Secure vehicle successful in delivering aid safely

Waiting in line to cross the border.

Still loaded with supplies, the mission vehicle makes a needed pit-stop for repairs.

Anything that can be salvaged or recycled in any way is carted away by hand.

Together with the community organizers, a spot is carefully selected to distribute the aid.

Make-shift shelters are pieced together with empty bags, bed sheets, anything people can find.

Many of the new tent communities, including Jerusalem, are organized into blocks & labeled with street signs.

The medical team set up under the tarps as people lined up to be treated.

With little to protect them from the elements, children & infants are vulnerable to sickness & disease.

The community of Jerusalem was eager and grateful to get any help that we could offer.

Formula, pampers and other needed items were distributed to the mothers with infants.

Out of a pull-out awning off the side of the vehicle, we were able to safely distribute aid to those needing it most.

Many who were struggling for prior to the quake, now find staying healthy to be a difficult thing.

Under the harsh conditions the displaced are exposed to, many infants are suffering from a number of sicknesses.

Concern is a moderate word to describe the feelings of uncertianty these mothers are facing.

The clinic and distribution in the center of Jerusalem, as seen from up the hill.

Under the scorching Carrefour sun, these young mothers are glad to be approaching the front of the line.

With hopes high, these mothers must know before lining up that help is not limitless and may not reach them.

As we packed up, many lingered to see if there was nothing more we might offer them.

When we reached the top of the hill in the neighborhood of "Jerusalem," it was immediately obvious to us that this was the prime location to distribute the much needed aid which we had brought. But yes, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning.

After a long evening of last minute preparations, our team of 9 (6 brothers & sisters from the D.C. area, mission director Gary Klein, Hempson Lindor, a preacher & Haitian national and myself) Departed for Haiti to deliver baby formula, pampers, vitamins, and parasite meds, as well as other medical assistance. Traveling through the night, we safely crossed the border in the early morning. Throughout the night's drive, we had stopped every few miles to add fluid to the leaking clutch assembly, which despite having been "fixed" a couple of days prior to the trip, persisted in leaking fluid and loosing it's prime. Upon arrival in Port-au-Prince, we stopped at a reputable repair center to have the problem resolved. A result of January's earthquake, the dealer's showroom, waiting area, and repair center had lost an interior wall and had been joined into one large, hot, non-air-conditioned room. If it seemed a miracle that the shop was even open, the fact that they happened to have the needed seal and were able to resolve the issue in just a couple hours was even more astounding. It truly must have been a God-thing.

With mechanical problems resolved, we continued on across the wreckage that was the capital city of Port-au-Prince and into Carrefour. Upon arrival in Carrefour, after a quick lunch, we set ourselves about the task for which we had come. With the hot Caribbean sun still high in the sky, we hiked up the hill to the community leadership office. All along the way we were greeted by smiles & waves, longing stares from hungry eyes, and pleas in french creole for tents, tarps, food, or any kind of help we could offer. The neighborhood leaders were more than a little glad to see us return to make good on our offer to help their community. The last time we had attempted a distribution in this area, even with the assistance and security of several Haitian police officers, we were surrounded, about mobbed, and chased on foot and moped for miles. This is a very needy & desperate crowd. Even two and a half months after the quake, as foreign governments and international aid agencies are starting to make things look like they are coming together in the areas surrounding the airport, it is clear as day that the people of "Jerusalem" have seen very little if any of the help coming in. The hills of Jerusalem, Aztec & "Joey's hill" are dotted in and out with tarps, makeshift shelters, and a few tents here and there. These temporary residences are scattered amongst and sometimes even on top of the crumbling rubble that was once home to so many. While there were a few tents and tarps here & there, most people are living in multi-colored, makeshift shelters spliced together with bedsheets, curtains, old clothes, tin, empty rice sacks… anything the people can find to form some kind of shelter over their heads, no matter how permeable. As we approached the top of the hill in the neighborhood of "Jerusalem," it was immediately obvious to us that this was the prime location to distribute the much needed aid which we had brought. Rather then thinning, the population density seemed to thicken toward the top of the hill. Here, instead of makeshift shelters being scattered sparsely throughout the concrete rubble, there were bits of rubble scattered sparsely amidst the densely populated, very destitute yet organized plots. these hillsides are filled with rag-tag, pieced together shelters, broken down into blocks and marked with hand written address markers and street signs. This community was born out of the recent series of quakes and made-up of people displaced from their homes in the lower hillsides below it. Without outside aid or materials needed to build themselves adequate shelter from the imminent rains, winds & flash-floods that the area is prone to, this community has organized itself. They are doing their best to ready themselves for the long months and even years that it will take them to move on from this disaster.

Early the next morning, accompanied by 3 of the community organizers, we were able to drive to the top of the hill in Jerusalem, set up the distribution under an awning attached to the off-road vehicle we are using for this purpose, and distribute the meds and supplies as we treated the sick for their illnesses. With the harsh conditions that people are forced to live under, the health problems are only likely to worsen. Infants do not have the antibodies to ward off illnesses that are common under these conditions and this aid undoubtedly came none too soon for some of these struggling babies and mothers. Please continue to pray that these people will find a solution to both their spiritual and physical needs in this time of turmoil and uncertainty. Our short distribution was cut 20 minutes shorter then expected due to the fact that we had run out of medicines and things to give. Praise the Lord for a secure vehicle which has enabled us to deliver these supplies without any incidents. After packing up, we headed home, blessed with a safe visit, minimal trouble, and the privilege to help those in need, but with a pressing desire to be able to return soon to help those still struggling for existence.