Prayer for New College Bird Rededication

New College Bird is a 175-year-old Methodist academic institution that was severely damaged during the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. It has been rebuilt and today, September 9, 2014, it is being rededicated. The Rev. James Gulley, an UMCOR and Global Ministries consultant, offers a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.

O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth!

Today we remember with thanks those who came to Haiti in your mission and shared the vision of education for a newly liberated people!

When African people were captured, sold and enslaved in Hispaniola for 300 years, you, O Lord, suffered with them.

When your African people rose up and cast off the shackles of their enslavement, you, O Lord, empowered them to cry out: "Enough!"  

When your African people struggled to understand each other, you gave them the Creole language.

When your Haitian people strove for knowledge, you provided the first missionary teachers, Catts and Brown.

When your people needed schools, you sent them Rev. Mark Bird and other teachers to found the first Methodist College.

For more than 175 years, (New) College Bird has been a beacon of light, providing education to thousands.

Withstanding the constant onslaught of seasonal storms,

(New) College Bird has risen twice from the ashes of two destructive fires,

and now rises again from an earthquake which shattered its structures

but did not snuff out the desire for learning.

Once again you have enlivened the spirit, imagination and determination of your Methodist people in Haiti and their partners to rebuild.

As New College Bird is rededicated once again,

may your Spirit of Truth continue to bring light and hope

to students, teachers, administrators and all

who work to bring knowledge, skill and wisdom to those who must build Haiti anew.

As you continue to walk with your people in Haiti, together we proclaim:

“O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth!”

James L. Gulley

September 10, 2014

Upon this rock

A child passing by the Methodist Church of Haiti guest house in Port-au-Prince embodies hope for the future, as the devastated nation continues to rebuild following last year’s earthquake. Credit: J. Rollins

“Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Matthew 16:18

This is my first trip to Haiti, and I admit that I was not fully prepared. The photos that I have seen since the earthquake of January 2010 cannot fully capture the complete devastation I now see on this island. On the trip from the airport, I saw miles and miles of rubble, tent cities, and tarps held up by sticks to create makeshift stores. And in the midst of all this, I also saw the faces of smiling, resilient Haitians—their spirit of hope shining through and proving that life is about more than the places where we dwell and work.

I am here for at the invitation of the Methodist Church of Haiti (Eglise Metodiste d’Haiti, EMH) for three days of planning long-term projects that will help the Haitian people rebuild their lives. There is an excitement among those of us gathered as we prayerfully await the start of this series of meetings. It is clear to all present that all is not lost. Hope, faith, and love have persevered. Thanks to the generosity of donations, volunteers, and dedicated EMH and UMCOR staff, progress has been made. The church stands ready to continue this progress at increasing rates.

Tomorrow, on the way to our first meeting in Moulin Sur Mer, I will have the opportunity to visit two projects sponsored by UMCOR, at Camp Corail and La Trembelay. I aim to post blogs, photos, and videos each day so that you may experience this journey with me, sharing in the work that has taken place and celebrating the work that will begin soon.

Upon this rock we will continue to work in solidarity with the people of Haiti to accompany them as they rebuild.

James Rollins, Director of Marketing and Communications, UMCOR

September 5, 2011

A memorable return trip to Haiti—By Gil Hanke

Gil Hanke (with pick axe) digs a trench for the foundation of a security wall for a church and school in Mellier, Haiti.  Photo by Kurtis Kraus

July 8th, 2010


This was unlike any of my earlier 30 overseas mission trips, but it is one that I will treasure in a special way.  I volunteered to lead a Haiti mission team from the Texas Annual Conference (Houston Episcopal Area).

Each member of the 10-member team agreed to lead a team back to the island nation within a year.

The dates and the location of our work were selected by the UM Committee on Relief (UMCOR) in cooperation with the Methodist Church of Haiti. The highest priority at this time is to reopen the Methodist elementary schools, and to remove the rubble from church and school sites.

We worked in Mellier, near Leogone, the epicenter of the January 12th earthquake. I had been to Leogone on my first trip to Haiti in 1989, and I traveled through that area many times on the way to a school in Jacmel.

