Archive for October, 2010
Here is the new list of assistance provided & requests for assistance.
Assistance Provided
10/22/2010 Matthew received food
10/27/2010 Obenson found a place to rent and he was sent $1075.94 to secure it for 1 year.
10/28/2010 Matthew stove and charcoal $45.00
Here is the new list of requests for assistance listed by priority.
Assistance to obtain housing for the Jean & Venise Previlus Family
$700. US to pay for Job Lira’s truck repairs
School Tuitions:
Rebecca (High School) $443.03
Cassandra $291.00
Danika $139.24
Joveny $177.21
Evans
Vilia (High School) $417.72
It has been a very busy week for both Obenson and Matthew (our family liaison), but they have successfully found a place for Obenson, Idora and the children to move to as they have been told they must leave the tent city. The land that their tent now sits is owned by a private individual and he has evicted everyone.
It was no easy task to find them a home, but they were able to find a place for $1075.94 a year. It has 2 rooms and a bathroom. We were hoping to find a place that would allow us to pay for just half the year but it didn’t happen. The money has been wired to Obenson and he will begin moving right away.
Obenson will also be looking for a job. He has a license and I have asked him to go talk to Job who has told me with a license you can get a job. Job has been very helpful with Obenson and has been counseling him on other matters as well. I appreciate that he is so willing to help in this way.
As you may have read in our October Homebound Missions Newsletter, we have initiated a contract with our families. The contract was a simple way for us to set down some basic rules and responsibilities for our families so that everyone knows what is expected of them, and what can be expected of us.
With the contract we created a transparent community with our 6 families. Each of our families will know the other families business as it relates to us. It also allows for our families to be accountable to each other and to have a voice when they see a discrepancy.
Last, week I posted to our 6 families who the others families are who have agreed to the contract. I also posted the requests that we currently have for assistance.
Our 6 Homebound Missions Families: Requests (red indicates urgency)
Matthew (aka Jean Penez): bed, stove, clothing, SAT’s
Jean & Venise Previlus Family (10 members): Assistance obtaining housing
Obenson & Idora Family (8 members): Assistance obtaining housing
Job Lira Family (3 members): $700. US for truck repairs, $200. license, Cassandra’s school tuition
Mimose Lubin Family (3 members): Rebecca’s school tuition
Hyppolite & Rebecca Family (5 members): school tuition for 2 girls, $50. for X-ray
We will continue to post this list along with the needs that are being met. The list will reflect the new priorities.
There is a confirmed Cholera Outbreak in the Artibonite Valley; St Marc and Gonaives, Haiti. 139 people have died and another 1500 are infected.
* Cholera is an acute bacterial infection of the small intestines. The organism responsible, Vibrio cholerae causes vomiting and profuse, watery diarrhea (up to a liter per hour), dehydration, muscle cramps, and loss of electrolytes. The disease is spread by food and water that have been contaminated with feces of a person previously affected. Death can occur within hours of symptoms.
I have notified all of our families and have asked them to pass this information on to others. I have also given them safety measures to use with their food along with reviewing the importance of hand washing.
Cholera is very treatable if you have the treatment. The problem with Haiti is the lack of treatment. Please pray that this outbreak will be contained and effect as few people as possible. Thank you.
* Mosby’s Medical, Nursing, & Allied Health Dictionary 5th edition, 1998
This week, Tyler and I picked up over 300 roles of fabric for the sewing school. Our neighbors and my dad joined us for dinner and later we all worked together to get it put in the basement. Thank you Dot, Kevin, and Dad. You sure are a great team.
Also, thank you Eric and Angela for donating the fabric.
This fabric will be shipped to The Heartline Sewing School, in PAP, Haiti. To view their products and learn more about the program go to Haitian Creations.
I mentioned earlier that Matthew is now on the Board of Directors for Homebound Missions. He will now serve as our Family Liaison in Haiti.
Tyler and I are grateful to have him fill this role as we move forward to help our families recover from the earthquake. He will be presenting them with, A contract with Homebound Missions this week as we establish more of a community with the families we serve.
I will give more details about this as I hear back from the families who want to participate.
Jean and Venise’s home post EQ
When Tyler and I got word that Haiti had just had an earthquake one family immediately had our concerns, Previlus and Venise Jean. There are 12 members altogether, with one child having been adopted, and now Matthew lives on his own, so we are assisting 10 members.
