by Alice Evans, Holt Managing Editor
We ask you to join us in helping these poor families, in the name of Jesus: “I was hungry and you gave me food… I was a stranger and you took me in.” (Matthew 25:35)
Holt International senior executive Dan Lauer is currently on the ground in Haiti, working out of Holt Fontana Village and the heavily hit village of Montrouis, where Holt does family preservation work. Speaking by telephone late yesterday afternoon, he reported all children at the Holt Fontana Village to be safe and well and already back in school. But there is heavy flood damage in nearby villages, with roads out and chaotic scenes of houses filled with rocks and mud from the mountains. Suffering from the blast and aftermath of three recent hurricanes, children and families in Holt International care in Haiti need our help now more than ever, he reported.
“The houses in Holt Fontana Village weathered the storm well,” Lauer said. “Peter Fontana did a great job in choosing the original site and locating the houses relative to potential water damage.” Lauer noted, however, that Holt contracts with a nearby resort for the water supply to the Village, and because of damage to the resort’s equipment, Holt currently must pay to transport water in tanker trucks from Port-au-Prince. Water costs $100 per load, and so far four loads have been necessary.
At the village of Montrouis, about a half hour from the Holt Fontana Village, Holt operates a family preservation program (Fanmi Ansanm) in conjunction with Rotary International and local Rotary Clubs in Haiti and Florida. Lauer said all 60 families who receive help from Holt have been heavily affected by the storms.
Staff members have visited about 15 families so far, going first to those that they believed were hit hardest. “Nobody was killed that we know of,” Lauer said. “But we are still struggling to get to them and have contracted with motorcycle drivers who can transport our staff.”
“The bridge over the river right next to the Fanmi Ansanm office lost a support post and is listing to one side,” Lauer said. “No automotive traffic can go over it, but thousands of people are passing over by foot. Public buses await them on the other side. They appear to be bringing home supplies from Port-au-Prince. Conditions are hot, with high humidity, and the smells are unbelievable. The flood waters have churned up all the garbage.”
Lauer noted the presence of United Nations helicopters as well as Red Cross trucks. “The greater aid response from the world is happening,” he said. “We feel like we need to focus at a micro-level. We want to concentrate on the children and families in our program and help get them through this crisis. We’ll step up our aid over the next year.”
Immediate plans to help include:
• Holt staff will physically visit and assess effects on all Holt-supported families.
• Holt will deliver a voucher for an emergency kit to each family that includes a blanket, rice and beans, cooking oil and butter. Families will need to come into the Fanmi Ansanm office to pick up the supplies.
“People are running out of food,” Lauer said. “We’re seeing a lot of human tragedy. The infrastructure is really busted up from the flooding off the mountains, with flash floods through towns. Many people were killed in one nearby town.”
If you would like to help Holt International in its efforts to provide assistance to families in Haiti, click here.
