In the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, God has called ordinary people to an extraordinary calling. Michel Valentin, featured in the video below, is one such individual. Valentin is now working full-time with the Foundation for Peace to build up our ministries in Haiti in partnership with local churches.

"But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." ~Isaiah 40:31

Great Idea from a Group Member

Hey everyone!

It has been sometime since I last contributed on this blog or on my own. The Foundation for Peace staff and group members have been hard at work building a school, attending to medical needs, spreading gravel, building soccer goals and volleyball courts in Camp Hope (ARC) in Fond Parisien, Haiti. I have been enjoying every second of my time in Haiti and every time I go to work it becomes more difficult for me to leave. Over these past few months I have had the blessing to meet and work with so many wonderful people who have signed up for some hard work in the sun. With each new group a new wave of fresh and enthusiastic energy is spread throughout the entire FFP staff. It is such an awesome experience! I saw that one of our group members, Jean Lee has come up with a great idea to raise money for even more Haitian relief! Jean is selling these shirts online for only $20 and all the proceeds go to Foundation for Peace's earthquake relief effort. I just ordered one and I know that Wendy did as well! I look forward to receiving mine in the mail when I go home for my visit! I encourage you to check out the shirt. It is for a great cause and it is quite the fashion statement! Take care and God bless!

Amazing Video from Good Samaritan Hospital and Haiti

This video, found on You Tube, was shot by a volunteer who spent two weeks at Good Samaritan Hospital in Jimani. It captures the great need of the Haitian people but also their overwhelming Spirit. We pray you're blessed viewing it. Remember, the Haitians continue to need our help and will for years to come.

Video from Haiti Trip #4 - ARC Camp Hope

Here's a slide show from trip 4JIM. The group worked at the ARC Camp Hope in Fond Parisien.

Testimony from Haiti Trip #3 (2/7-2/13)

By Susan Sciarratta, Woodside Presbyterian Church, Yardley, PA

As we prepared to re-enter the United States on February 13, I reflected much on our past week’s work in Haiti and Jimani. What stood out most was the juxtaposition of goodness and evil, life and death, beauty and ugliness, laughter and tears, heartbreak and hope, in all that surrounded us. The monotony of tents against the majestic backdrop of the Haitian mountains…a newborn set of twins sleeping a few feet away from a dying grandmother….the abundant food and medical supplies with no system of distribution….the little girl rescued from being trapped underground for two days, whose aunt told us that she would have been better off dead along with her mom and baby brother…the boy with the distended belly smiling as his mother bathed him…the traumatized Haitians refusing shelter in a building for fear of the aftershocks.

I learned to say three phrases in Creole: Good morning/afternoon, How are you, and God bless you. That was truly enough to touch people. God’s grace and His Holy Spirit filled in the blanks when words failed. Not surprisingly, the language barrier lent quite a few comical moments. I approached an older gentleman and greeted him with my best Creole. He didn’t say much. Then my friend Lynne came up and said, “Hi!” The man responded -- in perfect English -- “Hey, where are you guys from anyway?” It turns out he was from Florida and was in Port au Prince at the wrong time. I really enjoyed praying with him because he actually understood what I was saying. Also, I had a nice conversation with three young women who had escaped their university building during the earthquake; we spoke through Isidro (FFP staff) who speaks both Spanish and Creole. I enjoyed being in many such conversations where combinations of Spanish, French, Creole, and/or English were volleyed back and forth.

My favorite work project was building five private shower stalls at the Love A Child camp. I worked with Emily, Branko, Pastor Bronny, Isidro, JJ, and a couple of Haitian volunteers. A truly global effort! Not only was it great to complete this project in less than a day, it was gratifying to see the showers being used immediately after we completed them. It was a simple way to restore a little dignity to our Haitian brothers and sisters.

