Dear friends,
Gonaives was shaken several times between 4:55 and 9:00 pm yesterday, but we are not really hurt physically as a city and a people. Nevertheless, different families are mourning over the death of their members in Port-au-Prince. Children who went to school there, employees, business people and merchants got killed. Moreover, Port-au-Prince being the place where all the government services are centralized, all the other cities will be handicapped socially and administratively for a long time until Port-au-Prince becomes operational again.
For some time now, the Lord seemed to be preparing us for a special mission in behalf of the rest of the country. Since the hurricanes Hanna and Ike, all the evangelical organizations and the churches in Gonaives have formed SELEEG, Service d'Entraide et de Liaison des Eglises Evangéliques Gonaïviennes, translated by: Service of Interaid and Liaison of the Evangelical Churches in Gonaives. I am the president of SELEEG which, together with the Eben-Ezer Mission, are mobilizing all our contacts throughout the country to gather the necessary information that will enable us to effectively enter into action.
Our first intervention is towards some orphans who are in Port-au-Prince, whose parents and a lawyer have approached us. They are about 30 to begin with. These children were already in bad shape, malnurished and otherwise. We have prepared housing and a staff to take care of them.
Other actions being taken are in behalf of the students coming back from Port-au-Prince. We are looking for schools to receive them, and working on finding scholarships and sponsorships for them. $20 a month is what we are attempting to raise for their scholarship, besides an average of $50 for clothing and other basic needs.
The Eben-Ezer Hospital has hired a surgeon and this experienced doctor will help us complete the package of services that will help meet the needs of the victims.
The suppliers of basic commodities in Port-au-Prince will be for some time in great difficulty. We have to find other ways to order merchandise from overseas. We have located warehousing facilities in Miami and New Jersey to receive donations. Remember, the port of Gonaives is the deepest in the Caribbean, after the one in Puerto Rico. We can accomodate boats from everywhere.
Our 23 room guesthouse with air-conditioning is available to all those who want to come and give us a hand. We need all kinds of workers in healthcare, construction, social workers etc. to come. They can use the guesthouse for their base.
Needless to say that funds are needed to help people all around who have urgent needs. You all know that there are very few organizations who are reliable and can be trusted with donations in behalf of the victims. Our government is completely out, especially when they are so severely hit. We hate to see our people treated in permanent and eternal victims. Let us start making plans to get them back on their feet! Your input is greatly needed. Our bank information for financial donation is provided at the bottom of this page, and physical address of our warehouse will be forwarded by email to those interested in helping.
Electricity is out, the phone companies are not operational, 2 of the 3 had their headquarters destroyed, the 3rd one is sometimes functional but with the whole nation trying to get through, it is clogged most of the time, we will do our best to keep in touch.
Thank you for your help and your prayers.
Michel Morisset
