For over 2 years now, our main mission office has been surrounded by a tent camp. These people were mainly people living in the area of our office who have not gone back to their original living situations for 1 reason or another. Many of them come from the ravine behind our office which is not a great situation either. They represent approximately 120 families, but the average Haitian family is around 5 people so that is a lot of people! Living in a tent camp is miserable. Recently I believe it has been unbearable. Haiti's rainy season started early this year in mid-March and we've received over 16 inches of rain already! It has rained night after night in Port-au-Prince. I can't imagine trying to sleep in a tent while inches of rain are dumped on me every night. It has been horrible. Our office has been planning for almost 6 months how to resolve the issue of this camp outside. We wanted to help these people but we weren't sure how to go about it. We have developed a relationship with the Mayor of Delmas who offered to help us with security and logistics if we were to provide the funds for helping the people find another suitable location to live. Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) agreed to provide $500 USD to every family (which is a government mandated amount) for better living conditions for 6 months. We worked alongside the government in meeting with the people and sharing with them how we wanted them to move on with their lives after the earthquake and find something that can more adequately take care of the needs of their families. Last week, before Easter the people received their money and were supposed to vacate the property in 2 days. Today, outside our office looks like a wasteland of people living and then having moved on. I pray that all the people in the camp have found somewhere dry to stay and that God will bless their families and provide for the next 6 months after our gift is over.
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