Good News for Haiti

A post from LWR’s Annalise Romoser, Acting Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, on advocacy efforts that bring greater hope for Haiti’s future.

 

A camp for homeless families set up on a golf course in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which was ravaged by a January 12 earthquake. Photo by Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance.

This past weekend, seven of the most powerful nations in the world made an unprecedented decision to help Haiti rebuild, not repay over $1 billon in crippling debt owed to the international community.

At a meeting on January 6, in the small arctic town of Iqaluit, leaders of what are known as the G-7 countries (Japan, Italy, Germany, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and France) announced they would lift all debt owed them by Haiti and work with multilateral institutions to ensure they also cancel Haiti’s debt. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner played a critical role in helping the G-7 make this wise decision.

The announced debt cancellation frees millions of dollars for Haiti to use on reconstruction and long-term development of critical public services and institutions. The G-7’s decision is one of the most promising moves made toward recovery in Haiti since the January 12 earthquake, and Lutheran World Relief‘s supporters helped make this happen!

A petition addressed to Secretary Geithner was circulated prior to the G-7 meeting calling on him to push for a complete cancellation of Haiti’s onerous debt. Over 400,000 people signed this petition including hundreds of LWR supporters who responded to an LWR action alert. The magnitude of public support for debt relief in Haiti played a major role in the G-7 decision. Melinda St. Louis, Deputy Director of Jubilee USA, a faith-based coalition working for debt relief in Latin America, Asia and Africa, explains, “We are glad that global leaders responded to the sensible and caring call of the grassroots. Thousands upon thousands of people agree that at this critical time all available resources should be used for reconstruction in Haiti and not to repay international financial institutions.”

The G-7 decision means that bi-lateral debt between Haiti and the G-7 nations will be lifted. More significantly, it means G-7 leaders with crucial influence over international financial institutions will work to cancel debt owed to these institutions. This is yet to be achieved, but we are confident the G-7 leaders will make this happen.

In addition to LWR constituent pressure on the U.S. Treasury Secretary, other effective advocacy efforts are taking place to free Haiti from Debt. In January, LWR and 80 other organizations sent a letter to Geithner asking that the U.S. government support the cancellation of Haiti’s debt and work to ensure that any disaster relief assistance be provided as grants, not loans to be re-paid. And members of Congress responded to their constituents’ call by pushing for debt relief. On February 4, for example, 94 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives led by Democrat Maxine Waters and Republican Ileana Ros Lehtinen sent a strong letter to Geithner calling for “the complete cancellation of debts owed by Haiti to multilateral financial institutions…and the provision of assistance to Haiti in the form of grants so that the country does not accumulate additional debt.” Senate initiatives to ensure Haiti’s debt cancellation were also gaining momentum and creating pressure on Geithner when the G-7 announcement was made.

Powerful global leaders made a compassionate and wise decision this weekend. It is clear they did so because they heard the voice of caring Americans, responded to the pressure of committed politicians and heeded the advice of experienced relief and advocacy organizations. Amidst the unimaginable destruction and sorrow experienced by Haitians, it is difficult to know how best to help from afar. But LWR supporters have not been paralyzed by a sense of inadequacy. On the contrary, you have offered critical financial support and volunteer efforts making quilts and kits to bring comfort to the people of Haiti and to help them recover. And through your advocacy actions this past week, you have helped the country break free from crushing debt. Your advocacy means that Haiti will be better poised to care for its people — to build new schools, educate medical doctors, plant more crops, strengthen local economies and develop with an independence and dignity that burdensome debt simply would never allow for. YOU are helping Haiti rebuild and not repay.

More on Haiti’s debt history and cancellation:

Haiti is the most impoverished nation in the Western Hemisphere, with 80% of its citizens living in abject poverty. When the January 12 earthquake hit, Haiti was saddled with a $1.051 billion dollar debt. On average, the Haitian government was spending $58 million a year in debt payment, diverting precious funds away from fighting poverty. Over half of the country’s debt was owed to multi-lateral banks such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. The rest consisted of bi-lateral debt owed to other countries such as Venezuela and Taiwan. Prior to January 12, it was projected that over the next decade, Haiti would pay $100 million to the IMF and World Bank alone.