As I conducted my work, I felt like a soldier of Christ on the battleground of good versus evil. Armed with my breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the sword of the Spirit, and some copies of Creole scripture, I went from tent to tent with a big smile and a heavy heart. The best part of my trip was sitting with the refugees at their tents, listening to their stories and then praying with them. We were so blessed to have Vicki and Anide with us, who could translate between English and Creole. I know that God did not send me to Haiti because of my biceps or brawn or background in First Aid, but the blessing that I could be to my Haitian brethren in just being present. The gift of presence cannot be overrated. We were so affirmed when one woman said, “Today is the first day I feel like a human being.” It was not the tent, medical care, or food that she received, but the nourishment of God’s love provided by a simple human touch.

This place truly was a battleground. So many tragedies and evils abounded; the helicopter crash, the two traumatized Haitians who jumped to their death following an aftershock, the renegade group leader who undermined our mission at the ARC camp, the feelings of defeat and worthlessness that so often plague missionaries. But ever faithful, God reminded us of His holy presence, His completeness, and His redemptive grace. I have never seen the night sky so brilliant as that first night in Jimani. God, you took my breath away. You gave me the holy privilege of building up the body of Christ, one tent at a time. You showed me amputated limbs and broken bones lifted up to You in worship and praise, one month after the earthquake. Unbroken spirits. The hypnotic rendition of “Breathe” sung by our FFP friends in Spanish, which lifted me so high. We came face to face with You in every person that we touched. You provided us a cloud of witnesses from Vermont to Ecuador, and together we ran with perseverance, restoring Your goodness, with eyes fixed on our Lord and Savior.

I don’t know how the story will end. I pray that hearts will be softened throughout Hispaniola. I pray that the world will not soon forget the plight of the Haitians. And I pray that this devastated country will be rebuilt on the foundation of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Testimony from Haiti Relief Trip #1 (1/31-2/6)

By Warren E. Wilhide, Sr, WEWilhide@cs.com, Hilltop Church, Mendham, NJ

What an experience! What a life changing experience. In Haiti, I saw such need in situations where you are able to truly help others, and where there are many critical opportunities all around you. Help is needed now – the sooner, the more meaningful.

Of course, this trip included some hardships such as hot temperatures without air conditioning, dust and dirt, Johnny toilets (or none), 8 days without a shower, and being involved with things of such importance, that using a bathroom was often forgotten until things became urgent. But, what rewards come from knowing you are making a difference to people in their time of great suffering and need.

The team I was part of for this trip were mostly medical professionals, mostly from New Jersey. I felt very fortunate to have been accepted for this trip (as a civilian). I offered to do anything I could to assist or support the medical people, or jobs no one else wanted to do. Believe me, there was plenty of meaningful work for everyone. The night before our 6 hour bus ride to the Haitian border, we all helped salvage wood from old pallets, to take to Haiti to be used in construction of latrines. On the way to the border (with 5 armed guards), we stopped to pick up a group of doctors and nurses from a Presbyterian church in Greenville, SC. Our combined team was a fantastic group of dedicated people. Also, the Foundation for Peace leadership and coordination was superb. I shall always remember everyone involved.

Once at our compound on the Dominican side of the border, I helped assemble many double deck bunk beds for our use. (Some of us still had to sleep outside). Everyone insisted that I get a bunk (lower), probably because of my gray hair. Across from our quarters, were other buildings holding several hundred injured Haitians. Many were amputees.

I helped unload boxes and supplies, and assist nurses who told me where to move things by medical category. I also made trips to their pharmacy area to pickup and deliver needed medicines. I was also able use Excel to assist a nurse in setting up a checkoff sheet for patient care schedule. In addition to numerous other activities, the one which was most rewarding to me was accompanying nurses (particularly Mauricia of Overlook Hospital) as dressings were being changed.

I greatly appreciated the opportunity to provide some comfort to these injured people and their family members who were (and still are) extremely concerned about their uncertain future. It was amazing to me to see how rubbing their arm, and giving a smile and a caring look seemed to transform both the patients and their families. For the younger members, I was able to show a few tricks, including my thumb trick, which made a positive change in atmosphere. Fortunately, I was able to do many of these support type activities on both sides of the border. I was happy with what I had the opportunity to do, but, it was really very minor compared to what everyone else was doing around the clock. Also, please remember that these were all volunteer activities by many people from countries around the world (many giving up their vacations to be here).

