started the largest and most successful slave revolt in history of the Americas. From 1791 till independence in 1804, they are the second oldest republic in the Americas. Toussaint, Dessalines, Christophe, and Petion became legends through this struggle. Christophe set up a kingdom 1807-1820 in the north side of the country and reestablished plantations and built a large palace and the citadel to keep the French at bay.
However nobody around wanted anything to do with Haiti, as most territories had slaves or were under European administration that did not want to talk about revolution. The isolation and France’s demands for compensation payments started Haiti in a downward spiral of debt, violence, and hopelessness. They invaded the DR a couple of times and so to this day they haven’t won too many brownie points with their close neighbor.
One president after another would get in office for the spoils. Mulattoes had the land, money, and power. Whites had got kicked off the island during the revolution. The Blacks usually dominated the army. So back and forth between army and gentry would compete for office. The U.S. set up a bunch of Banana Republics around the turn of the century. They encouraged and set up certain dictators to protect US interests across Central America. In the name of controlling unrest they would send in Marines to police one country after the next. Haiti’s turn was 1915-1934. The reason was to help them manage there debt and keep Europe creditors from taking over. Changes were made and infrastructure was reinforced and propped up for awhile.
They eventually pulled out and put a country doctor into office (1957-71). They thought he would dance to their fiddle, but alas he was Papa Doc, a wily old fox, that stomped out all opposition and made Haiti his personal empire. His family made a bundle and his son Baby Doc took over. He was a play boy and married a beauty that knew how to spend money. In the end he lost his country, wife, and money. Today he lives on charity in France, so they say.
After that it was back to regular chaos. When Doc was in they had Tonton Macoutes, a secret police to enforce political solidarity with fear. Now in the vacuum returned the military, etc. all reaching for power in a desperate situation. The only money to be made is in the government. US supported who they thought could provide stability, but in the end it remained kind of shaky and they allowed their man to get kicked out. Enough said fill in the lines with wikipedia.
Foreign involvement has affected Haiti in a number of ways. Monetary aid goes into the pockets of the rich. The debt hangs over the state budget like a weight tied to your neck while swimming. They used to have tourism, but right in the beginning of the AIDS scare they blamed Haiti, scaring away their so-called tourists. Truth be known it was American men that introduced it into the country. The other high impact foreign induced fiasco is when the US ordered all Haitian pigs to be slaughtered because of some disease threat. The pig was a form of exchange for the poor people. It was like watching their bank account being sliced in half. They of course tried to replace the pig with an American breed, that couldn't hold up to the Haitian environment. More recently is the “free” rice given to Haiti from US. It undermines the Haitian farmers ability to market their own goods. They cannot compete with free food. A lot of their rice farmers have to move to Port to get in the rice line to now feed their own families. So goes when big brother has to decide policy with the other little brothers.
Then we mention the erosion problem. Trees cut down for cooking charcoal. Bare hills. Hillside farming. Mudslides. Questions?
I believe there is an over population problem in Haiti. I am not trying to be cruel considering what is happening now, hear me out. Imagine Europe if there was no new world. People have migrated back and forth with population expansions. That is how Europe and many other places were settled. It was in waves of people looking for new places to hunt and farm to feed their families. Haiti was on the west end with no where to send its people to better themselves. They went to the DR to work their low income job bracket. Even then the Dominicans killed up to 30,000 of them in a purge in the 1930’s. If Haitians come to the states on boats they are sent back, because their leader isn’t a communist. there is just no place for them to go. A number live in the US, Canada, and France and provide a main source of income for many back in Haiti, but not enough are allowed to leave. I wonder why they don’t start a resettlement program to settle French Guyana in S. America. It is an empty country that speaks Creole and already has a sizable Haitian community that forms a high percentage of the country. Since this is just a rough, fast sketch , fill in the cracks with some good reading.

Recommended Reading List on Haiti

These are books that have impressed me the most and I have them in my collection. The Mountains Beyond Mountains book is an awesome read in my opinion. It was read in short order and borrowed out. A Crime So Monstrous is very powerful as it pulls away the veil to what is happening behind the scenes and leaves you thankful for our country and makes you want to reach out to all the oppressed. Yet I caution that its content is not for the squemish. Black Majesty is a good book to start learning about Haitian history. It will make you interested to learn more. Restavec is a story about Haiti that will frustrate you about human nature. Get these books for cheap on Amazon,etc.

Recommended Reading on Haiti

Black Majesty
- A book about the life of King Henri Christophe. The slave that became a king. A romantically written book about an interesting man in interesting times. He built San Souci and the Citadel in Northern Haiti. They were built on a scale that is hard to imagine in the Caribbean, never mind Haiti. A great book for those that want to read a story or for those that want to get interested in Haiti history. It is a good history primer. It was my first book on Haiti and really captured your imagination. The book makes him a hero- You will find many that considered him a tyrant. You’ll have to come to your own conclusion. It is an older book.

Any book on Toussaint L’Ouverture would be good for those interested in a good picture in how Haiti came into being.