The magnitude and randomness of the destruction is difficult to comprehend or describe. Almost every building in Haiti is made of concrete blocks, with a solid, flat, concrete ceiling/roof. That roof becomes the floor for the next story when it is built.

Those heavy roofs work well during hurricanes and tropical storms, but they are deadly during an earthquake. Imagine a three-story parking garage that loses all its supports and pancakes everything inside; that is what this area looks like today.

I did see the site of St. Vincent’s School for Handicapped Children where I have worked on each trip since 1989. There is nothing left of the three-story school and hospital clinic.

Arrival

We arrived on Saturday June 26th and spent that night at the Methodist Guest House in Petion-Ville. Early Sunday morning we traveled to Mellier, arriving in the middle of a two-hour worship service.

After the service, we set up tents and cots and began to organize what we had brought for the children, the school and the worksite. We had cooks on site, and the food was great. We had one toilet that worked most of the time, and our shower was a bucket and a small bowl.

Monday through Friday we worked tearing down the security wall in front of the compound (we pushed it over) and digging a new foundation for the new wall. We also made additions to the inside of a wooden temporary building that will be shared by the school and the church.

Since the quake, the Haitians hope to rebuild with wood, but they are so used to building with concrete that they have yet to master the skill of working with wood. They welcome most of our suggestions as we work in partnership. We had one translator, who did a great job and was often called in three directions at once.

Matching funds

The team/conference contributed $3,500 as project money, an amount matched by UMCOR. Those funds paid for materials, but more importantly the funds paid the Haitians who worked beside us and took care of us.

The following weeks there will be other teams, with another $7,000 that will be injected into the local area. The employment of the Haitians brings some stability to the communities, and frankly, the job is too big and conditions too hot for US teams to make an impact on their own. As is the case with many Volunteer in Mission projects, we were there to work for them, and to complete projects as the Haitians directed.

School was in session each day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students met in a UNICEF tent in the middle of the compound and under a nearby tree. When school was out and during their breaks during the day, we had fun with the children.

One of the pastors on the team brought Lego kits contributed by his church’s Vacation Bible School. We also made paper airplanes, colored, played soccer, blew bubbles, jumped rope and sang songs. Many of the children stayed in the compound until we ate dinner. They were beautiful and loving.

Heat takes its toll

By Thursday afternoon, the heat and the conditions took their toll, and our work level was reduced from earlier in the week.

Friday we worked until lunch, took a ride to the beach and began to pack for the trip back to the Guest House on Saturday and an early flight home on Sunday morning.

Haitians always speak with passion. Like any worksite, there were arguments that were usually quickly resolved. One day, however, arguments got to a boiling point. I asked the translator what had them so upset. He smiled and said, “Brazil is losing in the World Cup.”

Several days later when we returned to the Guest House, the community had a funeral procession to morn Argentina’s loss.

Lows and highs

I had the name and phone number of a lead teacher who worked with me in the Hope of Hearing program, but was unable to reach him. It is frustrating not to know if my friends survived the quake.

But I did get some “light” during the trip. While at Mellier, a team member said a young deaf woman was in the compound, and she was asking questions. I spoke with her via sign language, and discovered she had been a student at a school outside Port au Prince. She remembered that I had worked there with the hearing aid team. What a special blessing. It came at the right time. For now, that is enough.
 The UMCOR staff is looking for my friends, and I hope to see them on my return trip to that nation.

Please support Haiti mission teams from your annual conferences and give generously to UMCOR. I would guess that only 1 percent of the clean up has been completed. This will require many years of mission trips, but well worth the continuing journeys.

Gil Hanke is the top staff executive of the General Commission on United Methodist Men.


Read more United Methodist Men blogs here.

Be there. Be hope. The Football Factor

A child plays soccer in front of a damaged government building in Haiti.

An UMCOR photo by Mike Dubose/UMNS

As we drove through town from the airport, it was impossible to ignore the ever-present Brazilian flags –flying from cars, hanging outside homes and businesses, being sold by street vendors, young men wearing the team jerseys of their heroes Kaká, Robinho, Maicon, fruit carts adorned with the same names – even an entire city block painted green and yellow!

