PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – As international relief groups rush to Haiti following the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake in its capital city, MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) has a permanent presence there, positioning the organization to fulfill a unique role in the distribution of earthquake aid.

Currently MAF is serving an essential role in coordinating arrival and distribution of relief through its hangar at the Port-au-Prince international airport. Its staff is well positioned to assist the media with up-to-date information and interviews in covering the Haiti disaster.

MAF, a Christian missionary organization that provides air transportation, communications, technology and education specialists to support missionary efforts and humanitarian needs in hard-to-reach areas of the world, has served the people of Haiti since 1986. MAF knows Haitian culture, language, people and geography.

Seven MAF missionary families, seven national staff members, and three aircraft have served 16 airstrips from a base of operations in Port-au-Prince.

• As MAF’s role in the rescue and recovery operations involves helping many international relief agencies and humanitarian organizations that have arrived in the country coordinate their operations, MAF can give an overview to the media concerning these efforts.

• MAF is setting up a critically important GATR VSAT emergency communications system that will provide high-bandwidth communications for relief workers at the Port-au-Prince airport. MAF also provided this critical satellite telephone and Internet access service through the inflatable, deployable satellite communications system for FEMA and other workers when Hurricane Ike hit Texas in 2008.

• Disaster response is an MAF area of expertise. In past disaster situations, including the Indonesian Tsunami of 2004, Hurricane Felix and Cyclone Sidr in 2007, and the Haitian hurricanes of 2008, MAF provided communications systems, delivered relief supplies, transported medical teams and assisted humanitarian organizations in reaching people and areas that had been otherwise cut off from assistance.

Founded in the U.S. in 1945, MAF (www.maf.org<http://www.maf.org/>) missionary teams of aviation, communications, technology and education specialists overcome barriers in remote areas, transform lives and build God’s Kingdom by enabling the work of more than 1,000 organizations in isolated areas of the world. With its fleet of 55 bush aircraft – including the new KODIAK – MAF serves in 31 countries, with an average of 101 flights daily across Africa, Asia, Eurasia and Latin America. MAF pilots transport missionaries, medical personnel, medicines and relief supplies, as well as conduct thousands of emergency medical evacuations in remote areas. MAF also provides telecommunications services, such as satellite Internet access, high-frequency radios, electronic mail and other wireless systems.

MCC sends structural engineers to assess soundness of homes in Haiti

By Linda Espenshade

Jan. 22, 2010

AKRON, Pa. — Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is sending three structural engineers to Haiti on Saturday Jan. 23, for one to four weeks.

The engineers will examine houses and other buildings to determine if they are in danger of collapse or if they are safe for occupation. Currently many Haitians are sleeping on the streets or in open areas because they don’t feel safe in their homes.

“People are scared to go back in their buildings without someone looking at them to be sure they are sound,” said Ron Flaming, director of international programs for MCC.

Leading the engineering team for MCC is Johann Zimmermann, a licensed structural engineer from Harrisonburg, Va., who served with MCC in Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Nicaragua. He attends Community Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg.

He will be joined by Peter Pereverzoff of Rochester, N.Y., and Marcus Schiere, from the Netherlands.

Zimmermann, who is self employed and a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, said he was motivated to go to Haiti as he thought about the safety of the people.  From his personal experience of living through an earthquake in Central America, he understands the uncertainty that survivors feel.

“You’re afraid. Am I safe or not?” said Zimmermann, explaining the uncertainty. “It’s really anxiety producing. If you have children, you are worried about them more than you are about yourself.”

In Haiti, Zimmermann hopes to work alongside Haitian builders because they are the ones most familiar with the local building techniques. He would like to teach them how to assess the structural soundness of buildings, so the work can continue after he and the other engineers are gone.

The engineers’ task involves a significant element of judgment and probability, Zimmermann said. They will look at the way cracks in houses were formed to determine if they are only aesthetic or if the house is in danger of falling down.

In anticipation of sending a second crew of structural engineers, MCC is inviting people who would be willing to volunteer for two to four weeks to send an e-mail to Jan Siemens in human resources, jds@mcc.org.

In addition to engineers, MCC is recruiting a disaster coordinator to lead MCC’s earthquake relief and rebuilding efforts over the next three to five years in Haiti. For a complete job description and contact information, visit mcc.org/work/positions/haiti-disaster-coordinator.

Fred interviewed  long-time Creation Festival volunteer Gwenn Goodale Mangine of Joy in Hope Ministries.  Gwenn and her husband Nick are serving in Jacmel, Haiti.  Jacmel is a city of 40,000 people with reports of 3 to 4000 killed from the earthquake.  Gwenn shares her memories of the earthquake and how God has worked since then. You can hear the full interview by clicking HERE.

In addition to donations of money, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is asking the public to help supply 20,000 relief kits, 10,000 heavy comforters and 10,000 sheets to be sent to Haitian earthquake survivors.

