[Ailist] Latest news from Haiti Partners and John Engle

Mon Jan 18 23:26:29 PST 2010

Hi Christine,
Thanks for sharing the news from Haiti Partners,
I've passed on that email to a doctor friend of mine who runs a relief  
group.  The group are planning to send some medical teams out to  
Haiti.  CRS might contact Haiti Partners as they may need a ground  
partner on location.  I'm leaving the relevant parties to get in touch.

Best,

Noel E K Tan, MEd, MSc
Principal
Human Learning and OD Professional
IAF Certified Professional Facilitator
Trailblazer Associates International
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On Jan 17, 2010, at 2:40 AM, Christine Whitney Sanchez wrote:

> From: Haiti Partners <info at haitipartners.org>
> Date: January 16, 2010 11:34:46 AM GMT-07:00
> To: Christine Whitney Sanchez <cwhitneysanchez at gmail.com>
> Subject: Family and the Earthquake
>
>
>
> Dear Christine,
>
> My phone just rang at 1:00 a.m. It was one of the young men in the  
> family we lived with for the first seven months when my wife and I  
> first moved to Haiti. They're our adopted Haitian family (that is,  
> they "adopted" us 7 years ago, and we're incredibly grateful). They  
> taught us how to speak Creole and do life. The 3-year-old grand- 
> daughter is our goddaughter. The other children we consider like  
> nephews and nieces. Family of 12 in three generations. I see them  
> all the time when I'm in Haiti. We talked for 9 minutes before their  
> phone ran out of card or power last night. They're all okay, in a  
> sense.
>
> A number of you have been asking about them because you know them  
> from my recent book. I didn't want to write about them till now  
> because we hadn't heard anything. Sick with worry. It was too much  
> to write down what might or might not be.
>
> They're all unharmed. They're sleeping out on the dirt tonight,  
> because the three small family homes are now piles of rubble. The  
> small town of Dabon where they live is near the epicenter and is  
> devastated, leveled. "Kent, you'd get lost if you tried to find your  
> home here." An older woman I always visit and buy water from in town  
> was killed. As the names flew by too fast over the iffy phone  
> connection, I didn't recognize them all. Most of the names he said  
> were alive, some dead.
>
> Then he said, "We don't have food or water." What do you mean? "No  
> food or water." Same answer.
>
> I believe in the God who multiplied fish and loaves to feed the  
> hungry. I believe in the God who says I'm always with you. And right  
> now, it's achingly clear--heartbreakingly, angrily clear--isn't it,  
> that we who believe also believe in the God who is hidden sometimes,  
> sometimes when we are most in need, to whom the Psalmist cried out,  
> "How long, oh Lord, how long?"
>
> How long?
>
> Too long. There's no other answer right now. People are being  
> rescued, but too many aren't, and 50,000 never will be. There will  
> be other answers in the weeks and months ahead, but right now the  
> only answer is too long.
>
> My Haiti Partners co-director John is making every effort to get out  
> to this town of Dabon today, where we also have two elementary  
> schools that have collapsed, though nobody died in the buildings as  
> far as we know. John will hopefully see our family too.
>
> So I sit here not knowing what to do--just like you. At the same  
> time, like you, I'm doing everything I can. Because that's what we  
> have to do, that's what the God we believe in expects of us, even as  
> we cry out for miracles.
>
> For the "everything we can do" part, first I want to thank you for  
> the incredible outpouring of generosity in gifts and prayer. John  
> (who has worked in Haiti for 20 years) is on the ground assessing  
> our response that will include (a) responding to immediate, critical  
> needs of food, water, shelter, and basic necessities and (b) the  
> particular ways we will be mobilizing for the recovery and  
> rebuilding efforts in the communities of Dabon (where two of our  
> schools and other colleagues are), Cite Soleil (a slum in Port-au- 
> Prince where we also have a school that has collapsed), and Marianman.
>
> Haiti Partners was already committed to Haiti--and we work all over  
> the country--for years and years ahead. Now the plan is coming into  
> place for the work in the days, weeks, and months ahead.
>
> Finally, I've been asked often, when working in Haiti and then  
> during these past few days, how do you keep any hope? My answer,  
> which is burrowed deep in my bones through the privilege of living  
> with, being friends with, watching the courage of, and working  
> alongside many Haitians, is that if they haven't given up hope, we  
> have no right to. Today I saw on CNN Haitians walking the streets of  
> Port-au-Prince singing hymns and praying.
>
> I sense that you haven't given up hope either. Thank you. We're  
> people committed to be on the side of God's hope, even on seemingly  
> hopeless days. We're people committed to be on the side of people in  
> Haiti--not just right now, but for the longterm. Thank you for doing  
> this together and for making the response of Haiti Partners possible.
>
> And thanks for letting me share so personally--even as we're working  
> hard on many organizational details. We welcome your prayers for  
> everyone, as so many people I've talked with today or heard about or  
> read about have lost friends, husbands or wives, children, entire  
> families. We welcome your prayers too for these particular  
> communities and for (if I can indulge you) this adopted family of  
> ours.
>
> Together grasping and working for hope,
>
> Kent (co-director)
>
> P.S. For regular updates or to help: http://www.haitipartners.org
>
> Donate
>
> 	
>
> Remove my name from all future email correspondence
>
> Address postal inquiries to:
> Beyond Borders
> PO Box 2132
> Norristown, PA 19404-2132
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>
>
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