For a moment I wondered – was I in Rio? Did I somehow board the wrong flight and end up in South America?

Nope. I had just arrived in Port-au-Prince. Haiti. As it turns out, Haitians are huge fans of Brazilian football. A right many like Argentina, too. And the World Cup is going on. So the Haitians are paying very close attention to their teams. Then they’re watching all the other matches when their favorite teams aren’t playing. This is important stuff.

Have I mentioned that I also love football? Not the quarterback-linebacker-touchdown-homecoming kind of football. Although don’t get me wrong, I like that, too. But I mean Football. Le Foot. Fuβball. Fútbol. As in “GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!” Soccer, if you will… But since the rest of the world calls it football, I will too. And that’s exactly why I love it. Football is a genuinely international sport. It permeates every culture, society, political party, race, religion and socio-economic community across the globe. It is something we can all agree on, all understand, all root for. It is the great equalizer. And that makes it a very beautiful thing.

Like many American youth, I played soccer football when I was a kid. Yet the most lasting memories I have of playing the sport entail searching for four-leaf clovers while “playing goalie” when the rest of the players were on the other end of the field. That or eating orange quarters at half time.

But once I started traveling internationally, I really started noticing – and following – this great sport. I can trace the moment when I became a true fan, while living in Cameroon as a Peace Corps volunteer. After countless afternoons of letting my students out of English class early to watch or play matches (if I hadn’t their attention would have waned and nothing would have been accomplished anyway), witnessing the zeal with which children in my neighborhood would kick around anything resembling a ball, and organizing a summer football tournament for youth in my village, I realized that football means a lot more than orange slices or clover. It gives people joy, takes their minds off problems they may have, gives them something to look forward to. Perhaps most importantly, it gives people hope.

Children who are talented in the game actually had a chance of qualifying for their local, regional or national teams. In fact, few stars of the game come from privilege – the vast majority rise up from more humble beginnings. Football is a real chance to make a better life for yourself and those around you—to be a part of something that gives others joy and hope; to continue the inspiring cycle. In America, we talk about the “American Dream” where anything is possible. In most other countries, football is the path towards that dream.

So after 2 years of living in my village alongside my Cameroonian friends and colleagues, the national team won the African Cup of Nations. When the final whistle blew, the victory secured, there was nothing to distinguish me from my compatriots, although the paths that led us to that place could not have been more divergent. In that moment, we were equal in our happiness and celebration that OUR team had prevailed. We were hugging each other, crying, laughing, singing together. For the first time in two years, I really felt like I belonged. Despite our obvious differences, this shared celebration brought us together as equals. I was hooked. Football was my new, favorite thing.

Since that time, I have traveled across the world and witnessed firsthand the phenomenon that is the global adoration of the sport. No matter where I go, if ever at a loss for a way to connect with my hosts in Côte d’Ivoire, Bolivia, Chile, France, Zimbabwe, the Philippines, or South Africa – football is the key. There is always something to talk about, an instant common ground.

Yet seeing the way the Haitians embrace the sport, especially in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of January 12, has done more to affirm my own appreciation of football than anything else. Within days of the quake, children playing football in the streets amidst the rubble was among the first signs of hope that life was going to carry on, that the Haitian resilience and refusal to despair was on display for all to see.

I have to think that the timing of this year’s FIFA World Cup is also good for Haiti. The happiness and inspiration they feel in following the competition and rooting for their favorite teams is palpable. Flags hanging from damaged and destroyed buildings, or perched atop tents in the transitional settlements across the city are symbols of enthusiasm and optimism. Normally impassable traffic literally disappears when Brazil or Argentina are playing. Also, the undeniable awareness that when the local radio stations weren’t broadcasting live matches, they were playing Shakira’s World Cup song over and over and over. And over. And over. Again. And…. Again.

Everyone in Haiti can forget for 90 minutes at a time the destruction and devastation that they still face daily, and focus instead on the excitement, fervor, joy and HOPE that watching or playing football brings.

I’ve appreciated football for its global appeal for some time. But witnessing the inspiration and healing power that it brings to Haiti on its long road to recovery should be enough to make anyone a fan for life.