One of the needs I saw while there, involved the many very sad situations where people don’t know what happened to their family and loved ones. I remember hearing about one very anxious mother who greatly misses her 12 year old daughter, and has no idea if she’s dead or alive, or where she may be. Apparently, there is no system in place to have an overall database. After checking into this on both sides of the border with senior doctors, and Mayo Clinic, and Johns Hopkins people, it appeared that nothing is currently available, but the need is acknowledged. Later on, I was directed to a young doctor from the Harvard Medical School who said that he and a friend are working on a system concept using I-phones, with their cameras, and GPS systems. He hopes to develop a new App (Apple I-phone application) to collect and transmit this information to build a centralized database. I got his cell number and passed it on to contacts at JHU. This is for a system that, while it may be too late now to help in Haiti, should be ready and available for the next disaster anywhere in the world.

Shortly before our team was to return home, we were informed that the Dominican government wanted all Haitians back across the border and into Haiti within the next day. This caused great concern to everyone (patients, family, and medical staff). We were told that after a certain time, the Dominican military and police would enter our compound and force people into buses and take them across the border and be dropped off somewhere. Through interpreters over many hours, the Haitians realized that for those able, it was in their best interests to be delivered across the border to the “Love a Child” medical facility. Within less than 24 hours, we had transported several busloads across. The Dominicans agreed to give extended time to the remainder.

I must also mention the very sad happening involving two men from Naples, Florida. Instead of just writing a check they came to help in person. One of the men bought a small helicopter, and with his friend, a pilot, took it to Haiti to ferry doctors and medical supplies between hospitals as needed. This was a big help. Unfortunately, on the night before our team departed, their helicopter crashed into a mountain, killing them both. What a shame! So many people from all over the world have sacrificed so much to help in this –they sacrificed everything.

At this point, I want to mention how extremely proud I was to be an American, and to be a Christian, and to be involved in critical help for our fellow man. It’s very difficult to describe how impressed I was with all of the many doctors and nurses I saw. It was fantastic to see how people from different countries, different hospitals, and different backgrounds were able to discuss options and quickly reach agreement on what would be best for the patient (without politics and self interest).

The world is changing rapidly with so many new technologies to connect us all. We are truly becoming one world, one people. We should all be involved to help our fellow man in time of tragedy. What happened in Haiti is not the fault of the Haitian people, as some have said – no more than 9/11 was our fault. The Haitian people have suffered from a history of colonialism, and bad governments. On the other hand, we have been blessed by our founding fathers, and our ability to fight for the good of mankind, and the progress of humanity.

I want to thank Harriet Muir for directing me to Dr. Ken Culver of Foundation for Peace, after I expressed an interest to her in volunteering to go to Haiti at this critical time. I also thank Ken for accepting my application although I lacked medical experience, and maybe being a senior citizen could present problems. However, I feel privileged in getting to go with his group who are doing many good things.
I took about 800 photos and some video, which I edited and assembled into a 45 minute DVD. Some of the photos were taken on what would have been Carol’s 76th birthday. She would have been proud to have been on this important trip with me.

Unwavering is Your Love

Make a Smilebox photo slideshow

I Know What I Know

This note is from a team member who recently participated in the relief efforts in Haiti. May you all be blessed from the watching of the video.

Hello Team,

My dear friend forwarded me this link. It is a music video by Sara Groves. It was inspired by her recent trip to Rwanda. I wept as I watched and listened. It reminds me so much of our experience.



I am praying for you all of us as we re-enter our lives stateside.

Love and hugs,
Mary

In the News...Again

The Foundation for Peace was in the news again. This article was featured on NJ.com on Saturday.

Salem County students collect funds, items for quake victims
Saturday, January 30, 2010
By Shabria Davis
and Phil Dunn tsnews@sjnewsco.com

In the wake of the recent tragedy in Haiti, at least two county school districts
have staff members who will be traveling to the Dominican Republic next
month to aid in the relief effort.