The supplies will help relieve the discomfort and suffering of Haitians who are sleeping on streets and in open areas because their homes are destroyed or because they don’t trust the safety of the buildings that remain.

MCC’s staff in Haiti and the initial support response team that arrived there Saturday are requesting these supplies as one way MCC can respond to the needs they see around them.

Relief kits include personal hygiene supplies, laundry soap, towels and bandages. People who donate kits are asked to provide complete kits with only the specific items on the list of relief kit supplies that can be found at mcc.org.

The relief kits can be packed in a box or bag and delivered to any of the drop-off locations in Canada or the United States listed at mcc.org by Feb. 28. MCC will then repackage the kits in new, five-gallon buckets.

Heavy comforters and sheets also are being accepted at any drop-off location until Feb. 28.

MCC asks that the comforters be new and filled with quilt batting or a blanket for extra warmth. Twin-size comforters are preferred, but double/full-size comforters are accepted. Specific requirements are online.

Flat sheets, which also will be used as mosquito netting, can be double-, queen- or king- size. Sheets, with at least a 300-thread count, should be new, cotton and light-colored, which is not as attractive to mosquitoes.

MCC is grateful for the generous financial gifts that people have given to MCC for the people of Haiti, starting just hours after the 7.0 earthquake devastated the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Some of those funds are already at work in Haiti, being used to purchase food and supplies that are available there. MCC is airlifting 70,000 pounds or 31,750 kg of canned meat and 1,000 water filters into Haiti as soon as possible. Another shipment of at least the same amount of meat, probably more, will be sent by sea. MCC is also purchasing thousands of tents and tarps.

MCC is planning a multimillion dollar response over a number of years, focusing on rebuilding homes and livelihoods.

Donations to MCC’s response in Haiti are welcome. They should be designated Haiti Earthquake. Donations can be made online at mcc.org, or by telephone, toll free, 1-888-622-6337 (Canada) or 1-888-563-4676 (U.S.). By mail, donations may be sent to MCC and MCC U.S., P.O. Box 500, Akron, PA 17501 or any provincial office in Canada.

Lisa Landis spoke with Mr Bill in Haiti on the Kids Cookie Break. You can hear the interview by clicking HERE or by clicking on the photo of Mr Bill and his family.

WJTL just received this update from Mr. Bill, a Kids Cookie Break artist (Wa-wa-wa-water), who works with Child Hope in Haiti:

We have had very serious damage to the homes, the girls home being the worse.  But, praise God, no injuries to the kids have occured outside of Daphne who had a wall fall on her and is currently in traction awaiting treatment by a pediatric surgeon due to a broken leg.

We set up the boys home as a medical relief center for the area because the hospitals are not receiving new patients.  Hundreds of victims of the earthquake have been through the center and we have been going non-stop, 24-hours-a-day.  Many serious injuries.  The most recent being people who were dug out of colapsed buildings.  We have been blessed with steady flow of nurses, local doctors and others that have assisted us.  And, of course, Brooke and Ashley have been working very hard.  Also, many of the MDL kids are putting in a lot of time to care for the injured.

Unfortunately, we are running seriously low on med supplies, food and other items to help care for the injured and their families.  We cannot even conceive how we will make the building repairs needed.

All our children are sleeping outside in “the bins” (our sports center) because they are afraid of the aftershocks.  The Mission Viejo team has been great at working with the kids and assisting with the med care center.

Please pray that we can hold up through the crisis and that we can get the supplies we need.  Also, please pray for the many families who have lost family members or have family members that are suffering from injuries, as well as those left without homes.

Thank you for your prayers.

God bless.

bill and susette

WJTL has been talking with a few people regarding the tragic earthquake in Haiti and posting it on our WJTL CASTS page.

We talked with Clair and Justin from Hope International and MCC’s Arli Klassen. You can hear those interviews (and other, as we get them) by clicking on any of the previous links.

The catastrophic earthquake that hit Haiti yesterday has resulted in unfathomable chaos and devastation for hundreds of thousands of children and families.

Compassion sponsors and donors serve more than 65,000 children in Haiti. At least a third of them live in the areas that were hardest hit.

We are working rapidly to assess the situation and determine the full extent of damage:

• Sadly, we anticipate there will be many deaths.
• We anticipate thousands of children and families will have lost everything.
• We anticipate many of our church-based child development centers will have been destroyed.

Without a doubt, the children we serve in Haiti are in shock and face immediate needs for food, water, medical care, shelter and counseling. We have teams prepared to respond, and we are deeply committed to helping each child.

Please reach out in the name of Jesus to bring relief, comfort, love and restoration to precious children and families whose lives have been devastated by this crisis.

Dr. Wess Stafford

President, USA

Mark Stuart, lead singer of Audio Adrenaline, sent out this email. Mark and his parents started an organization called Hands and Feet working with the people in Haiti. Mark was there when the earthquake hit. If you’re a person who prays, do bow in for them and the people they love. Humbling.

Mark

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