Update from Haiti

My co-worker, Dan Shepherd is in Haiti this week along with Nelson, VisionTrust Dominican Republic Director. Here is an email I received from him today...

"1st of all, praise god for the amazing response to the Haiti crisis both from churches and individuals in the United States and around the world.

Today I am in Jimani which is located about 60 miles east of Port Au Prince, just inside of the Dominican Republic. One of our ministry partners has a brand new facility with multiple surgical suites, a school and orphanage (only completed months ago)– none of which were being fully used before the earthquake struck in Haiti, but were in fact planned and being prepared to house a group of Haitian and Dominican orphans who had outgrown their small facility. Amazingly this facility is perfectly located and equipped in to respond to the earthquake.

Today there are approximately 500 post-surgical medical patients in Jimani + their families – nearly ½ of these are children and a number of them are orphans without their parents.

There are a large number of surgeons and other medical staff here tending to their care, and due to the crowding, most of the patients are sleeping outside either under tents VisionTrust has been able to purchase or under make shift tents of bunk bed frames and sheets.


It was a blessing today to spend the day with the staff here and getting to see their love for the Haitian people in action.

Additionally today we visited a location known as Batey 39 which is only a few miles away, and though technically part of Haiti, it is completely cut off from the rest of Haiti by a late that lies on the Dominican / Haitian border. The people of Batey 39 live in extreme poverty and as a result of recent flooding following the earthquake, their small strip of land bordering the DR is being quickly taken over by a growing lake. So much so that the school their children attended now is partially underwater."

Dan and Nelson are exploring how VisionTrust can be of further help to the children on the border of the DR and Haiti who have been orphaned or displaced from their families due to the earthquake. Please pray that God would keep them safe, and that He would give them great wisdom this week.