The earthquake totally destroyed their home which was a cinderblock apartment consisting of two rooms on the second floor and two extra rooms rented underneath. To say their life was meager is an understatement. And because the apartment completely collapsed they lost everything they owned and survived with the clothes on their backs.
For a short while they lived on the street near where their apartment used to be and then they decided to move out into the country near family. They traveled hundreds of miles north near Cap Haitien to a town called, Ouanamithe, Station Cite Bover. At first I was relieve as we had one of our families out of Port-au-Prince. Venise could no longer go to sewing school as she had no way to go back and forth. This was a great down side.
Soon after they moved Smith and Esterline became ill with Typhoid. Smith was so ill, he needed to be hospitalized which Homebound Missions was able to pay for. Esterline was sick for a very long time but never went to the hospital. Then the other members started falling ill and Venise sent the baby and the girls back to PAP to stay with Matthew. She feared for her family.
The entire family except for the dad is now in PAP. Sometimes they stay with Matthew and sometime other places. Homebound Missions has been sending them food, but what they are most pleading for is the resources to find a place to rent. Just like with Obenson we do not have these funds available though we so wish we did. Please pray for Previlus and Venise that they will be able to find a place to live and that the resources will come in to meet this need.
Haiti isn’t in the news much anymore, but real people are suffering for real. The destruction hasn’t gone away, the new homes haven’t come, there is no more free food and water, no welfare or government assistance. The Haitian people are on their own except for the organizations that are there serving to the best of their abilities. Homebound Missions is serving to the best of their abilities. Please help us to do more.
Evans, Idora, Kathi, Kathiana, Obenson and Roscaline
Obenson and his wife Idora lost their 1 room apartment during the earthquake. They were very blessed to walk away with their family unharmed. They have been living in a tent city ever since. They have twin daughters Kathi and Kathiana, and older children Evans, Roscaline, Bernard and Charlene. Only the twins have been fortunate enough to go to school, thanks to Three Angels. They have not been able to afford to send the others. It has been so difficult that two of the boys were sent to live with a relative.
Now the land owner for which their tent city stands is evicting everyone off of his property. This month he wants everyone gone. Without land and other resources Obenson’s family has nowhere to go. They have contacted Homebound Missions for funds with which they could rent a place to live. Typically in PAP you can find a 1 room apartment for $800.00 US a year, however there is nothing typical about the number of people who have been displaced and who are looking for a home to rent.
Because Homebound Missions does not have the resources at this time to pay Obenson’s rent we have not sent him out to find a place. Though we recognize that this is an urgent relief type need requiring action. Please pray for Obenson and his family; not only for resources to pay his rent, but also that we might find a place he could rent. The burden here is two fold.
This became Matthew’s home after the earthquake. Because of the generosity of a neighbor he was allowed to set up a tent and tarp on their roof. Inside was was his meager belongings, a mattress and his few pieces of clothing. That was until last week, when an unpredicted storm blew through Port-au-Prince destroying his tent and tarp and soaking his bed. This storm was so violent that it killed 5 people and has left the Delmas area without power for the last week.
The same neighbor who gave Matthew the roof has offered him a room to rent for $300. US for 6 months and $550.US for the entire year. Homebound Missions has sent rent for 6 months to secure a place for Matthew to live. Please continue to pray for Matthew as he moves forward in his life.
When we were in Haiti, we had Job as our driver every chance we could. We wanted to support his new taptap business. Everyday we were witness to the struggles that the poor face.
After the earthquake Homebound Missions purchased a vehicle for Job, that he turned into a taptap. Great, hurray, Job is now in business for himself and will soon no longer need Homebound Missions, right? Not so fast.
Everyday we were witness to the trials that Job faces. First, someone stole his battery and he needed to rent one for the day at $10. US. On another day, driving along the “roads of craters” we hit something and the oil pan began to leak, and then on another day his front wheel just fell off. Job continues to have one trial after another as he struggles to stay in business.
His vehicle repairs are now $700.00 US and Homebound Missions is working towards assisting with this need.
Why should we invest in Job? Job is a hard working motivated individual who will do anything not to have to ask for something. But more than that he is a giver. Job shared with me while I was in Haiti that when the vehicle is running, he makes enough to support his family and also to help his cousin and uncle. Yes, you have heard that right. He isn’t saving for a nicer home or better anything for himself. He is sharing his blessings with other family members. Do the math, if we help Job we help at least 5 people. Sounds like a solid investment to me.