Jim Kamstra and John Kottelenberg

On January 12, 2010, Jim Kamstra and I were visiting the Adoration Christian Centre project on behalf of the CDIA board when we experienced the Haiti earthquake first hand. We are still very mindful of His Protection given to us on that very difficult day. The need to go back and put some closure to our traumatic experience continued to grow stronger over the past few months. On June 17, Jim and I returned back to Haiti for a 5 days visit. What a blessing this was! We thank the board for giving their support for this visit and a generous supporter for providing us travelling vouchers.

Rubble, Rubble, Rubble … Tents, Tent, Tents

The above is an understatement. Rubble and tents are every way you look and everywhere you go. The damage done in the core of the city is beyond understanding and much worse than we expected.

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Parks are very few in Haiti, but there were some around the palace. Now, however, any green space is covered with tents. The capital city is very hilly. When you get on a hilltop and look across the valley and over to the other side you will see many, many tents. The living conditions in and around a tent city are very difficult. The tents are placed row on row with only about 2 or 3 feet between them. At one end of the field of tents, you will find a row of port-o-potties. When it rains, the water streams wildly between the tents. As you can imagine, the paths between tents become more and more muddy and sanitation becomes a bigger issue.

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As we travelled around the city, we noticed the many buildings that are still standing, but crooked and very unsafe. Other buildings lay collapsed and untouched in a form comparable to a stack of pancakes. The public has been told that if a building needs to come down, just throw the rubble on to the street. The government will take responsibility for picking it up… sometime, someday. Therefore, there is a lot of rubble on the streets. Rubble has caused the creation of many one lane streets. The bridge on Delmas 31 near the old school collapsed during the earthquake and is still out. If traffic was a problem before it is many times worse now.

Yet, you would not know it from the people themselves that the city is in such a state. The Haitian people are a very resilient people. They adjust to their circumstances and continue on. The children going to school are clean. The teachers, some living in tents, come to work dressed professionally. Indeed a new normalcy has developed.

Adoration Christian Centre (ACC) in Full Swing!

It was a huge blessing to see the new ACC on the temporary property perhaps functioning logistically even better than on the old property.

It is hard to believe that all this work could get done in a space of only three months. Randy and the Adoration team put together a very nice plan to maximize the use of the space. The property, offered for loan for the next 18 months, is situated on a hill. It slopes from right to left and from front to back therefore it had to be terraced to three levels.

Think of a rectangular sized lot with the building structures all around the outside. At the far left along the wall there is a row of seven classrooms facing the wall where a blackboard has been installed. The backs of the classrooms are wide open and are divided by a wooden partition with a tin roof overhead. Moving toward the right up one level (3 feet) higher, the kitchen, food storage and security staff residents are at the back and the principal/admin offices and pastors office are at the front end. In between the front and back is a large flat gravel covered area for the kids to play. Railings, that were taken from the old building roof top, have been secured on the retaining wall to protect the kids from falling down to the lower level.

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Moving to the right and up one level (again about 3 feet) you find the washroom and showers at the back end and the medical clinic at the front end. The coverall structure (30 x 50) sits in the middle providing shade and covering. This area will be used for assemblies, as a waiting area for the medical clinic and as a place to get out of the sun.

At the far right and front is the gated entrance to the property. Along the wall, water storage tanks have been installed on an elevated steel structure so water can be fed by gravity to the property. There is also space for a planned portable water treatment machine. At the back right corner, the generator has been installed with a protective wall around it.

A big thank you goes to Randy for all the organizing and planning, to our facility staff including teachers who joined in to help get ACC operational again, to the parents of our students who were hired to help with the work, to Kim and the teachers for getting the school resources and class rooms organized and to the many volunteer teams who came from Canada with short notice to help meet the goal of opening the school by the end of May. Thanks be to our God for His Provision.

