"Hands on Haiti" Response Effort
POSTED ON Feb 26, 2010 / UPDATED ON Jan 27, 2011
Antoine's mother--who has not seen her since the earthquake happened last month--clutches her daughter close for the first time in weeks.
Antoine and her mother rejoice in their reunion after Antoine returned from being gone for more than a month with her father Bolivar, getting medical treatment at COTN's medical clinic in Barahona, Dominican Republic.
Antoine and her dad Bolivar sit together at COTN' clinic in Barahona before they leave to go home to Haiti.
COTN-Dr nurses stand with Antoine and Woodlee--both children from Haiti whom they have cared for in COTN's clinic. Both girls went home to Haiti last week.
The devastation in Haiti and on the way to take home two girls from COTN's medical clinic who were deemed well enough to leave.
COTN medical team leader Dr. Vicki Sakata walks through the rubble and destruction in Haiti to get to where Antoine and Bolivar's family is now living. Bolivar carries his daughter Antoine in the far distance.
Read HAITI CHILDREN'S STORIES from the field here.
FRIDAY - March 19, 2010 (4:08pm)
COTN Launches H4 Program! As the need for immediate relief has wound down, Children of the Nations has assessed the ongoing needs in Haiti and developed a strategy for our continuing involvement in meeting those needs. COTN has now called an end to our Emergency Response efforts and begun the implementation of our long-term plan.
We call this plan H4: Health, Homes, and Hope for Haiti.
- HEALTH: creating opportunities for physical and emotional healing
- HOME: providing shelter and helping to rebuild shattered communities
- HOPE: encouraging and restoring spiritual hope in each person we touch
While the Haitian people rebuild their structures and lives, COTN has committed to stand behind them, not losing sight of our vision of raising children who transform nations. To that end, we will work with our partners in Haiti to undertake the following three projects over the next six months:
Project I: Rehabilitating and Reintegrating the Children
COTN has focused on providing twenty-four-hour care for thirteen critically injured children. The most critical will remain in our care for up to six months, while those children least affected are now returning to Haiti with their parents. Each of these families will participate in our H4 Program for up to one year. You may read of the plans for rehabilitation and reintegration by clicking here. Goes to Haiti Children’s Stories page
Project II: “Rebuilding for the Children,” “Rebuilding Homes and Restoring Hope,”
Since the beginning of this crisis, COTN has been sending Venture Teams with crucial supplies and skills to aid the Haitian people, and we plan to continue doing so. Working with COTN partnerships in the communities of Port au Prince, teams from the USA and the Dominican Republic will help rebuild homes and restore hope, as well as continue to assist with medical needs.
COTN will be sending Venture Teams into Haiti during the months of June, July, and August. Each team will be comprised of medical professionals, structural engineers, licensed Christian counselors, administrators, and other specified individuals as needs continue to be identified.
If you are interested in leading or joining a Haiti Venture Team, please view our Upcoming Trips at http://www.cotni.org/trips and send your name, phone, email, specialty, available dates, and any group affiliation to our Venture Department at venture@cotni.org. A Venture Representative will contact you as we assemble each team.
Project III: Creation of COTN–Haiti
COTN’s International Board of Directors will gather on the weekend of April 15 to prayerfully consider the establishment of COTN–Haiti. Proposals will be given to the International Board to start a Village Partnership Program (VPP), which will consist of a school, a medical clinic, and a feeding center. In accordance with our vision and Mission, COTN–Haiti will seek to raise children who transform the nation.
Your partnership is vital to this proposal. You can provide support for the proposal in two ways. First, pray for God to provide a location and Haitian leadership for the program. Second, commit to meeting future funding needs. Please click here (and maybe they can send an email to info@cotni.org) to add your contact information and commitment to this vision.
So many lives have been touched by your support. As we move forward in Haiti, please join us in prayer that God will heal the brokenhearted and will restore joy that was stolen during this traumatic event in every Haitian’s life.