Their actions are also helping to inspire their students and other staff to
donate whatever they can to help the earthquake victims, and their country in
general, recover.

Laurie Miles, a Spanish teacher at Mary Shoemaker School in Woodstown,
and Elsinboro School nurse Lori Couch, will travel to the Dominican Republic
from Feb. 12 through Feb. 16 with the Foundation for Peace. The group will
be lending their support to Jimani Hospital, which is on the border of the
Dominican Republic and Haiti. Many earthquake victims are being treated at
the facility.

According to Miles, the group usually travels to the Dominican Republic on a
mission trip every year to work on various buildings, but after hearing of the
earthquake they decided to change the focus of this year's trip.

"The trip was planned before the earthquake occurred. We were going to go
there and finish building a medical center that we started last year and start
building a church," said Miles, who also teaches English as a second language
and the gifted and talented program at the school. "But after the earthquake
we decided to go to the hospital and provide relief work."

Miles said those traveling with the organization are ready and willing to help
in any way possible. She added that there is a group from the organization
currently assisting at the hospital.

In preparation for her trip, students at Mary Shoemaker School spent the
month of January collecting items to send to the Dominican Republic.
Initially, the students were collecting backpacks and school supplies to be
given to students at the Centro Educativo La Obra de Dios school, which the
Foundation for Peace has worked with for several years. But in light of the
earthquake, Miles suggested that students bring in medical supplies, which
she will take with her on her trip.  Read more>>

Foundation in the News

The following appeared in the Grand Island Independent. While it isn't 100% accurate, the article features Kristin Hamner and included a nice plug for FFP at the bottom.


Haiti: So much need
By Sarah Schulz
sarah.schulz@theindependent.com

Something about the small, sobbing boy in the back of the makeshift ambulance caught Kristin Hamner's eye.

She walked over to him to offer comfort and when he grabbed hold of her hand, he held fast.

"This poor little boy," she thought.

He was burning up with fever, so she left to get him some Tylenol. He screamed as she walked away.

When she returned, so did his firm grip on her.

"I stayed with him, holding his hand as the doctors cut off bandages," she wrote on her Facebook page. "When opened, it exposed a severe gash down his entire arm which was full of infection and gangrene was already setting in. They immediately took him to surgery to amputate his arm to save his life. I found out later that he had lost all six members of his family and was now alone in the world and missing an arm."

Hamner has dozens of stories about her time on the Dominican Republic/Haiti border, helping those injured in the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated Haiti on Jan. 12. On Thursday, she returned to her home in Santo Domingo to fly to Miami for a weekend conference. Today, she will return to the island of Hispaniola and to her work on the border.  Read more. . .

Thankful Even Still

Leah's been with the Foundation for Peace only since the beginning of January. The following is excerpted from her personal blog.

It is easy now to break up my time here so far in to two segments. Before the earthquake and after the earthquake. I say this because I feel that so much has changed since the earthquake hit Haiti.

Before the earthquake, everyone here in my house was busy preparing for education conferences, unpacking shipping containers, following baseball teams coming from the states, and preparing for a large nursing team.

A few days after the earthquake in Haiti we left for Jimani. Jimani is a town in the DR located at the border between the Dominican and Haiti and is about 4-5 hours from Port-au-Prince.

On the way in to the town I was shocked by what I saw. The entire town had been turned in to one large trauma center. Virtually every church, hospital, school, pharmacy, and every possible building had been turned into trauma centers. Huge army tents had been sent up all over town housing patients that the other buildings couldn't accommodate. Baseball fields and other large grassy areas had been turned into helipads for the helicopters that continuously brought in more patients from the capital city.

Pastor Brony Novas, who's working with our group, was in the car ahead of us. He called and told us that what we were about to see was really horrible. That it was going to be really hard and he offered us the chance to stay at a local pastor's house if we didn't think we could handle it. We explained to him that we were ready.

After Pastor Brony's call, I started to pray silently. I prayed God would give me the strength to get over my fears of not being able to handle what I was about to see so that I could serve God and the Haitians to my fullest ability.

