Samaritans Purse

Over the last few weeks we have been overwhelmed by the financial support that has flooded in to support the people of Haiti. To date, we have raised over $110,000 to provide relief and support to victims of the earthquake there.

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has given. Because of your support, the global Samaritan’s Purse family has been able to touch the lives of thousands of children and families in Haiti.

Samaritan’s Purse International President Franklin Graham spent Friday visiting a variety of our relief efforts on the first of a two-day trip to earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

“This is one of the largest disaster responses in the history of Samaritan’s Purse,” he said. “The situation in Haiti will be dreadful for a long time, and we intend to be there.”

Samaritan’s Purse has distributed food, plastic for shelter, hygiene kits, blankets, and other relief supplies in Cite Soleil, one of poorest areas of Haiti. Heavy equipment operators are working to reopen a medical clinic at Pastor Dorleans’ church in the community.

Conditions remain grim in Haiti three weeks after the massive earthquake devastated the country. More than 700,000 people are still living on the streets with no shelter or in “tents” constructed of twigs and worn sheets. Emergency food continues to be a critical need. Although some small markets have opened, food prices are greatly inflated. Medical facilities are reporting an increase in cases of tetanus, measles, and chicken pox, and there is a growing diarrhea problem.

Samaritan’s Purse responded immediately after the quake, and had a disaster assistance team in Haiti the following day to help with water, shelter, medical care, and other emergency needs.

We now have 77 team members deployed and to date here’s some of what they’ve accomplished:

• Installed 10 water filtration systems in and around Port-au-Prince. Each system is capable of providing up to 10,000 gallons of clean drinking water daily.
• Distributed food and relief supplies to 43 orphanages, many in remote locations that received little to no other assistance.
• Conducted dozens of distributions of non-food items in Cite Soleil, Leogane, Petit Goave, Pettionville, Grande Groave, and other communities in the Port-au-Prince area. Items included: 4,060 rolls of plastic (each roll providing temporary shelter for five families), 3,058 hygiene kits, and 4,890 blankets.
• Chartered a barge to ferry 400 tons of supplies and equipment, including heavy machinery for debris removal. Another cargo ship is scheduled to deliver more equipment and supplies this weekend. Heavy equipment operators are working to reopen a medical clinic in Cite Soleil. Samaritan’s Purse medical staff will begin work in the clinic next week.
• Medical personnel with Samaritan’s Purse have treated more than 1,500 patients at the Baptist Haiti Mission Hospital.

We also are one of eight humanitarian agencies working with the World Food Program and the Haitian government to distribute food in the Port-au-Prince area. Distributions of shelter plastic and other relief supplies are ongoing, and we are flying $130,000 in vaccines for tetanus and diphtheria into Port-Au-Prince from Canada. These are expected to arrive Saturday.

HOW YOU CAN RESPOND

PRAY: Pray for the survivors of the earthquake, that aid and relief would get to those most in need; for the Samaritan’s Purse teams, that they would know where to focus their efforts; that the long-term rebuilding of this nation and the lives of its citizens would begin to take shape.

GIVE: Make a donation to our emergency relief fund and help us continue our ongoing response to the earthquake in Haiti and to other disasters in the future.

on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 9:04 pm and is filed under Emergency Relief. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.