Haiti report

In a small community on the outskirts of Jacmel Haiti, just outside
the area that most relief agencies are working, we found 48 people
living in one temporary structure made of debris and banana leaves.
48 people in a space smaller than my living room. Most had their
homes destroyed or damaged in the earthquake, but some were just
terrified of returning to their homes, of sleeping under a solid roof.
Just up the hill a small hut houses 9 people. We did a survey of the
community, confirming what the needs and numbers were, and making a
list of families that needed tents, and how many people were in their
family unit. Then we told them we had a gift for them from Church
members and school students in Chattanooga who had heard about the
earthquake and wanted to help, and the truck drove up with tents. A
small girl ran up to the side of the truck, and when she realized that
there were tents inside, broke out into a huge smile and began jumping
up and down. That made the trip for me.
We were able to send close to 300 tents thus far, and are making
decisions about the second shipment. There is a great need for
transitional tent shelters, which have a steel frame and can
eventually be converted into permanent homes, and we may use the
remaining money to purchase some of those for these same people.
Thank you for being a part of this effort. Please continue to pray
for the people of Jacmel and look for further opportunities to help
and maybe someday even to visit.

Heading to Haiti

- Brian McKeon and David Peck head to Haiti on Tuesday to take a stack of tents to Jacmel. They hope to visit the site the team will work on in Carrefour as well as meet up with Kyle Mullinax while there.
- Mark Mollenkof, Julia Flanagan, and the McIntyres are heading home on Monday, and we look forward to hearing their reports.
- Team is scheduled still for March 6-13, stay tuned for updates and training information.

Feb 10 Update

Haiti needs:
- We are wrapping up the drive for tents and need help packaging them for transport. We could use a number of people to come on Saturday to the warehouse in Hixson (5325 Old Hixson Pike Hixson, TN 37343) from 10am to 2pm. This will also be the last opportunity to bring tents or supplies.
- The first team is tentatively scheduled for March 6-13. This will be an intense physical labor trip, under difficult conditions. The team will be remodeling a structure just outside Port au Prince for MNA to use to run teams for the long term response. This trip will be limited to those with disaster/military training or experience, and the work skills that are needed. We particularly need electricians, plumbers, and other construction skills. All team members will need to attend a training session and be approved. The cost for the trip will be about $1200, a valid passport is required, as well as the proper vaccinations (Hep series, Tetanus, Typhoid). If you think you are interested and meet these qualifications, please contact me. If you do not, but are still interested, please wait for the teams that will come after this. There are also some other opportunities listed below.
- MNA has other teams, both medical and short term, going to Haiti to work in other areas. Please see their websites: http://www.pca-mna.org or http://www.gcanet.org/ or http://www.esmihome.org/
- MTW is also sending teams, medical for now and possibly reconstruction teams in the near future: http://www2.mtw.org

Update from Kyle Mullinax, in Haiti

Thank-you for your prayers. Everything is going as well as can possibly be expected. I involved in a few construction projects at the moment. Some for housing refuges coming from port, some from houses that lost all structural integrity. Please continue to pray for funds, for God's peace and for wisdom and witness. I will update pictures soon. In the cross, KYLE