Can You Imagine?….Urgent Needs in Haiti after Hurricane Melissa

Hurricane Melissa has moved on but many Caribbean islands, including Haiti, have suffered the ravages of the winds and rain.  

Here is a little perspective of the situation on the island of Ile a Vache in Haiti where JUST MERCY works. Imagine living in acute poverty where there is no gainful employment, only a little gardening if you ‘own’ some dirt, fishing in the sea if you have a wooden boat, and what fruit you can find in the trees that are not privately owned. A few obstacles such as these are between you and starvation. Your children are malnourished, just surviving from day to day when Hurricane Melissa arrives wiping out your food sources.

Floods and wind take trees and gardens. Fish traps and nets are lost while you wait out the storm. It must be at least a week since the rains started and you are inside your house/hut (IF you aren’t flooded out) with its rusted tin roof leaking water and hoping the rain will pass.  No way to get food, no markets to buy anything if you have any money, and no way to cook on fires with all the wood wet. It is hard to describe the gravity of the situation and the difficulty they now face. Imagine not knowing if you will be able to eat today!

JUST MERCY is involved with about 60 families in the three villages we serve. $50 will feed a family for a week at current prices. There are many other things (some listed below) that they will need help with to reestablish their lives.

FUNDING NEEDS FOLLOWING HURRICANE MELISSA:

1. Food for the families’ immediate needs.

2. Seeds/plants to reestablish gardens.

3. Fish traps, hooks, and line to make new fishing nets.  Fishing spears.

4. Sails for boats and wooden dugouts.

5. Metal and materials to replace roofs and fix houses.

6. Give gainful employment to those we can.

Can you help us feed and bless these families?   It will be months before gardens will grow and life returns to “normal” which in Haiti still involves much hunger and want.  But right now, the need is much greater than usual.  

Monetary donations to Just Mercy will assist in purchasing supplies and food for the families in these villages.  These are people who typically see no humanitarian aid that my be delivered to Haiti.  Thank you for giving what you can. 

Please feel free to contact us at info@justmercy.org with any questions you may have.  May God bless us all to His service.

The island of Ile a Vache is the black spot off the south coast of the southern peninsula of Haiti.just north of the black/purple area and in the red area of Hurricane Melissa. Obviously, they received a LOT of rain and wind.