Since the center of Jimani was so busy, I figured our relief site couldn't possibly be busy as well. I soon found out that I'd greatly underestimated the number of victims who were able to cross the border in search of help. When we arrived at our makeshift hospital, a soon-to-be orphanage, hundreds of refugees flooded the area.

Staring at all the chaos around me, I felt like I was in a war scene. I took one deep breath in, (Be still), and exhaled, (and know that I am God.) and got out of the car. We were all put right to work by Renee. Ruth and I found all the people who were not injured in the earthquake and organized them to move patients around and basically do whatever the doctors needed. We moved patients from one area to another by picking up their mattresses with the victims on them. We organized ambulances and later trucks to transport patients from one building to the other where doctors performed amputations and operations.

At one point, Renee told me he wanted four patients moved from a grassy spot outside to a room inside. I was relieved they were finally being moved out of the sun. Later I learned that Renee wanted them moved because these patients’ injuries were too great and he wanted them to have a private room until they died.

I was surprised that I didn't really have a period of "getting used to" people dying and seeing dead bodies and horrible injuries. I guess when you are put in this type of situation you recognize that no one will benefit from you crying. You just enter in to work mode and stop thinking about what fears you may have had.

Chaos continued throughout the day and actually became worse whenever there was a shift in doctors. There was no continuity between shifts and doctors were not communicating with one another about patients, medicines, techniques or anything. nothing. As a non-medical person I had little to offer but muscle, willingness to do anything, and love.

Love. I couldn't help but feel love for these patients. While the doctors performed amazing feats taking care of the physical needs of the patients, the enormity of the situation, the general chaos and the language barrier made it near impossible for the doctors to really communicate with the patients. As a result, patients were fearful, bewildered and confused. I saw patients wake from surgery missing arms and legs and not understand why.


One woman, with a broken leg, was surrounded by tons of people who were all yelling at her while she lay sobbing on a mattress, holding her baby. They wanted her to get off the mattress, but she refused. I don't know what came over me, but I pushed my way through the crowd and even though I don't speak Creole, I was able to tell everyone to go away.
I knelt down beside the woman and tried to console her. I waved Olson over, a 22-year-old boy I'd befriended and whose mother was at the hospital. He spoke English and Creole and translated for me. We learned the woman thought she was being forced to get in the back of the truck so they could take her back to Haiti because she had been treated. She thought that she'd be dropped off in Haiti, with no family, no food, a new baby and a broken leg. In reality she was being moved to another refugee camp for post-op recovery. Once Olson and I explained the situation to her she left relieved knowing that she was still going to be cared for and watched over.

After this encounter I made it a point to make eye contact and smile with the patients I walked over and between. I started to understand that maybe God sent me this way so that we could minister to one another like this. With love and compassion and simple smiles that lets one another know you acknowledge them, you feel for them, and that you are here with them. There is no one beneath us. We are all the same. Created equal in God's eyes.

By about 3am most of our patients had fallen asleep. The chaos quieted. About four hours later the morning silence was broken by the most beautiful thing I have ever heard in all my 23 years. Songs of praise and worship filled the room that held our most serious patients (some of whom were dying). All of them were singing. All of them. Those who could sit, supported one another. Those who were paralyzed or couldn't sit up, raised their hands as high as they could. Everyone sang, worshipped, praised God, and thanked Him for all that He is and all that He has given us.

It is an amazing privilege to meet people like Olson, his mother and all the other patients, who are so strong in their faith. Though they have lost much (even everything) they remember to give God thanks for their blessings.

I ask that you continue to pray for the Haitians who are still in need of medical care. Pray for the doctors and the volunteers who are reaching out to the millions of people affected by this tragedy, and please pray for the Foundation for Peace that God would continue to guide us to where and how He wants us to serve.

To read Leah's entry in its entirety, click here to go to her blog.

The People of Haiti Urgently Need our Assistance

The Foundation for Peace (FFP) is actively helping in Jimani, while most international effort is focused in and around Port-au-Prince. FFP staff members Kristin, Luke, Julian, Isidro, Ruth and Leah have already been working in the overwhelmed hospital, manning a makeshift pharmacy and helping in any way they can.

