January 21, 2010

The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) will focus its current emergency relief efforts in Haiti on the town of Leogane, about 20 miles west of Port au Prince, in coordination with other international non-government and Christian organizations responding to the January 12 earthquake and ongoing tremors.

"Ninty percent of Leogane's residents have lost their homes," said CRWRC's Disaster Response Director, Jacob Kramer, of the town of about 175,000 people. "CRWRC and one of its Haitian partners, PWOFOD, have ongoing programs in Leogane, and there is a Haitian Christian Reformed Church there. The people already know us, and we can work with local leaders to carry out an immediate relief response."

Long-term, CRWRC has worked with PWOFOD in urban Port au Prince and surrounding neighborhoods to train local leaders to do community outreach, begin micro-loan programs for business, and teach adult literacy.

The United Nations recently reported that Leogane was one of the areas worst hit by last Tuesday's quake. Their local market was already dependent on outside food shipments, and this need has now increased.

"Right now, we are using cash to buy food locally for distribution," said Kramer, "but these supplies will soon run out. We will then have to ship food in." In disaster response, CRWRC seeks to purchase supplies as close to the event as possible to support local economies and keep shipping costs down.

CRWRC's earthquake response is being organized by Ad deBlaeij, a mission worker living in Haiti since 1982, and Ken Little, a Senior Disaster Response Project Manager from North America. They are being joined today by three experienced volunteer managers from Edmonton, Alberta, and Fremont, Michigan.

Lee Mys, from Michigan, served with CRWRC in Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami and led food distributions in Kenya during recent droughts.

Following the 2004 tsunami, the Tom and Alida Fernhout spent three-and-a-half years in Sri Lanka managing the construction of more than 800 permanent houses there. Last summer, the Fernhouts went to Haiti to implement CRWRC's response to the three hurricanes. They distributed food and seed to restart crop planting, handed out goats to restart income earning, and oversaw the drilling of 15 new, fresh water wells.

Financial contributions for CRWRC's response are urgently needed. Every dollar makes a difference. Give online at http://www.crwrc.org/, or by phone at 1-800-55-CRWRC. Checks marked, "Haiti Earthquake 2010," can be sent to: CRWRC, 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue, S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49560-0600.

CRWRC is a faith-based relief and development organization with 45 years of expertise, including Hurricane Katrina and Asia Tsunami response. CRWRC is active in more than 30 of the world's poorest countries, seeking to "live justice" and "love mercy" by working with 160 national partner organizations in their communities to end poverty and hunger.

CRWRC is a member of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), and InterAction. Give with confidence.

For more information about CRWRC's Haiti earthquake response, go to: http://www.crcna.org/pages/helphaiti_2010.cfm.

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee