Progress in Haiti - How to Help Effectively: Reconstruction

In answer to the question asked in Hubpages, SONAPI is a business located inthe capital of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. It operates an industrial park there, one of only two industrial parks in the nation. The SONAPI Industrial Park is located near the airport and the seaport. Becasue the airport was damages, SONAPI may also have been damaged.

Products that have been produced in the park since the 1970s include handicrafts and garments. See SONAPI INDUSTRIAL PARK in French and English, text and photographs. The park has been visited by officials from the United Nations in order to determine equitable pay and work there, especially for women, but for all employees.

LOVE A CHILD organization:

Joyce Meyer Ministries on Facebook:

02-12-2011 -- "Over 400 homes being built on these 62 acres as well as schools, medical clinics, and market places! Partnering with Love A Child has allowed us to make an amazing impact in the lives of these Haitians.

We are blessed through the help of our partners to have paid for 100 of the homes. There is hope in Haiti but so much more work to do."

Haiti, on the west end of Hispanola Island, with the Dominican Republic covering the east end, all just southeast of Cuba, has a little over 9 million people. In mid-January 2010, 3 million were homeless after the 1/12/10 earthquake with an epicenter just west of the capital city, Port-Au-Prince.

One third of the population is homeless. Many are young orphans.

Presidents Obama, Clinton, and G. W. Bush have joined in massive American outreach efforts to Haiti, and are joined also by non-profits and faith-based organizations around the USA.

ADVANCED PREPAREDNESS: PRIORITIES

World Harvest Church (WHC) in Ohio works with Lester Sumrall Ministries (LeSea) in Indiana and others to operate at least one ocean liner that takes food, water, medical personnel, and some protective services First Responders to disaster sites all over the world. Where waterways are not accessible, they send in their semi-trucks. These efforts are all part of the Bridge of Hope Ministries and the End Time Joseph Feed the Hungry program. You may never have heard of either, except in theological controversies in the media and in religious arguments online.

No matter what ideas these and partner ministries in an international ministerial association express that upset some of the people most of the time, they act quickly to help in disasters in the US and the world, no matter who the people are that are affected. For instance, truckloads of food, water, and volunteers from this group were at the causeway into New Orleans within 24 hours of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

As soon as WHC and LeSea, which stay on top of global news 24/7, caught the first news of the Haiti Earthquake of 2010, the WHC pastor called personnel responsible for the ocean liner and the warehouse holding the first-issue food, water, and supplies; and, the ship sailed with First Responders within three hours.

These ministries maintain close interactive contacts among churches and cities around the nation, resulting in access to several private airplanes. Some of these planes flew volunteers into Haiti and when the airport in Haiti closed down because of congestion, the planes went to the Dominican Republic. Staff and volunteers crossed over into Haiti largely on foot and by a few vehicles, where the ocean liner was waiting when they arrived. Unfortunately, several teams of volunteers, protective services and military personnel, and church staffs remained stuck at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for several days, unable to fly into Haiti. However, on Monday 1/17/10, additional teams from WHC and partner ministries are traveling to Haiti by their own plans and courses.

The teams so far are concerned about the significantly increased numbers of young orphans in Haiti created by the earthquake on January 12, 2010. The current orphanage may need to be expanded or another built; but the priority is to get these children and homeless adults additional food, water, and medical care.

PLAN AHEAD AND KEEP MOVING

WHC maintains a mission house, a church, an orphanage, and a public school in Haiti, all within 10 miles of the epicenter of the earthquake, which was 16 miles west of the capital city.

During this seismic event, there was no significant damage done to any of these installations, and no injuries to any of the associated people. That meant that they could become a base for action.

In a telephone call from Haiti on Saturday 1/16/10, four days after the event, I learned that a large tent city had been built on the grounds of the above properties, with tents and buildings being used to house and treat the injured. Additional supplies and materials were already on the way from the Midwest and teams stuck at WPAFB including staff of The Church on The North Coast in Lorain, which partners with WHC and LeSea, would hopefully be able to fly in soon.

So far, what these staff and volunteers don't know how to handle is the1000s of bodies in the streets, decaying in the tropical heat. Fortunately, the Red Cross is furnishing body bags and personnel, while many people are donating to the Red Cross for this effort online and via text message (donations added to cell phone bills). After the initial offerings, you can go to the Red Cross website and donate any amount to disaster relief.

In an early telephone call, I listened as staff said the Haiti airport was closed, I think that ice for packing bodies was airlifted and dropped into the area from Florida, about a 30 minute flight away.

Staff member Troy said that the country smelled like death, but responders are still doing their best in 2013 to stay motivated and to keep moving. They are energized by the process of erecting so many tents and beginning to help many people. The ship that brought food left meals and water for an initial 250,000 a d returned many times..

The ocean liner was already back on its way to the states for another load by Saturday. It will return to Haiti and continue its journey back and forth until it is no longer needed. The orphanage, school, and tent city comprise one of the centers for food distributtion during the cleanup and rebuilding process. While volunteers and staff stay in Haiti, some church members in the Midwest are volunteering to fill positions at home so that staff in Haiti can continue working in the disaster.

Several non-profit groups and religious denominations maintain orphanages and schools in Haiti and they all require help at this time.