We are also organizing to send water from our water purification system in Anse-a-pitre, Haiti to Jacmel, a hard hit area south of Port-au -Prince.

You can be part of the effort in two ways:

1. Make a donation at: Donate Now
2. Read on to find out how you can help in person

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1. Join a mission team to serve in person

We are sending teams to Jimani to serve injured Haitian refugees who have been transported or walked to the border of the Dominican Republic (DR). The need is great and this location offers safety for our aid workers until the chaos is stabilized on the other side of the border. This is a logical crossing point, since it is a direct route to the DR from Port-au- Prince (see map).

Our teams (maximum of 20 each) will arrive on Sunday, stay overnight at our FFP House in Santo Domingo for team building and preparation before traveling to the border the following morning by bus. If you are under 18 years of age you must be accompanied by a parent. The team will be housed in the hospital or an adjacent guesthouse.

We will then assist in whatever ways we can, primarily with patient care before returning back to Santo Domingo on Friday night for departures on Saturday. The cost of the trip will be round trip airfare to the DR (Santo Domingo airport-SDQ) and $90 per day including the day of arrival and departure. The FFP will use those funds to pay for the teams transportation, food, water, lodging and assistance for the Haitians.

The initial trips for February are open for sign-ups for the following dates. Go the sign up page by clicking here.

1. January 31 - February 6
2. February 7 - 13
3. February 14 - 20
4. February 21 - 27

The trips listed for March will be opened for applications on February 8th after a review of the mission effort has been undertaken to see if we need to change our area of focus:

1. February 28 - March 6
2. March 14-20

You will be notified of the schedule for team preparation meetings (in person and by telephone) that will be mandatory and begin soon.

To better understand our work on the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic in recent years, click here. to watch a video of our past work.

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2. Help collect items and load a shipping container

We are planning to load a 40 foot shipping container of goods to send to a Dominican port for transport to the border and into Haiti. We will be loading a 40 foot shipping container at:

Long Valley Presbyterian Church
39 Bartley Road
Long Valley, NJ 07853

The loading times will be:

1. Friday, February 5th from 7- 9 p.m.
2. Saturday, February 6th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The items needed for the container are:

• Electrical generators
• Bedding: sheets, pillows, twin bed mattresses and blankets
• Food including dry goods including bags of beans, bags of rice (not minute rice), powdered milk, high protein flour and pasta, vegetable oil, canned tomato paste, canned sardines, canned tuna and baby food; all with an expiration date of more than a year
• Healthcare supplies (cannot expire before September 2010): Bandages, gauze, tape, antibiotic cream/ointment, acteaminophen, ibuprofen, sanitary napkins, diapers, alcohol swabs, betadine, toothbrushes, toothpaste, bars of soap, shampoo, crutches, walkers and wheel chairs
• Building materials: Wood (1/2 inch thick plywood, 1x12, 2x4, 2x6, 2x8 and 2x10), Electrical (wiring-12 gauge, light switches, light fixtures, switch boxes, switch box covers, and PCV pipe), louvered metal windows, doors (wood and metal), door handles and hinges
• Medical clinic items: casting materials, furniture, crutches, slings, examination tables, IV poles, IV fluids (expiration after 2010)
• New and used clothing: underwear, socks, summer clothing, shoes, flip-flops, and sandals . These items can only be used as packing for fragile items since they cannot be otherwise imported according to Dominican law)
• IMPORTANT NOTE: Used Clothing should be placed in bags, not boxes. All other small items should be placed in a box that is taped shut and a list of the contents are written on the outside of the box. 

We want to thank you in advance for helping us meet the needs of our Haitian brothers and sisters. 

You can contribute on-line at by clicking here OR

Send a check as soon as possible that is payable to Foundation for Peace and mail to:

Foundation for Peace
P.O. Box 424
Ironia, NJ 07845

Please remember to hold all in your prayers. Thank you.