News from Haiti:
Gasoline has arrived and stations are running as usual. Praising God for this!
Teams come and go each week. What a blessing this is. They have been busy distributing food to various tent communities. Mallery and teams have been feeding about 500 children a day.
Each child receives a nutritional/medical peanut butter sandwich and a bag of clean water to drink. Fifty families are also feed each day with food for a week--food such as beans, rice, oil.
Clothes and hygiene products are also being distributed. Mallery had received a huge shipment of new shoes. This was a BIG hit with the Haitians. The tags were on the shoes and they were still connected together--they were thrilled to have some shoes for themselves, but also be able to sell pairs on the streets to create a little income.
This week all of the sponsor children will be receiving the Christmas gifts sponsors sent last November. As of January 12 we were still waiting for the shipment containing the Christmas boxes to arrive.
Mallery received this shipment a couple of weeks ago. What a blessing these gifts will be--could they use them more than right now? Each sponsored child will be receiving a gift box, because we had extra sent.
Mallery and teams have distributed just about everything that was sent their way. Supplies are getting low, so they are anxiously waiting for this new shipment to arrive. (The 20,000# of supplies shipped March 3.) It is in Haiti and going through customs with Food For The Poor. Please pray it clears soon.
Just a little FYI on prices for food in Haiti. Mallery found a 12oz box of Golden Grahams for $7.51 and a 12oz box of Rice Krispies for $5.21. Marshmallows were over $3.00 for a small bag. Chocolate Chips were outrageously priced.
Living conditions continue to be absolutely horrible. The mud in some of the tent communities is shin deep. They live in this! Many Haitians have tried to put broken cement blocks in the little sheet covered areas to sit and sleep on. Last week when our team went into one of the communities, they were sinking to their ankles in mud and were being bitten by tiny ants. Within 15 minutes the pain from the biting ants was too much and they had to leave. The Haitians were so excited and pleased our team was visiting, they tried to help them walk on broken cement pieces and lifted their skirt hems so they would not get muddy. Each wanted to show our team their "home".
Hope House (Mallery's orphanage) has another child for the next couple of months. Last week they took in a severely abused 2 year old. They have given her medical care and Hope House will be nursing her wounds and feeding her. Her name is Pierreline, please pray for this precious child who has had an extremely difficult life and pray for her future.
Thank you to the teams that have gone down and to those scheduled to go. You are all a huge blessing. And thank you to all who donate and support. Lives are being saved in Haiti.
We see God's mighty hand in Haiti everyday.
