Dear Friends of Source of Life Ministries,

on Wednesday February 10, 2 of our ministry board members and I returned from a 6 day trip to Haiti.  Since the airport in Port au Prince is still closed we flew into Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and drove from there to Port au Prince. We were pleased to find our children and staff doing well in spite of the many daily challenges they are facing.  Like everyone else in Part au Prince they are afraid that another major quake will occur and so they refuse to sleep indoors even though many buildings survived the quake. 

At the request of our ministry director we took tents, medicine, water purification supplies, and finances to help with the daily needs of the group.  Each day we ventured out into the city to see how the residents of the city are fairing and were surprised by what we saw. First, everyone is living on the streets or in tent cities. What small businesses existed before the quake are now being run on the street.  Jean, our ministry director ran a small internet cafe and telephone business (only 1 in 1000 Haitian homes have a telephone) prior to the quake. His business now operates under a tarp on the street in front of his quake damaged home/business. Second, food and water is available for purchase although the prices have doubled since the quake. The main outdoor vegetable market in downtown Port au Prince is opened for business and seemed to have no shortage of supplies.  Finally, we were surprised to find how few relief supplies were available in Carrefour.  Bags of rice and large tarps both marked USAID were being sold on the street but we found no food distribution sites in our part of the city.

The good news is that we found a small building to serve as a temporary home for the children and staff. As I mentioned earlier they are still uncomfortable sleeping inside but we are hopeful that, as time passes with no new quakes, they will move inside.  We also made connections with someone who can help us secure a rental property that is large enough for our safe home.  Unlike the US there are no real estate offices or management companies in Haiti. Connections for such business dealings are done through relationships; in Haiti it really is all about "who you know."

We also decided to provide food for the families living on the same street as our children and staff.  We left a few thousand dollars with our director who will be purchasing food and water to be distributed to our new neighbors.

As you may remember we picked up 18 children immediately following the quake.  All have been reunited with their families EXCEPT 2 boys, ages 10 and 13.  It appears that they will become a permanant part of our safe home family.

Please continue to pray for the people living in Port au Prince. 

Jacques