Most disturbing about Haiti’s crippling debt is that 45% of it was incurred under the Duvalier dictatorships — a time when the Haitian people had almost no say in government decisions or control over how national resources were spent. Decades after the dictatorships, it is the Haitian people still paying for the damaging decisions of an undemocratic regime. In addition, Haiti’s original debt has largely been repaid. The $58 million Haiti now pays each year, represents debt service payments —essentially high interest rates that make complete debt repayment illusive.

Soon after the earthquake, Venezuela promised to forgive a considerable portion of Haiti’s debt, and in the last weeks of January advocacy efforts with Congress, the Administration and U.S. Treasury lead to a government announcement that the U.S. would work to cancel Haiti’s bi-lateral and multi-lateral debt.

Debt forgiveness means that Haiti’s own resources and contributions by foreign governments can now be used to re-build, develop and sustain a stronger, more independent Haiti. In the midst of destruction and despair, the decision of G-7 leaders to cancel Haiti’s over $1 billion debt, represents new hope for Haiti’s future.

More from Rev. Harrison

LWR's board member Matthew Harrison, Executive Director of LCMS World Relief and Human Care, returns to Haiti

Today (February 1) we made our way slowly through the refugee camp at Jacmel, south of Port-au-Prince. An area some 175 yards square, encompassed by a high concrete wall, surrounds perhaps a thousand makeshift tent shelters. At one end of the camp, smiling ten-year-old boys fly kites made from garbage (soaring to amazing heights), indicative of the resilience of the human spirit in dire crisis. All around the camp in the heart of the city, home after home is collapsed. The rubble has been pushed and swept aside so that cars can pass. Tents (Coleman is a very popular brand) pop up everywhere and fill the streets to impassibility in the evening. Most feel unsafe sleeping inside buildings, even three weeks out. A great many of the buildings left standing are not safe.

Pastor Markie Kessa’s eyes betray fatigue. “All this happened in 28 seconds…” He shakes his head as tears well. The LCMS Mercy Medical Team commenced a clinic this morning and treated some 150 patients by afternoon. We had been alerted to critical need at a local hospital and diverted our orthopedic surgeon, one emergency doctor, and a nurse to assist. There were 300 there today, including an infant with head injuries who had survived three days buried in the rubble. While her mother clutched her, not 25 yards away another large family was on death watch for their beloved mother. Children and the elderly, and all in between, occupied makeshift beds outside under tarps. There was deep appreciation for our prayers and pastoral care.

What strikes me most about today is that the Haitians here south of Port-au-Prince are overwhelmingly alone. The Canadians occupy the small airstrip and were certainly cordial and supportive of our presence. The soldiers we spoke to in the refugee camp looked exhausted. I asked, “What’s the most significant need you are dealing with?” One quipped, “The need for a shower.” They’d been on the ground nearly from the beginning of this three-week marathon. Everything about them longed for home--or at least longed for anything but this muddy, noisy, foul-smelling, makeshift camp.

We drove through the traumatized streets of Jacmel. We saw no police, no military, and no heavy equipment to remove rubble--no government presence whatsoever. A few NGO vehicles passed by now and again. As far as Jacmel is concerned, what struck me was that the Haitians are handling this virtually alone. Passing by block after demolished block, I was struck by the massive nature of this problem. If this had occurred in the U.S., the entire area would be cordoned off, surrounded by military. Building by building would be demolished. But I saw nothing of that. Individuals digging in mountains of concrete stared blankly as we passed, gloved hand hanging in fatigue by their numbed sides. Still the streets in places are bustling with activity--makeshift shelters, street carts, shops, and the omnipresent Coleman pup tents.

It’s rather obvious to me that there will be no grand solution to Haiti’s ills. There will be pockets and places that receive attention and a lot of it. There will be fantastic aid given and capacity increased. There will be confusion and chaos. There will be hundreds of thousands, yes millions, who go about their lives “falling between the cracks,” as it were, with homes neither totally leveled nor safe for continued dwelling. They’ll patch the cracks as best they can and turn to the future. In other words, Haiti will be Haiti.

