An adoptive mom who has an "insider" in Haiti sent us this e-mail earlier this evening:
I was able to hear that a group called Convey of Hope who are feeding 500 people per day are wit your children at Quisqueya Church. That Hal and Chris are there and the children are fine. There is a lso a medical clinic being run by friends very close by. That the U was inspecting houses but I don't know if they made it to the HIS Home buildings. I think someone on the group also reported this.
Where the children are is safe and free from buildings except the Chapel so they will be safe if there are more after shocks. While this is beyond difficult to comprehend, I pray that you take comfort that they are in a good place.
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I also learned today that one of my former youth group kids, who is a teacher at Quisqueya Christian School, is also in Haiti and safe. AND she is going to be going to the church tomorrow to help with the medical clinic there. I've sent her a message asking her to give Chris a big hug from me, as well as to find Joshua Wood and give him a big hug from us as well. I'm sure it would be good for Chris to have a hug, even if it is through someone else.
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The mom who was scheduled to leave on Tuesday with all kinds of stuff found out that her flight has been cancelled. This is hard to hear because she was going to bring much needed supplies, like formula and cash.
The fathers that were going to go on Saturday are now leaving on Wednesday and possibly flying to the Dominican Republic and then finding transportation to get to the church where the kids are.
Roundabout Geek is at a meeting as we speak with other board memebers of NVM to discuss how to get civilian volunteers down there to help. We are hoping to find a way to get some money to Hal and Chris through Pierre.
The first group will be going on Saturday. Roundabout Geek is considering going with them if he can get all of the work stuff sorted out. This could be huge as it would allow him to take stuff to Hal and Chris.
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Watching 60 minutes right now...the reporter is interviewing a doctor who took him to an area of Port-au-Prince where there are hundreds of bodies piled up and being loaded into trucks to go to mass graves.
Reporter: Why have you brought us here?
Doctor: Because I think the world needs to see this. To see that they need to help. That they can't go on blind and ignorant.
I couldn't have said it better myself!!!
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I just received an e-mail from an adoption advocacy group we are registered with. The CNN report about the US expediting the process to get kids out is false. However, there are children coming home whose adoptions had been legalized by the Haitian Government and all necessary paperwork had been received by the Embassy. I am thankful that there are families who are welcoming their children home.
From the update:
"Further, the day has been fraught with false reports of children leaving the country or potential for leaving (including a very recent one from CNN). Unfortunately, Joint Council's staff has spent far too much time correcting these reports."
It is unfortunate that those who are trying to help parents like us get our kids home are also having to debunk the myths and rumors coming out of the country by reputable news agencies. It is hard to hear one thing, get our hopes up, only to find out that it was false. Which is why I am taking what I hear with a grain of salt at the moment.
I will keep contacting my senators and representative. I will keep encouraging those who CAN make the decision that humanitarian parole is the right thing to do...for the kids and the parents.
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One of our parents receives an update from another organization that works to get clean drinking water to impoverished and disaster striken areas.
Here is the update:
Water is scarce in Port-au-Prince. So much so, that if relief groups advertised they had clean water to distribute they would, according to officials here, be overrun. So, one Convoy of Hope team worked behind the scenes on Saturday to provide clean water for the residents of Port-au-Prince by installing two modified bio-sand filters at an orphanage in the capital city.
“Since the earthquake struck the orphanage has had to ration water for the children,” says Gary Higgins, director of international projects for Convoy of Hope. “The children were surviving on only a half a cup of water per day, which obviously is not nearly enough for the hot and humid conditions in Haiti.”
On Saturday morning, Higgins built and installed two filters using two technologies Convoy of Hope has come to rely on in its efforts to provide clean drinking water in impoverished countries.
“Getting the natural material for a bio-sand filter in a disaster area is not possible so we merged the bio-sand filter with one of our Sawyer water filters,” he says. “Now, these children will have access to clean drinking water every day.”
Your secure online donation can help provide clean drinking water for more children in Haiti.
The hybrid filters will each produce 1.2 liters of clean water each minute. Clean water will help stop the spread of diseases, which officials here will run rampant in the coming days as residents settle for unclean water.
According to a UN development report—for every dollar spent on providing clean drinking water in places like Haiti there is an economic return of $8 worth of productivity from those who have access to the water.
“In other words,” adds Higgins, “it improves people’s lives and provides opportunity for them.”
Chris Nungester, director of the orphanage, is just happy her children will have access to clean, drinking water.
“This is going to be life changing for our orphanage,” she says.
***I am beyond thankful that Convoy of Hope is in the same place as our children providing clean drinking water EVERY day! Praise God!!!
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Princess N has started a cool thing...she is doing a coin war between grades at school. Because of her idea, a 17-year old girl at the high school is doing the same thing, as is one of the other elementary schools. And this 17-year old is going to the middle school to talk about it as well. I already have two businesses willing to put out donation jars to help in the effort. We hope to get more businesses on board as well. Hopefully we can do that tomorrow since there is no school.
My mom and some of her friends are doing a matching gift campaign as well. They will match penny for penny everything raised by the kids at her school. How cool is that?!
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Okay, Princess N and Quarterback need my attention. I will blog when I know more. Thanks to everyone's prayer and support!
Always trusting. Always hoping. Always believing. Always praying.
Always.
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