FRIDAY - February 26, 2010 (3:15pm)
Two Haitian children who have been cared for in COTN’s medical clinic for the past month were taken back home to Haiti this week. Both were determined by COTN medical team members to be healed enough to leave the full-time care clinic and both were emotionally ready to be reunited with their families again after being away for so long, especially after such a tragedy.
Before they left, COTN founder Chris Clark sat down with the parents of the children and challenged them to have some sort of plan before they left to go home to Haiti, after being away for a month with their children. Where do they plan to go? Where will they live if their homes were destroyed? How will they get food and water?
The COTN team of counselors was then able to go over each of the parent’s plans with them one-on-one, helping prepare them for the devastation that they eventually will return to. Although it will be difficult in some senses, most of the parents and children are anxious to get back to their homes in Haiti, their families and their communities.
Six-year-old Antoine and her father Bolivar were one of the families that went home to Haiti this week. Bolivar knew where his wife and other child were living—near their old home, which is now crumbled in pieces. Armed with a plan for where they will be living, Bolivar and his daughter were quite anxious to see the other members of their family.
Chris Clark and COTN medical team leader Dr. Vicki Sakata accompanied them to Haiti. “It was very sweet to see them go home,” Dr. Vicki said. “Antoine’s mom was so excited to see her. She started running toward her. Antoine was so happy and you could tell her father was really happy. People came up to greet him and welcome them. You could tell they were really a part of that community, so it was nice to see them return.”
Vicki also talked about the harsh reality of Haiti’s continued devastation—more than a month after the earthquake—including the area where Antoine and her family are now living. “It’s still such a mess. It’s incredibly sad. I can’t imagine being there a month ago; it’s such a disaster,” Dr. Vicki said. “These families tell you they have nothing left, but it doesn’t really sink in until you really see it. Their house is completely a pile of rubbish. You can’t even tell it’s a house—the entire neighborhood is essentially rubble.”
Once they reached Bolivar and Antoine’s neighborhood by vehicle, everyone had to get out and climb through rubble, rebar and broken glass to a large open area behind where the buildings were, where the whole neighborhood used to dispose of their trash. “That is now where they are living,” Dr. Vicki said. About 7,000 people have created makeshift little homes with sheets and pieces of wood in the open area behind where they used to live.
Though the area is being run by the American Refugee Committee (ARC), it’s a huge health hazard since people are literally living on trash. “It looked like there were trucks where the ARC was delivering free water. They had water hooked up to spigots so people could shower, as well as a makeshift school set up for some the kids,” Dr. Vicki said. “There was organization within the camp, but where they were living was pretty disgusting—dirt surrounded by trash, essentially.”
The homecoming was a joyful one that COTN was grateful to be a part of, but COTN will try to stay in touch with Antoine, Bolivar and their family—hoping to encourage them emotionally and to somehow find a new life in their home of Haiti. Before he left, Chris Clark encouraged Bolivar to use his skills as a carpenter to possibly create new opportunities for his family in the future. “I think Chris planted a seed in his mind,” Dr. Vicki said.
FRIDAY - February 26, 2010 (3:00pm)
Last night, a small COTN medical team made up of two nurses from New York and San Diego and a logistics coordinator from Orlando arrived in Barahona, Dominican Republic. The team of three will take over as the medical team from the Seattle area heads home today. “The two physical therapists that have been here have been great because they specialize in amputees, so they’ve been doing a lot of great exercises with the kids,” said Ryan Nichols, who is serving as a COTN team host in the Dominican Republic.
Also leaving today are the remaining members of the counseling team, who worked in Haiti, teaching pastors and lay people how to do trauma counseling for their community and congregation members, as well as in the Dominican Republic at COTN’s medical clinic, helping the children and parents talk through the trauma of the earthquake.
The new medical team of three will continue to care for the Haitian children in COTN’s medical clinic along with their families. They will also help with any logistics of new patients, rehabilitation, and getting patients who are well enough, home to Haiti.