By Melissa Crutchfield, Assistant General Secretary, International Disaster Response, UMCOR

Signs of Hope in Haiti: A Good Friday Reflection

A women in Haiti passes by a collasped building.

Photo by Melissa Hinnen/UMCOR

April 2, 2010—And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. Matt 27:51


On this Good Friday, as I reflect on my trip earlier this week to Haiti, I think of the woman I met whose mother had died in the earthquake and whose home was destroyed. “But we must carry on. That is not all there is,” she said to me with the most sincere smile that carried to her eyes. What an awesome reminder of God's grace and promise for us as we approach Easter.


This was my first visit to Haiti. I had tried to prepare myself to be met with despair and hopelessness and was anxious about how I would handle that. I prayed that I might know how to provide comfort and ministry. But I am so amazed by the resilience and the true joy of the Haitian people. I began to understand that despair is a luxury – in order to survive, one must embrace the blessings offered in the midst of hardship.


Everywhere we looked there were homes and other buildings destroyed. As we passed collapsed building after collapsed building, I thought about how every single structure held a story with people connected to it. While much of the rubble has been removed from the streets, there is nowhere in downtown Port au Prince that does not bear signs of the devastation and loss. Every open space is filled with tents.


But beautiful, colorful tropical flowers bloom everywhere-- even the earthquake could not keep these signs of life from emerging. And the people of Haiti carry on. They are in the market, they are walking, they are worshipping, and they are in school.


At UMCOR and The General Board of Global Ministries, we have had our own losses in Haiti where Sam Dixon and Clint Rabb lost their lives. Sam was the head of UMCOR and always available to give me guidance and perspective. I miss his support and his laughter and his commitment to mission. As I traveled to Haiti, I was so aware of his and Clint’s sacrifice and UMCOR’s commitment to the overall crisis.


As I met with people and glimpsed their day to day reality, it helped me to understand that while our personal sadness is justified, the magnitude of what the Haitian people face still lies before us. They have ALL lost people they love and they are all still struggling to survive -- they do it with a grace and purpose that blessed me.


The deepness of the loss in Haiti is great but the commitment of our church is strong and I am proud to be part of this denomination that has shown time and again that working together we will be in solidarity with the people of Haiti for years to come. Through gifts to UMCOR, we will work with communities to transform their resilience into self sustaining empowerment.


What a blessing. What a reminder of God’s grace and promise for us.


By Melissa Hinnen, Director, UMCOR Communications

Small Churches Give Big to Haiti

Rev. Madlyn Barry Ruch, RN, Pastor, Oklahoma Conference-Parish Nursing

Several of the local churches collected and assembled health kits for UMCOR Haiti relief, a task that is relatively easy for large congregations with plenty of resources. However, our congregations, Savanna United Methodist Church, Savanna, Oklahoma, and Krebs Grace United Methodist Church, Krebs, Oklahoma, are very small in number and resources. Savanna UMC has a membership of only eight, and Krebs Grace UMC has about 15 members.

Nevertheless, these two sister congregations assembled 95 health kits and four layette kits for UMCOR Haiti, a rather large feat for our small congregations. Special offerings have also been collected, and online donations were made directly to the Volunteers in Mission.


Many of our members are elderly and cannot physically serve in the relief efforts. However, they all give from the bottom of their hearts, freely and lovingly, and have pledged to continue collecting items for the kits, as long as is needed. The relief efforts, as well as all of God's children in Haiti, are prayed for daily by each member.

Our small but mighty churches are committed to serve in any way possible that helps to bring God's love to His children who are in need.

Grace and Peace,
Rev. Madlyn Barry Ruch, RN, Pastor
Oklahoma Conference-Parish Nursing

Lenten journey is more than 'following'

One Great Hour of Sharing is March 14, 2010.

 March 1, 2010

Dear sisters and brothers,

As the season of Lent continues, we are confronted daily with the journey Jesus makes to Jerusalem and the Cross. We read and ponder the text recorded in three of the Gospels: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24, repeated at Mark 8:34 and Luke 9:23) The “following” part we have incorporated into our mission statement, and have encouraged from pulpit to classroom. Unfortunately, we have almost made it sound easy, like a game of follow the leader. The “denying” and “taking up” parts are another matter. We would just as soon skip those, but that is precisely what confronts us as Lent unfolds.

