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Canadian members of the Coram Deo International Aid team, with the exception of Randy Lodder who stayed behind to help, have been evacuated from Haiti and arrived in Montreal early this morning. John Kottelenberg, one of the directors who was in Haiti when the earthquake struck, was interviewed on CBC this morning. We thank the Lord that they are home.

Haiti in turmoil: Countries like the US and Canada along with the UN are struggling to bring initial aid into Haiti. The airport is limited in size, lacking proper equipment to unload airplanes (it took 6 hours to unload just one yesterday) and is having control tower issues. Thousands of bodies have been buried, but thousands remain and the risk of disease, killing far more, is very real.

Word & Deed is in contact with our partner organizations and engaging in conference calls on how to proceed. Any proposals will be carefully reviewed albeit with the need for speed kept in mind. Donations should be designated as "Haiti Earthquake Disaster Relief". Checks should be written to "Word & Deed". For our office mailing addresses, please click on "Contact Us" at the upper right.

Funds donated in response to disasters are large. People are motivated to give generously. Too often, the funds are not used at all or end up in the wrong hands. We are committed to avoiding this as our response to the Tsunami (villages rebuilt in cooperation with Word & Deed Holland), Hurricane Stan(food and medicines distributed, homes rebuilt, water systems fixed), Hurricane Felix (food distributed, wells cleansed, homes rebuilt) all indicate. The gridlock in Haiti means that for now we wait.

Word & Deed's position on the donation matching program of the Canadian Government:
While we are looking into getting matching funds, we believe the possibility of getting them, given our mission and mandate together with program requirements, is quite low.


What happens when a disaster strikes?

• Searching: people, understandably, frantically look for their loved ones. Are they safe? Are they injured?
• Fear: powerful after shocks, unstable buildings, result in people sleeping in the streets. People feel shock, trauma and many are in mourning.
• Urgent Physical needs: the need for safe water (water purification tablets for example) and food quickly becomes a major concern if not alleviated. As the days pass, panic sets in.
• Serious Injuries: With an estimated 50,000 dead, the number of injured must be several times that number. Reports indicate that hospitals have collapsed. People are being treated in the streets if and when doctors and medicines can be found.
• Disease: Diseases quickly break out due to the unburied bodies. Sometime more die due to disease than due to the original disaster itself.
• Lawlessness: Local police and soldiers may have been killed or injured themselves. They too are struggling to find and help family members. The result is that looting and other forms of lawlessness rises very quickly
• Gridlock: The airport at Port-au-Prince is practically incapacitated. The control tower isn't functioning properly. Even when the planes get on the ground it is taking a long time to get them unloaded. Then there is the "last mile" challenge. How to get the aid to the final destination with broken infrastructure. Then there is the handout itself with frantic people trying to get relief for themselves and their families. Thousands are trying to get out.
• Anger: Why isn't anyone helping us? Aid convoys start being attacked. This is already beginning to happen. Aid distributors are being urged to make sure they have security with them.

The 3 phases of Aid (from the Chalmers Center - abridged)

Relief: Providing emergency aid that is immediate and temporary. Relief is appropriate when the recipients are incapable of helping themselves.

Rehabilitation: Restoring people and communities to their pre-crisis conditions. Rehabilitation is appropriate when people can participate in their own recovery from a crisis.

Development: Development is appropriate when people are able to participate in improving their lives beyond their long-standing levels of poverty.