Beyond Mountains More Mountains by Tracy Kidder
It’s a story about Dr. Paul Farmer. A big time Harvard doctor that fell in love with Haiti and threw all his resources into the Third World to make a difference one person at a time. He walks miles into the mountains to make sure all his patients get the proper care and today he is chief advisor on Haiti to the U.N. as of last year. A book that makes you want to help others.

A Brief History of the Caribbean by Jan Rogozinski
Is the best book on the Caribbean in my opinion. I must have read it three or more times through. If you are interested in the history of the Caribbean and what really happened it will tell you. However it is not a storybook. It does have dates and facts and figures enough to convince you that the man knows what he is talking about. It tells the big picture of what went on and all the history you need to know about each island. Haiti is well covered.

Restavec From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American by Jean-Robert Cadet
Life of a child slave in Haiti and the United States. There is child slavery in Haiti, because there is a lot of orphans and street children. Famalies even give up their children in hopes they will have a better life in town and go to school. This is a moving auto biography of one of these that actually escaped.

A Crime So Monstrous by E. Ben Skinner
To prove his point that in 5 hours he could purchase a child slave in Haiti from New York City, he booked a flight to Port-au-Prince got a table at a hotel and found out from the waiter all he wanted to know and was set up with a dealer. Skinner worked with the US government to combat slavery around the world. There is more slaves in the world than any other time in history. A real eye opener in a realm of suffering that you hardly knew existed. To think that God sees this everyday…….surely the end is not far off. You see another perspective to how children have suffered in Haiti and the Third World at large.

Written in Blood by Heinel, Heinel, and Heinel
A good book to impress you friends that you like to read, but mainly it keeps your bookshelf anchored down. Big book on the history of Haiti, but very dryly written. I read it to fill in the cracks that other books left out.

PRAY FOR HAITI

My time is limited so I will write what I can. Details of the earthquake are everywhere on the media, so I will let you find those details there. Two videos that have really impressed me in the media are CNN's "People were dying below me" about a buried teenager, and " An absolutely horrible scene" those are all you need to see to feel the devestation that is happening in Haiti. To think of our congregation Cazeau is in the city with its hundred plus members- a high percentage youth. We can only pray for them along with the many, many other survivors.

As far as our missionaries are concerned- I have two sources that say they are all right. Jamie Ratzlaff from Indiana,CSI houseparent, was in the yard doing all he could to just stand up while the compound wall collapsed. I do not know of any farther damage there.

Operation Lasstic- Kevin and Raymond Withers were driving on the road. Their vehicle started moving all over the road. They thought maybe it was a tire blow out, but soon realized it was a quake. He managed to make phone contact Tuesday night. Wednesday was spent in rescue. Being a former fire fighter he is very much involved with the search and rescue operations along with the other brethren. The last contact by txt to his daughter Kandis through the night was that they were digging people out of the rubble and involved with some major medical procedures, onsite of course. Adrenaline and emotionally draining action is being taken by all involved.

The project containers have not reached the island. The project is on hold due to the earthquake and they are $40000 in the red for the next couple months on a short term loan. Pray for the project also. Perhaps after the quake aftermath's immediate calamity contacts can be made with the right people. Farmer's will still need to feed their people.

Why so much suffering? The truth is that man choose to disobey God in the beginning. He warned that if you eat of the fruit you shall surely die. Since than we have suffered. Yet we know how our emotions are stirred at this calamity.Rightly so. Yet we know God is love and Jesus loves far more than we as individuals can express. There must than be a big significe to this disaster. To me many of those people have witnessed the end of the world. It was so universal to those that are there right now. I do well to take warning and live my life knowing the end is near. Now is the time to feel the sorrows and needs of my neighbor and reach out in love and prayer, knowing that our time is short.........Please let us all pray for Haiti.

Here is a recent letter update on Operation Lasstic:


Dear Brethren & Good News Supporters;

As you all know situations have dramatically changed in Haiti in the last 48 hours!

Good News has people in the country, Neil & Suzy Toews, Lorne Toews & Kevin Bronson went to start on the Lastic Canyon Project, then the earthquake hit! They have redirected their energies to relief work, in some text messages through the night last night with his family Kevin was reporting on the work, digging out people (dead and alive), giving medical care, in general doing ‘what their hands find to do!’ He talked of the people wandering around looking for family members and not finding them and of the general chaos! As I understand it they are in Port a Prince area working with CSI in their efforts. Due to unrest and unsafe conditions they are loading up the pickups and evacuating the CSI house this morning heading to Fond Parisien, as I send this email they are packing up and hoping to get out of town safely!

PRAY FOR THEM ALL, GNIF & CSI workers, we are all one group working together for one cause!

It is obvious to us that God had a different plan for GNIF in Haiti for the immediate future than we had envisioned! Financially this has added to our needs! We do have people on the ground and there are expenses accruing! We have financial commitments we still need to meet from the Lastic Canyon Project and with this added demand we certainly need your help! Please do not stop giving!

Thanks for your concern and help and again, remember the workers & their safety in your prayers!
Reginald Bronson
9391 Lupin Avenue
Winton, CA 95388
Ph (209) 358-8577
reg@bronsonent.net

PS - Feel free to share the word with your friends and contacts

For more information on how you can help please contact:
Roger Jantz rvjantz@gmail.com
Reg Bronson reg@bronsonent.net