RICHMOND, Va. — Despite the recent outbreak of cholera in Haiti, Virginia Baptists and their partners continue to focus on rebuilding homes destroyed in last January’s earthquake and constructing an orphanage for victims of the disaster.
Meanwhile, the Baptist World Alliance has sent emergency funds to help counter the cholera outbreak.
“Our response to the earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12 continues to strengthen as relationships, trust and mutual respect grow,” said Dean Miller, who coordinates disaster relief for Virginia Baptists. “There is much to do as we walk with our Haitian brothers and sisters. All of our efforts are helping them recover from the tragedy and move forward in order to become more self-sustaining and prosperous.”
Footings for the new orphanage funded in part by Virginia Baptists have been laid in a Port-au-Prince neighborhood. It will house about 50 children made homeless by the earthquake.
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Miller said Virginia Baptists’ primary focus over the next few months will be constructing homes and the orphanage.
The new homes are 16’ x 16’ solid block construction utilizing steel reinforcement bars in the walls and floor, each one costing about $3,500, said Miller. Six of these homes are complete and another 10 are scheduled to begin before the end of the year, he added.
“All labor is being provided by Haitian workers who have been hired by the construction company,” he said. “Homeowners are also assisting with the construction of their new homes. Volunteers are encouraged to travel to Haiti and work alongside these laborers.”
The orphanage, called Delmas 19, will be a three-story building with kitchen, housing for workers, maintenance and cafeteria on the first floor. The second floor will house a school for 250 children and the third floor will be housing for approximately 50 children left homeless after the earthquake.
A second building on the property will serve as a community center in which Haitians and volunteers will conduct job training classes, educational classes, Bible studies and worship.
In addition, Virginia Baptists will build bunk beds for the orphanage, plant a garden, dig a well and install a water purification system.
Miller said that at some point this summer volunteer opportunities will shift to ministering to children and leading continuing education and spiritual development workshops for Haitians.
“The recent cholera outbreak, while proving to be a setback for many volunteers and for the country as a whole, has not disrupted anything Virginia Baptists are currently doing,” said Miller. “We didn’t have any volunteers incountry at the time of the outbreak and none are scheduled to go in the near future.”
Miller said that Ronel Mesidor, a pastor in the Haiti Baptist Convention who chairs the convention’s crisis care team, will serve as onsite coordinator for all Virginia Baptist projects. The Haiti Baptist Convention is one of three Baptist organizations of churches in the island nation.
Mesidor will attend the annual meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, Nov. 9-10 in Hampton.
“As always Virginia Baptists are not working alone on these projects,” Miller said. “We are happy to partner with BWAid and Hungarian Baptist Aid in our efforts to bring stability back to the country.”
BWAid, the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance, has sent more than $12,000 in emergency funds to assist in the recent cholera outbreak.
The funds will be used by Haiti Baptist Mission, a BWA member body, to move patients, pay for medical supplies and provide clean water to those in need.
Edrice Romelus, superintendent for evangelism and former general secretary for Haiti Baptist Mission, told BWAid that 31 of the group’s churches are located in affected areas and would use the funds to provide “direct support” to those who are ill.
The Haitian government said several hundred people have died from the cholera outbreak. Officials fear the epidemic could become much worse if the disease should spread from the rural north into makeshift homeless camps around Port-au-Prince where more than 1 million homeless Haitians have lived since the earthquake.
Joel Dorsinville of the Haiti Baptist Convention of Haiti, also a BWA member body, said the convention is collaborating with medical personnel to survey the situation accurately. The group is also providing information and educating the public on how to prevent the disease from spreading.
Dorsinville said market prices have risen since the Dominican Republic, Haiti’s neighbor on the island of Hispaniola, closed its border over fear that the spread of the disease could harm the country’s large tourism business.
Robert Dilday is managing editor of the Religious Herald. Associated Baptist Press contributed to this article.