Container

You may recall that in February, there was a call for disaster relief goods as a container was going to be sent by Jaylor (thank you for sharing), a partner of the Presbyterian Mission. The container did arrive in early May. We witnessed the handing out of the last of the tents and tarps, the installation of the generator and the erection of the coverall structure for church. All of these major items came on the container. Soup mix prepared by the Gleaners was on the container too. We witnessed the students being served meals topped with a healthy Gleaner sauce.

The Coverall Structure

One of the first decisions made immediately after the earthquake was to purchase a large coverall tent which was being offered at a very reasonable price by a third party company here in Canada. We did not know at the time how, when and where this structure would be used. However, when we were in Haiti, we not only helped to put it up, but we were able to experience its first use by the church and school assembly. The structure fit perfectly!

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ACC Memorial Assembly

To our surprise and unbeknownst to us when planning our trip, the Adoration staff had planned a memorial assembly. On Monday June 21, parents, students and staff all gathered in the new coverall structure to remember the loss of Samuel, our teacher, Guerdeson, our student gatekeeper and Mackson, one of our students. Kim Gringhuis, opened up the assembly. Teachers remembered each person and led in prayer. All the students got up to the front and sang beautifully for the audience. Randy prepared a message based on Job reminding us that God is in control, that all we have including our loved ones are His, that He gives and takes away, that our loved ones we lost are with Him in glory and that our life on earth is short compared to life eternal. Let us be ready to meet Him! Randy and Karen closed assembly by singing a beautiful hymn. For Jim and I, taking part in this event was worth the trip in itself and helped us to put closure to our earthquake experience.

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New Transportation

One of the first events Jim and I took part in after the earthquake, was to attend a fundraiser in the Fergus area. Its purpose was to raise funds for a new vehicle. The board had planned this event already before the earthquake. Having an unsafe vehicle and one that constantly breaks down is not responsible especially when you are travelling with your family and little children.

Over $25,000 was raised for the purchase of a new vehicle. The old car was sold and a dual cab pick up truck was purchased. When we were in Haiti we could ride in this new vehicle. Now Randy and Karen, Maia and (DV) a second child in the fall will be able to travel with more safety and without the worries of a car break down. They will also be able to transport people and goods much more readily. A big thank you goes to those who contributed for this purpose. Another huge blessing!

Disaster Relief Plan

While on our trip, Jim and I could help and be part of the last few days of Disaster Relief Phase II, which is now complete. The Adoration Christian Centre is up and running on a temporary property. The food distribution program is complete. All tents and tarps delivered by the container have been handed out.

Five months ago, it would have seemed impossible to be up and running so quickly. The Adoration team has completed a huge task. Our God has blessed Adoration and staff greatly with leadership, with provision of a property, with volunteers, with shipment of a container and with capable and willing Haitian staff.

New and Stronger Relationships

During our visit, we observed how relationships with the community, the teaching staff and facility staff have been strengthened. During the Disaster Relief Phase I and II programs, the very community that Adoration is allowed to serve was engaged in the process. The Lord has blessed this!

After the school assembly, one of the teachers designated to be the future principal of the school specifically asked to speak with us. He had been asked by many parents to speak on their behalf to us. He wanted us to pass on a big thank you for sticking with them during the difficult days and weeks after the earthquake by providing water and food. For getting the school back up and running so quickly and allowing them to help and earn some much needed money in the process. This gratitude we pass on to you, our supporters with thanks to our Heavenly Father for the many willing and generous hearts in supporting the work of Adoration Christian Centre.

There is much more to be written about new developments after the earthquake, not only in Haiti, but also here in Canada, but that will be passed along in the near future. We now look forward to what God has in store for us as we move to the last phase of Disaster Relief – Restoration and Rebuilding. This involves the development and construction of a permanent solution for the Adoration Christian Centre as well as assisting those whom we serve in the community with their needs in recovering from the earthquake.

To see more pictures go to the CDIA Picture Gallery

To Him be the Glory!
John Kottelenberg
On behalf of Jim Kamstra