Helping Haiti

HopeChest’s First Sponsored Orphanage in Haiti.

The staff at Children’s HopeChest has been praying to find the right role that the organization will play in response to the earthquake in Haiti. Doors have opened and HopeChest is thankful for Telecom Decision Makers, Inc., for being the organization’s first sponsor in Haiti.  HopeChest’s goal is to start projects and sponsorships with a number of orphanages while walking along side the community as we rebuild together. The children at the sponsored CarePoint are already receiving food and help that they need desperately.  This story comes from Executive Director of Adventures In Missions (HopeChest partner organization), Seth Barnes’ blog.  Seth has spent time at the sponsored location, and he writes:

“When the earth shook with violence in Leogane, an orphanage of 46 girls erupted in screams. A house mom threw her body across the three nearest girls as the walls and ceiling collapsed on her, taking her life, but saving the girls.
Two of them escaped, but one named Mange remained stuck in the rubble next to the housemother who had already sacrificed her life.
Trapped in the rubble, Mange cried out: “Please don’t leave me here to die! I don’t want to die this way!”

Two young boys from the church heard her cries and began digging. The structure looked like a concrete pancake, but they dug and cleared a hole through. Mange was saved.

All 46 orphans gathered together, but now they had no housemother. Eighteen-year-old Geesula sprang into action. Not only was she the oldest of the group, but she had been around longer than all but one of the other orphans. Geesula now became the protector of orphans. The surrounding community came in and stole all their remaining food, but Geesula saw to it that the girls were safe.

A month later, Geesula continues to be housemom for her 45 orphan sisters. She knows what the girls need each day.

Before the quake, the orphanage was part of a foundation that included a bakery, guest house and medical clinic. All of those collapsed and their vehicle was demolished.

There has been enough death in Haiti. Now is the time for life. God is giving us an opportunity. While orphans live in tents and we still live in houses, God invites us to do more. Like those young boys who dug out Mange from the rubble, lives are saved when we hear the cries of the poor and hurting and respond.

Right now, living conditions are very primitive - tents and no electricity. Rainy season arrives next month, so there is no time to waste. The time for Haiti is now and the time for Haiti’s orphans is today.”

If you want to GIVE to Haiti, please Click here and mark your gift: “Haiti’s Orphans.”

http://www.vimeo.com/10188908