Just as we have invested ourselves, our time, and some of our resources in an overwhelming response to the earthquake in Haiti, another one strikes. This time it strikes Chile, and this time of even stronger magnitude than the January quake that devastated so much and took the lives of so many in Haiti. One is left wondering how much more we can endure; how much more sacrificing and sharing will be needed; how many more disasters are yet to be. And each time, our desire, our commitment, and our passion for following Jesus is put to the test. Each time we are called upon to share the burden, the pain and suffering of so many, with each picture telling yet another story.

Once again, we United Methodist Christians in the Western North Carolina Conference will, I am confident, respond with generosity and prayers. Once again, United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) will respond with long-term assistance. Already UMCOR is on the scene working side-by-side and hand-in-hand with our partner organizations, Iglesia Metodista de Chile,  

Ministerio Social Metodista, and Equip Metodista de Accio n Humanitaria. Our conference Web site (http://www.wnccumc.org/ will have updated information on our response, as well as information about making donations either through the Conference Treasurer’s Office or directly to The Advance (#3021178).

In the midst of these disasters, we are also approaching the annual Sunday known as One Great Hour of Sharing. On the Fourth Sunday in Lent (March 14), we will once again be invited to share in this special offering that generates support for our on-going work in response to suffering throughout the world. I urge every church across our conference to receive this offering, along with our gifts for the specific crises in Haiti and Chile. As I travel across our area, I am constantly inspired by and grateful for the wonderful way that you are engaged in mission projects locally and around the world. I hope that your generosity and compassion combine for an overflowing offering to assist those who are hurting.

All of which brings me back to where I started, the “denying” and “taking up” Gospel references. To make sacrifices on behalf of others means that we who have been blessed in many ways will have to adjust our own ways of living. Perhaps we will have to deny ourselves that extra purchase or additional meal out; or, perhaps we will have to make a sacrificial gift that stretches us; or, perhaps we will have to trust God deeper. Following Jesus was never intended to be a smooth highway, without challenging moments along the way. But it is the way! 

by Larry M. Goodpaster, Bishop, Western North Carolina Conference

bishop@wnccumc.org

The People of Haiti Cope – Week 6

Many Haitians found it safer to sleep outdoors or in shelters away from solid structures for fear of an aftershock.

An UMCOR photo by Mike Dubose/UMNS

Haitian people continue each day to sort through what are for many just fragments of their pre-earthquake lives in cities most affected. At night many find greater security sleeping outdoors in tents or shelters away from solid structures. Two significant aftershocks (one at 4.7 Richter) jangled our nerves the second night, helping us sense why some Haitians may still be in a state of shock.

During the day, government and non-government organizations “cluster” under United Nations leadership to share information and coordinate efforts. I attended a meeting of the Relief and Agriculture Clusters with Mr. Anthony Jones, UMCOR Emergency Response Specialist, and learned that local Haitian workers are being paid to remove rubble from public places. Canals and ditches essential for water removal and irrigation for farming during the rainy season (April) will soon receive special attention. Surveys reveal that smaller towns and rural areas have absorbed tens of thousands of internally displaced people from the most severely affected Port-au-Prince / Leogane / Petit Goave corridor. This internal displacement has put pressure on farmers to use seeds for food and even to sell equipment and animals to feed and shelter incoming families. Seeds and tools will be distributed among farmers so the farming season begins on time.

The Methodist Church of Haiti’s rescheduled annual conference moved its venue to little-affected Les Cayes. Methodists from Britain, The Caribbean and the U.S. sent representatives to show solidarity and to pledge prayers, material and financial support for Haiti’s recovery. I was privileged to share UMCOR’s newly forged goal statement that commits resources and promises close coordination of efforts among Global Ministries units (UMCOR, Women’s Division, Mission & Evangelism) and between United Methodist Volunteers in Mission and the Methodist Church of Haiti. Our Haitian brothers and sisters are anxious to see United Methodists live fully into this new statement of commitment.

