I returned from Haiti at the end of October 2011 and many people asked me:“… have things improved?...” There is not an easy answer to that question.  In some area things are unchanged from January 12, 2010. In others areas things are worse, if that is possible. But happily there are areas that are better and even areas that are much better.

One of the Jewels in the crown is the Baptist School in Grand Goâve, Haiti. The Christian community has rallied around to rebuild and with the help of Volunteers from American Baptist and Cooperative Baptist Churches have nearly completely the Siloé Baptist School. The local population now says that it is the most beautiful school in Grand Goâve.

Another Jewel is the re-emergence of the ‘We can do it attitude!’ of many grass-roots Haïtiens.  When Doctors without Boarders decided to shut down the Cholera Treatment Center in Haut Limbé because DWB thought that the epidemic was over and wanted to consolidate their resources, the staff at the Ebenezer Clinic said that they will continue the service themselves.  They have been successful.  The payoff? When 50 children at a nearby school contracted cholera the staff was ready for the challenge.

Third and by no means the last is the Baptist Women of Haiti under the leadership of American Baptist Missionary Kihomi Ngwemi cooperating with Community Health Evangelism have launched massive health education and community sanitation programs.

Of course none of this makes the O’clock News, but it is certainly encouraging to those who are diligently working to make Haiti and this world a better place.

Donations are still being accepted and can be made on the IM website.  Go to www.internationalministries.org/items/80   or write a check made payable to “One Great Hour of Sharing – Haiti Earthquake Relief” and mail to: International Ministries, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482, or make a check payable to your church and write “Haiti Earthquake Relief” in the memo section.

Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with eight out of ten people living in extreme poverty, is about the size of Maryland, and is located on the western half of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.  The Dominican Republic is on the eastern half.  The northern portion of Haiti, where most of IM’s mission work has been located, is approximately 100 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter.