Compassion Still Needed

Six months ago a massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake left nearly a quarter of a million people dead and another 1.5 million people homeless. As the terrible news was broadcast around the globe, governments worldwide pledged over $5billion in relief. Although relief efforts to this point have been commendable, months later most of that money has yet to reach its intended recipients:

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former U.S. President Bill Clinton say millions of Haitians still lack access to basic services such as shelter, water, sanitation and health care. Mr. Clinton and Mr. Bellerive, who are the co-chairs of the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission, say that so far only 10 percent of the $5.3 billion pledged by governments to Haiti has been disbursed to the Haitian government. (Voice of America News)

CTV News reports that “Out of 1.5 million people left homeless by the disaster, less than 30,000 people have moved into new homes, according to estimates,” so approximately 98% of those who lost homes in the disaster are still living in Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps, waiting and hoping for new homes.

Emmanuelle Sony is one of them. Her daughter was killed in the earthquake, leaving her in charge of her five grandchildren. They moved to an IDP camp, where their makeshift shelter couldn’t even protect them from the pouring rain. She was glad to receive a new waterproof tent from a volunteer Global Aid Network (GAiN) worker last month, one of over 600 distributed that day. It isn’t a new permanent home, but at least it’s a start and an encouragement for her and her family. (Read her full story on GAiN’s website.)

However, there are still thousands of people who need shelter, food, clean water, and medical attention. Although it’s discouraging that only a small portion of the money promised by governments has so far reached its destination, ground-level efforts by relief organizations such as GAiN are continuing to work diligently to make a difference and give hope to those whose hope may begin to be waning.

If you would like to help make a difference to the 1.5 million homeless in Haiti, please visit Global Aid Network’s Haiti Project Page to donate or learn more; you can also see videos and photos of GAiN’s relief work in Haiti.

Related reading:
When Your World is Not Like it Should Be – I think you’ll agree that this world seems not quite right.
Does God Care? – Just where is God when disaster strikes?

Upcoming online chats: Join us for daily online chats! One of our features will be “What Can Separate Us? ” on July 21 at 10:30 am EDT Please join us to discuss how nothing can pluck us from the palm of Jesus.

Photo credit: Aaron Rogers / GAiN

Tags: 1.5 million, 6 months later, Culture, death, disaster, earthquake, Gobal Aid International Network, Haiti, Haitians, homeless, World

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