By Rev. Dr. James L Gulley, UMCOR Consultant for Agriculture and Community Development and Haiti earthquake survivor.

Haiti journal: Dreading the rainy season

A girl plays between rows of makeshift homes at a temporary camp in a soccer stadium in Leogane.

UMCOR Photo by Mike Dubose/UMNS

After 10 days in Haiti, I don’t know what to do with my memories. I don’t feel big enough or strong enough or special enough to carry them.

Friday, Feb. 12, marks the one-month anniversary of the earthquake that shook Haiti apart--30-something seconds of terror that left a nation wounded forever. Feb. 12 also will mark the beginning of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. For the next few weeks, the news will be filled with young, beautiful, healthy people performing incredible feats and setting world records.

All I can think about is what will happen when the rainy season starts in March.

Try to imagine thousands of people living outside, too afraid to sleep in any place with real walls and a roof. Babies and old people. Strangers and families. Sheets, tablecloths and towels for their walls. Mattresses and blankets for their floors. Even a gentle rain will bring new misery.

And there is already enough misery.

A mother’s tears

I wonder if tiny Laury is still sick. His 21-year-old mother’s tears stab my heart. Since the day she pulled him from under the rubble of their house, the 1-year-old has been miserable. She worries he will never get well as long as she has no safe, clean place for him to live.

Louis and Madame Felix, 74 and 76, are probably out of rice and beans by now. They were so happy to get their share of the first food distribution made by the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Their faces glowed as they talked about the Methodist church they were baptized in, the one they were married in, the one that is now brown rubble spilling out on the churchyard.

Samuel Loomery, 17, was so close to completing his secondary education when his school crashed down on him. Classmates helped pull him to safety. He wonders about another student who was trapped close by. He's still not sure what happened to him.

Is Winsley Polo, 2, still alive? So frail, so small, lying quietly in a crib sheltered by a blue tarp. She is one of the lost children, babies who were not claimed by parents after the earthquake, who are living with compassionate caregivers at Grace Hospital.

Moments of grace


It makes me smile to remember Sister Paulette Holly, 82. I sat next to her during a Sunday worship service at the destroyed St. Martin Methodist Church. Standing to sing, she pressed the hymnal into my hands. I tried to explain I didn’t understand French. She just shook her head, pointed to the words and said, “It’s easy.”


The kind people who work at the Methodist Guest House care for travelers even though they have all lost everything in the earthquake and are coping with personal grief. Each one has a broken heart over the deaths of United Methodists Sam Dixon and Clint Rabb.

Emile Belorne, a Guest House supervisor, considered my request to hear what happened to her on the day of the earthquake. She pondered the request for two days. When she was ready, she broke our hearts as she told us of her fear and faith in God.

“I say, Lord if I am still alive, it is by your grace. I am no better than the others who died. You made me a favor. If I am here, I have to do something for your glory.”

Kites amid rubble

The new death toll from the earthquake is 230,000. That number does not include the bodies yet to be recovered from collapsed buildings or the many people who were pulled from the rubble and buried privately by families.

That rubble is becoming part of the landscape. People are going on with their lives without any of the things I find most basic—a private place to bathe, a quiet place to read, a safe shelter from the weather, a door to shut out strangers.

Women on the side of the road sit all day waiting to sell their meager supply of vegetables. Men tackle the great mounds of debris one piece at a time. Using handsaws, taking all day to cut through one piece of steel reinforcing bar.

Parents make kites out of plastic bags to delight their children.

And everywhere, they live with the dread of the rainy season.

“We have been lucky so far, no rain yet,” said one man. “But the rain will come.”

By Kathy Gilbert, a United Methodist News Service news writer who was on assignment in Haiti in Jan. 21-31, 2010.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org

Life and Hope Help Haiti Stand

UMCOR executive Melissa Crutchfield passes purified water to Haiti survivors.

