Hope in the darkness

Despite the worldwide relief effort that has unfolded since a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the country of Haiti in January, many problems loom for survivors: Hundreds of thousands of people need stable shelter as the rainy season sets in; a new healthcare crisis looms as patients face diseases caused by unsanitary living conditions; and schoolchildren can't return to classrooms where buildings have collapsed and teachers have died. In addition, for many Haitians, the dire conditions have left them with an even greater need: hope.

Karl Eastlack, CEO of World Hope International (WHI), a Christian aid organization that has been working in Haiti for nearly 15 years, said his group is now working hard to deliver practical help and spiritual hope in the hardest of conditions.

In visiting Haiti a few days after the quake, Eastlack remembers being approached by a Haitian couple with their sick baby. The father wanted Eastlack to keep their baby. "My wife and I won't survive, but you can give our son a chance to live," the man told Eastlack.

"What a sense of hopelessness that is apparent when you would give your child away for a chance for him to live," Eastlack said in recalling the event. "It broke my heart. I wanted to show them there was more than that-there is hope for another day that only comes through Jesus Christ."

Jo Anne Lyon founded WHI in 1996 after seeing great needs during a visit to Haiti. The organization has since expanded to help 22 countries around the world with relief and community development.

But unlike the other countries WHI reaches out to, Haiti always left Eastlack feeling discouraged. Even before the quake, Haitians endured hurricanes, leading to mudslides on deforested land. Another factor is the practice of voodoo by as many as 75 percent of the Haitian population.

"It's a dark, dark religion," Eastlack said. "It dominates people spiritually who are already feeling rather hopeless. Imagine what the quake stole from them-any sense of doing anything for themselves. Now they're at the mercy of the rest of the world. They don't have jobs, homes, barns. It's a general sense of discouragement."

WHI has been partnering with Wesleyan churches in the area to help with the physical and spiritual needs of the people. The organization wants Haitians to see WHI not as Americans dropping into the country to fix them, but rather as partners coming alongside churches and programs already in the country.

"When the crisis hit, the U.S. and Haiti governments turned to us to lead the way," Eastlack said. "We were well-positioned at the time of the quake; our footprint was large and we had knowledge of the local and national government."

WHI has since placed 10 sites in and around the capital where the group has been caring for the survivors' immediate needs of food, shelter, medical supplies, and clean water.

The group has been assisting orphanages, providing hospitals with medical supplies, and helping schools by sending U.S. teachers to help train Haitian teachers. WHI has also provided AIDS relief work, as well as helped boost the local economy and promote food sustainability.

Other plans include spring day camps for Haitian children that will include secondary education, vacation Bible school, and sports. The group also has 1,000 applicants for their Hope Corp program that will bring in short-term teams to help with the day camps, medical doctors to help at the clinics, and architects and engineers to help with the rebuilding. Through a three-year plan, WHI hopes to help survivors get back on their feet and back on track with their lives.

WHI is also trying to bring spiritual hope to the survivors by sending spiritual counselors to care for many of the survivors suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Many Haitians have nightmares and live with the fear that something bad is going to happen to them again. The counselors talk them through their fears and sense of hopelessness, and emphasize ultimate hope in Christ.

"We can give them sense of encouragement, said Eastlack. "We can reach out and tell them there is a new day coming."

Related coverage:

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