I am struck again by the kindness of the Haitians--their ready greetings, their deep appreciation for a word of love, a touch, and a prayer, a blessing in Christ’s name. This graciousness has been universal thus far. I’ve seen thousands upon thousands of traumatized people. I’ve spoken to hundreds and not been put off, not sneered at, not jeered once--not a single time.

Everyone has a story. Every story is filled with significance and meaning and pain and death and lives spared. The most significant factor here in Haiti is a people who--in the midst the greatest chaos, corruption, and government dereliction in the hemisphere--manage to rise each day to a new task, a new opportunity, a new hope. And the majority of those I’ve met are Christians, know they are baptized, and say things like, “Pastor, I don’t know… I just trust in God.” Or, “I know Jesus.”

Honestly, I feel exhausted and empty tonight. We will be able, are able to help such a relatively small number of those affected. For some reason, Jesus’ parable of the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to seek the one, turns in my mind and has been doing so all day today. Our vocation is not to save the ninety-nine, but to seek the one. One at a time. One here and one there. One child cared for. One person nursed to health. One life saved. One hurting soul comforted with the name of Jesus. One man loved. Our vocation is not to change Haiti, or to change the whole world, or to change the economic realities with which Haitians wrestle. Our vocation is to act and make a life-changing difference one at a time. And acting one at a time, we find that over some hours, over a few days, and over a couple of weeks, the flock of those helped in the name of Jesus has grown to be surprisingly large.

Pastor Matthew Harrison
Executive Director, LCMS World Relief and Human Care
Board Member, Lutheran World Relief

Luterana

Community gathering place built with LWR funds

Pastor Meredith Keseley traveled with a Lutheran World Relief study tour to Nicaragua on a Marian Stegemoeller Memorial Scholarship in 2005. She recently led a group from her congregation (St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Washington, DC) on a mission trip to Nicaragua. She is preparing to take a new call at Lutheran Church of the Abiding Presence in Burke Virginia.

Pastor Meredith shares her reflection on the impact of Lutheran World Relief in Nicaragua:

Luterana
 
What a difference five years makes! Five years ago, I first visited the cooperative project in La Reyna. The community had just started the eco-tourism project when I visited with a group from Lutheran World Relief on a fair trade coffee growing tour. This week I visited the community again, this time with the St. Paul’s Mission Team.

There have been many changes to this rural coffee growing community. When I stayed with them five years ago there was no indoor plumbing whatsoever. There were latrines and bucket showers. Now, all the homes that hosted members of our team had a working toilet and some had a shower. A new pavilion had been built as a gathering place for when groups like ours come to visit. Many of these improvements had been the result of a partnership with Lutheran World Relief.

To my knowledge there is not a single Lutheran in the cooperative at La Reyna. There are two churches associated with the community, one Catholic and one Evangelical. Yet, when you mention the word “Luterana” (that’s “Lutheran” in Spanish) everyone knows what you mean. Luterana is how they refer to Lutheran World Relief, one of the international outreach organizations supported by Lutherans in the United States.

To this community “Luterana” means toilets (indoor ones) and better wet mills for coffee that reduce pollution from the “honey water” that released during the process. “Luterana” means funds to build a community gathering place and a new shrine to the community’s patron saint after the old shrine was knocked down by a tree. “Luterana” means training in English and tourism for their young people and funds to help build homes in the cooperative. “Luterana” in the cooperative doesn’t necessarily mean a group of people who gather by themselves on a Sunday morning in a church, it means a group of people who stand ready and willing to support when the community identifies a need.

This isn’t a bad definition of “Luterana”. In fact, it is a definition of our faith community that I wish more people had. For those who are interested, you can learn more about what Lutheran World Relief is doing not only in Nicaragua, but also around the world at www.lwr.org

Some Updates

Just over two weeks after the earthquake in Haiti and our relief efforts  are in full swing.

This morning I was pleased to receive word that LWR’s second shipment of material aid will soon be on its way to Haiti. In partnership with International Relief and Development, we are sending 11,550 quilts and 1,675 health kits. These will be distributed in Leogane, a town southwest of Port-au-Prince that was badly damaged by the earthquake. Our first shipment—containing 1,500 layettes and 650 health kits—arrived safely earlier this week and is being distributed in the Port-au-Prince area.