UMCOR photo by Mike Dubose, UMNS

Our team of six (three from UMCOR and Global Ministries, and three United Methodist communicators) arrived in Port-au-Prince on Thursday evening, heading straight to the Auberge du Quebec hotel in Carrefour, located in a suburb just west of Port-au-Prince, where dozens of aid workers and reporters are staying. We stayed there one night, then moved closer into town at the Methodist guest house, which remained intact despite the buildings around it that crumbled.

The scene here is quite unimaginable and cannot be put into words. I know everyone has seen the footage and heard the stories, so I'll refrain from repeating the obvious, except to say I see no other way that this country will recover but for practically razing the entire city of Port-au-Prince and many surrounding areas and simply starting over. The destruction is immense. Of the structures left standing, many are precarious. There will be scant few that won't need some kind of repair, reinforcement or replacement. It will take years.

The humanitarian emergency is dire in terms of access to clean water, food, and shelter, but slowly and surely aid is getting out and increasing. The vast majority of the international community (UN, USAID, etc.) are still focused on the city of Port-au-Prince, and it is definitely needed here, but the traffic congestion and closed roads due to debris create additional challenges to simply getting around.

More than 700,000 people are displaced from their homes, either because their homes collapsed, or because they are afraid to sleep inside. Almost no one sleeps indoors right now. Spontaneous informal settlements have cropped up in the public parks, church yards, school yards, along the streets, parking lots, soccer fields, or anywhere with open space. The situation outside Port-au-Prince is the same in terms of the destruction, but slightly less congested. For now, we are focusing our relief efforts in these areas which are receiving less attention and aid.

Aftershocks are pretty common at this point. We felt three aftershocks on Friday and have heard there is a solid chance of more of them occurring. They were pretty unsettling, although the biggest one was only a 4.4 magnitude, and I can see why the folks who experienced the actual earthquake are jumpy about sleeping indoors. (But don't worry, mom, we're staying safe, have a quick exit strategy everywhere we go, and have tents to sleep in as a back-up plan!)

On Friday we visited several sites about 40 miles outside of Port-au-Prince with the l'Eglise Méthodiste d'Haiti and Petit Goâve and Mellier, where we saw churches, schools and countless homes completely destroyed. The road on the way there was fraught with rock slides and fissures. The scope of the destruction is staggering.

On Saturday we spent the day with our partner GlobalMedic, delivering clean water to several spontaneous settlements in Léogâne and Gressier.

Our team attended several cluster meetings on Sunday morning with the UN and international aid community, which was interesting but still reinforced the fact that (a) everyone is struggling with logistics and coordination at this stage and (b) the outlying regions are still underserved. UMCOR is actually doing a pretty good job getting into action at this stage.

Tomorrow we head back to Mellier, accompanied by l'Eglise Méthodiste d'Haiti, to do a needs assessment, and plan a distribution of relief supplies for later in the week.


In terms of security issues, the stories you see on the news are pretty sensationalized and there isn't much concern just getting around the city. Civil society has begun to resume and people are out in the streets selling fruit, water and an impressive variety of other goods. It seems that a lot of things are still available for purchase, but the prices have gone up. The banks have also been down, causing a breakdown in the ability of people to access goods. But the banks and money transfer places (like Western Union) opened on Friday, allowing people to access money. So things should improve somewhat on that front.

There has been a curfew imposed at night for international aid workers, so we are usually back to the guest house by 6:00 p.m. When we do the distribution later this week we will be prudent and plan ahead to avoid any mob scenes. We will have access to security from the local UN if needed. But generally, folks respect things done with and through the church, so we have that on our side.

The resilience of the Haitian people is impressive and humbling. Life really is going on, despite the huge loss that EVERYONE has felt, and the difficulties that seem to mount for them each day. The recovery will be long and slow, but most are also seeing an opportunity to strengthen Haiti in the process. I feel humbled, anxious, honored, and excited to have the opportunity and responsibility of coordinating UMCOR's work on the ground at this stage. I honestly think we'll do some good and make a positive impact, despite all of the hurdles we already have and inevitably will encounter.

Keep checking the UMCOR website for updates. The UMC website is posting additional stories and pictures from the communications team with us here.

By Melissa Crutchfield, Assistant General Secretary, International Disaster Response, UMCOR