An Oasis of Hope

29th November 

An oasis of hope

Port au Prince is an extraordinary city to navigate. I don't think there can be a single decent road, much of it is on a steep mountainside and what passes for main roads are joined together by rubble-strewn, dirt tracks. Cars, trucks and taxis compete for the best path through the potholes and every journey takes literally hours longer than seems possible. Cheers go up when the driver is able to shift into second gear. 

Travelling today we saw more buildings devastated by the earthquake; a concrete spiral staircase lying prone as a lasting memory of the power of the earth on that day. Yet on the opposite side of the street stood a solid, well presented building which raises the question what makes the difference?  - Was it the power of the earth or the lack of political power to enforce building regulations that caused the disaster?'. Comparisons are made between this earthquake and that which hit Chilli more recently. Chilli had a far worse earthquake and lost about 200 lives. Haiti lost 230,000. 

Such a huge number of people. Everyone was touched by it. Talking to Ricot, the communications manager for Compassion in Haiti, we discovered that his brother died during the quake but that after a few days he had realised that there wasn't time for personal grief, this was bigger than a family bereavement and that everyone needed to step up and serve the devastated community. He said 'we just had to find those who were alive, pick up the children, tend to the sick'. It took him a year to account for all the sponsored children in Haiti but he did.

I have been deeply touched by these men who work for Compassion, they are not just employees, or officials who distribute the aid. They are fantastic men and women with a passion for serving the communities. They are deeply loved and respected by the children and staff in the partner projects and their energy and enthusiasm for what they do is contagious. 

We visited a project today which serves and protects over 500 kids. Amazing. We saw the child survival programme which targets the early years. World wide 26,000 children die a day preventable diseases. That's 26,000 preventable deaths. The Child Survival Programme looks to support mothers through pregnancy and birth and then to provide immunisations, health checks and parental education . 

On the wall is a list of 50 names with a photo beside, these children are individuals not just numbers, and their weights and vaccinations are recorded alongside. On the floor mums sit on a carpet with their babies and toddlers playing with the toys. It's such a normal picture - just a mums and toddlers group. And yet it's not so normal as we see when we visit the home of Gina - one of the Mums.

Gina lives just a stones throw away from the church in a tent like the ones I saw yesterday only this one is erected on a steep slope and looks like it wouldn't take much persuasion to slide down to the bottom. It's as hot inside as I had imagined and there is no space - my girls have a bigger Wendy house. I can't begin to imagine how you can live there, raise a baby and a child there. Gina says her child is often sick because of the heat. 

Gina is lovely, she has made the most of her sackcloth tent- hung lacy curtains to separate the bed from her room, created an awning to have somewhere to cook. She is being a mum, making a home with what she has, providing for her family, but the Child Survival Programme makes all the difference. I can only imagine the relief of going to the cool shade of the barn like church and sitting on a proper carpet and letting your children play with brightly coloured toys. It's an oasis of calm and peace in a desert of squalor. It's hope in a building. Hope in a family. Hope in a child. 

Hope even in the face of news that Gina and her family are to be evicted from their home of two years - the land owner wants to rebuild and they are in the way. Such devastating news in a situation which had seemed like it couldn't get any worse.

 Gina is like me. A mum who wants above all to take care of her kids. There have been times when I haven't been able to do it alone and I've needed some help from people who love me. Gina needs people who love her more than I ever have, but in her church, through the support of the programmes, she has that love and support. Its compassion in action.