We’ve received a great response to our call for more health kits and quilts. Our headquarters staff has spoken to many people wanting to know how to start a ministry and how to get things to us fast. All I can say is…thank you and keep it up! We still need very much need your help to meet the needs in Haiti and around the world. 

We also ask you to continue to keep Haiti in your thoughts and prayers. The media attention is quickly turning elsewhere, but LWR is not. We are planning a long-term response aimed at building better lives for people in Haiti. I cannot stress this enough—we cannot do this work without your support.

I invite you to take a moment to visit our “Prayers for Haiti”  page. There you can share a prayer for the people of Haiti or simply read the prayers of others.

Thank you for all that you are doing to support this life-saving relief effort.

Critical Issues in Haiti

More from Rev. Matthew Harrison

It's Tuesday afternoon, the 26th of January and I'm somewhere over the Caribbean en route to Miami. I'm tired. I'm filled with anxiousness as we move toward the next phase of disaster relief for Haiti. The assessment team was present with the Haitian Lutherans. The team listened. The team saw what needed to be seen. Those of us who remained working in Jimani at the hospital have a very clear understanding of the medical issues which will be faced as we move to establish a temporary hospital in Jacmel, which is the heart of the Lutheran areas in Haiti, and the heart of an area underserved.

Working with the Dominican World Mission team, we have a boat contracted to bring tents specifically requested by the partner church, including larger tents for a hospital, examination rooms, etc. A second Medical Mercy Team will hit the ground in Jacmel on Sunday. They will immediately begin treating wounds related to trauma, especially orthopedic issues. We know from our medical teams, and from the consultation provided by Jimani MMT member, Dr. William Maloney (from whose report I am borrowing liberally), that there is a four to six week period to properly treat broken bones, reset poorly treated breaks and treat infections and infected amputations in order to avoid longer term complications.

Childhood mortality from infectious disease will be on the increase do to the weakened state of many children who were already in a situation of compromised health before the quake. This will require an immediate vaccination effort. A mortality rate of as much as 30% can result in such situations. There is an immediate need for vitamin supplementation for at- risk children. Cholera, measles and meningitis outbreaks are likely and will need to be treated immediately. Acute malnutrition is likely for many, particularly due to the rapid increase in the number of orphans, loss of income, families, etc. LCMS World Relief will assist the local church in establishing food distribution in cooperation and coordination with the local church, and in proximity to the clinic(s). By the way, from all indications there is an abundance of available food in the Dominican, and every dollar saved on shipping costs buys another dollar of rice or beans while contributing to the local economies of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. And at the suggestion of President Kessa, and with the help of Ted Krey, we have secured a boat for regular food shipment from Santiago to Jacmel.

Over the period of 2-6 months there will be an overwhelming need for physical therapy, pastoral care and counseling, prosthetics, rehab, etc. The high number of amputations will require an aggressive prosthetics program. Traveling to developing countries (and this especially true of Haiti) one notices many individuals who have been handicapped by injury or birth defect, who live life begging and in squalor having little or usually no access to prosthetics and other treatment we take for granted in the U.S. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder counseling and training will be broadly needed, particularly for Haitian Lutheran clergy, health workers, aid workers and others.

Vocational assistance and housing will be long-term issues. It remains to be seen whether and what housing solutions come to the fore. There will no doubt be a large hodgepodge of housing solutions, most driven by the ingenuity and need of locals, but likely with relatively few dwellings being built with materials and methods meant to withstand future quakes. I well recall tent cities in many areas affected by the great Asian Tsunami, lasted for years. Micro-loan programs have been operated by LWR, LCMS World Relief and many partners for decades, and will be especially necessary in this situation. We must make every effort to train, serve and encourage talented and eager Haitians (of which, there is no shortage). They themselves are now, and will be the key force behind this effort at recovery. And these very talented individuals will arise from unlikely and very surprising places. It is they who hold the key to the future recovery and long-term improvement in their own country. LWR health kits and quilts, and later, school kits, will be vital treasures for months and months to come.

