Going home to help in Haiti

Where do you go when there’s no food or water, the world around you lies in ruins, and rescue is only a hopeful rumor?

After the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, many Haitians were faced with this dilemma. For some, the answer was “home,” back to the villages they had left in order to find work in Port au Prince: They made their way back to families already struggling in impoverished communities.

By the end of February, 59 families had returned to one of these struggling communities, Grande Saline, with only the clothes on their backs. Grand Saline, on the northern edge of Port au Prince, has become a community of refuge for many of those impacted by the earthquake.

That same month, the Rev. Dr. Lemaire Alerte, who serves as the American Baptist Home Mission Societies’ consultant for Haitian Ministries through the office of Black Church Ministries, went home too, to Grande Saline―a trip funded in part by donations to the Haitian Solidarity Fund. This fund was established by American Baptist Home Mission Societies to show unity with Haitian churches, pastors and the U.S. Haitian Alliance as members made plans to travel home to assist family members in rebuilding.

In Grand Saline, the Mahanaim Institution, founded in 2007, became a safe haven for many families fleeing Port au Prince. Because of the influx of Port au Prince youth, the need arose for the school to be enlarged to accommodate increasing numbers of returning families. New students were welcomed, given school supplies and counseling. Assistance included help with meals for all of the students, including children in three neighboring local elementary schools.

Before Dr. Alerte returned to his church, L’Eglise Evangélique Haitienne de Jésus-Christ in New Jersey, he met with a delegation of representatives from several religious and community organizations to plan future efforts in Grand Saline.

This group set up three stages of rebuilding. First, get the schools functioning. In many of the communities surrounding Port au Prince, children have had no school since the quake destroyed school buildings. Short-term plans include providing food and hygiene to those in distress; long-term efforts will be focused on building new homes.

Dr. Alerte and the Haitian Baptist churches in the United States, through the Haitian Baptist Alliance, are keeping in touch with Baptist churches in Haiti and responding to their calls for help.