Friends of Haiti,

We have been sending this since the summer of 1995, each month without fail and you might think during all that time, things would begin to change in the country of Haiti. There have been times of peace, politically and otherwise, but for the people and their living conditions, it seems either nothing changes or they get worse.

First, the earthquake, then the tropical storms that followed it in August and September. Then the cholera epidemic that began in the fall, that to date has killed over 5,000 people and sickened over 250,000. Then, as was feared with all those still living in the tent cities, the first week and days of June saw torrential rains fall on Port Au Prince, washing away homes, tents and everything in its path. There are at least 25 known dead to date from that.

If that isn’t enough, a report is about to be released that questions the number of people killed in the earthquake. It is a report filled with discrepancies and doesn’t take in to account the massive loss of life and buildings in the heavily hit outlying areas. This report says as “few” as 85,000 lost their lives, far fewer than the government in Haiti says. To say the least, this report has upset many, including the organization that sponsored the report. Why this makes any difference is not known to us. People — many of them — died, and the city of Port Au Prince along with neighboring towns were destroyed. The simple fact is that it did happen and very little has been done to start cleaning up and rebuilding.

Ministrywise, thanks to you, everything is running smoothly. All the feeding programs are operating at full capacity, the schools are as well and will have been released for the summer by the time you receive this, closing on the 17th.  More designated funds were received for our water project in Canaan during May, so we are good on that until August.

One thing the people in Canaan have asked us for is soap. Soap! We have been asked for about everything you can think of over the years, but never soap. They want it for bathing naturally, but also for hand washing because of the increase of cholera cases this month. So, if anyone would like to help with that, feel free to. We can’t buy what we need and take it there because of shipping costs, but we can buy it there and help their economy at the same time.

And as always, thank you for all you do to help. Without your giving and your prayers, it wouldn’t happen.

Serving HIM together,

Steve and Terry

Hi everyone,

It isn’t often we do this twice in one month, but information is about to be released we thought we should let you know about beforehand.

A Washington consulting firm, LTL Strategies, was hired by USAID to look at the impact of rubble removal programs so people could move back into their homes. To figure out how many people left their homes, the authors wanted to know how many people died and wouldn’t return. This study estimates the January 2010 death toll at no more than 85,000 and as low as 46,000. However, Mark Feierstein of the U.S. Agency for International Development says, “the report is problematic because the authors used statistical sampling that was not representative. The study didn’t include data from heavily damaged areas in Haiti’s countryside or from the number of houses that collapsed and killed people.” These figures are much lower than the commonly cited figure of 316,000, the count we have used many times and the one published by the Haitian Government.

As we have said and written many times since the earthquake, no one will ever know the true figure. Most of the buildings, and especially multi-floor buildings, sit now (17 months after the quake) as they did moments after it happened. No one has ever been the in first floor of many if not most … so how can they have an accurate count? They can’t. This report will do no good in Haiti. Haiti was in a crisis prior to the earthquake, much more of one since, and little has been done to improve it.

Our point is this: this far down the road from January 12, 2010, people are still living in tents. Except for the areas where there are feeding programs, people are starving. And now after days of heavy rains, people are dying from floods and still from cholera, which has again reared its ugly head and has already killed over 5000 people. Lets concentrate on that.

To us, the number of those who died is a moot point. The important thing is that many died, many homes were destroyed, many were and still are in need. You have responded to help in the areas of the country where we work, and those people are eternally grateful for the sacrifices you make for them.

Serving HIM together,

Steve and Terry

(Parts of this were taken from a report written by Trenton Daniel of the AP.)