Help Haiti.

Since Tuesday, when news of a 7.0 earthquake devastated the poor country of Haiti, my heart has been heavy. So very heavy. 

 

Over 100,000 people have died. 

Hospitals have been torn apart. 

Orphanages collapsed. 

Corpses of little children lay alongside the roads.

Families killed.

Children left without their parents. 

Adults left searching for their child … 

And for  a country that is already stricken with poverty  .. this is a blow that will set Haiti back hundreds of millions of dollars.

 

(Warning – some graphic images. Images from online new sources)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see these images and I cry. I feel so helpless. But I want to help and I want o do something! I’m sure you feel the same way – how can anyone know what is happening out in this world and not want to do something?!?!?!

Last spring, Tamara Perreira and I travelled to the Dominican to work on a photography project for La Tienda, a community, a village that takes Haitian woman off the streets off Haiti and develops working skills to change their lives. Instead of living out of dumps and using prostitution to make money to feed their children, Rachel Sticklee, La Tienda’s founder, teaches each woman how to bead, knit, sew and create beautiful jewelry and items that can be sold here in North America. The money goes straight to helping the Haitian woman live a changed life. 

As you can imagine, Rachel, a Canadian in her 20s, cannot just sit by after such a magnitude of disaster has struck Haiti. My heart just goes out to Rachel because here she is – single, alone, raising two Haitian children, she choose to give her easy life in Canada and move to life as a missionary in the Dominican in order to help the Haitians. 

Rachel will be traveling into Haiti over the next few days to start helping out and caring for the survivors. She NEEDS your help! If you haven’t helped out with the Salvation Army, World Vision or Red Cross yet – or even if you have – here is another way you can help the Haitian people …. 

Rachel needs to buy supplies to take into Haiti this weekend. YOu can help by sending a paypal donation to the La Tienda account. 

 

Go to paypal, send your donation to La Tienda (look for the paypal button on the bottom left hand side of the page) but make sure to write HAITI in the details or note about your donation. 

All supplies will be bought this week and taken straight over to Haiti…

 

 

And please, pray for Rachel’s safety, for travelling mercies and for wisdom and emotional strength. She is a saint in a world of despair.

 

 

 

 

 

Quick facts about Haiti:

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere 95% of aid to Haiti has been reduced since the early 1990s 70% of Haitian people live in poverty-annual income of $400 per year 15% of all children in Haiti are orphaned or abandoned 200,000 orphaned Haitian children live in institutions (the rest are fostered, live with relatives, or are street children) 40% of the population is under the age of 15 A history of an extremely high maternal mortality rate contributes to the number of orphans Child-headed households are becoming more common as potential guardians succumb to AIDS or other causes of death