I noticed something while studying Jesus' actions to assist those in need. When the text uses the great word for "compassion" (splachnizesthai) of Jesus, his concern for the needy never stops at mere empathy. Jesus always acts. He never fails to act. So shall American Lutherans. Help us come alongside our old and soon to be new Haitian friends. Thrivent is offering matching dollars for gifts to LCMS World Relief, and to LWR. The Lutheran Foundation in St. Louis is now matching gifts to LCMS World Relief up to a total of $750,000!

Pastor Matthew Harrison
Executive Director, LCMS World Relief and Human Care
Board Member, LWR

Let us Pray

Along with your gifts and requests to help the people of Haiti, many of you have sent along beautiful prayers. I’m pleased to announce that LWR has created a forum for you and others to share your prayers for the people of Haiti.

Take a moment to post a prayer if you feel so moved or read the prayers that others have posted.

I cannot say this enough (so I will say it again)—thank you, thank you, thank you for your overwhelming support, generosity and compassion in the face of this devastating disaster.

Leave it to the New Yorker

In an earlier post I described briefly the chaos that ensued on I believe, the 23rd of January at the hospital compound in Jimani, when a significant tremor struck the area. 1500 patients and family members, doctors, nurses, children, locals, expatriates all ran for their lives and out of the buildings. One poor man jumped from the second story of the large orphanage turned to hospital. His leg had been amputated, but now his pelvis was fractured.

Rev. Ted Krey, who had been ministering to these people one by one for days (along with his incredibly capable team), said, "Just walk among the people and calm them." We went about praying, sitting, talking, singing, reassuring ­ being present. After about 20 minutes a man stood up and began to lead the people in Creole hymns. The African style singing was a stark faith-filled contrast and antidote to the terror, weeping and fright now ebbing. Another fifteen minute or so later, a man stood from the second floor balcony with a bullhorn. He began shouting, telling the people to have courage, it is the end of the world. While I'd be hard pressed to reject the content of his eschatology ("When all these things begin to take place, look up for your redemption draweth nigh."), his preaching did anything but calm the crowd. And calm was what was needed as all the patients now needed to be re-triaged, having pulled loose bandages, I.V.s, damaged treated wounds, etc., scrambling out of the building.

Pastor Ted immediately suggested we begin handing out the meals to calm the crowd. It worked. One of the first one to whom I offered the Styrofoam container was an older Haitian man, stout with a majestic countenance. He sat next to his relatives more seriously hurt than himself, head in hand, weeping. As I extended the tray to him, he shook his head, "no." The crowd was completely calm again when a man (whether the same as the earlier one I do not know) climbed on top of a trailer, bullhorn in hand and began to try to stir up the crowd again. Neither do I know if he was intent on the same eschatological rant. In any case, the wheel-chaired Haitian immediately shouted to the young stirrer in Creole. Not knowing a lick of Creole, I'll offer a conjectured translation: "Sit down and shut up you fool! These people don't need this now!" His deep authoritative voice immediately accomplished its goal.

After all the meals had gone out, and the truck had run to get more, I sat on the sand in front of his wheel chair. I apologized, speaking only the few words of Spanish and French I know (If only I'd paid more attention to my French speaking Grandmother when she was alive), telling him I could not converse in those languages (much less Creole). He responded in crystal clear English. "No problem, we can speak in English." My eyes opened wide and a smile marked my face.

"Where did you learn such good English?"

"I live in New York, I was just down here vacationing, visiting my relatives."

"Some vacation," I responded! We had a nice chat about life, about God, about family. He hoped he and his injured wife (I believe) would leave for home (Long Island) the next day.

Even in the chaos of international disaster, it takes a New Yorker to get the job done. "Now shut up and sit down!"

The larger point is that the Haitians themselves and their Dominican neighbors will be the most significant leaders in responding to this disaster. And any long term and lasting improvement of lives which happen from the capacity built by accompanying, by coming along side the thousands upon thousands of still healthy, bright, effective Haitians who know their culture, and will be the key to a better future.

That's what LWR is about.

Pastor Matthew Harrison
Executive Director, LCMS World Relief and Human Care Board Member, LWR