Traveling to Romania in January of 2005, I remember being in the airport and news stories of the Tsunami were playing. Hearing the stories, I wanted to go and help. I obviously knew that was not possible since I was heading to Romania. Since then, I have wanted to get involved. Being in school made that difficult, but once I was done with school I started volunteering with Red Cross and their Disaster Action Team. They respond to disasters locally, nationally, and internationally. Here in Cleveland, the most common disaster is house or apartment fires. I have gone out on many calls and have been able to help those affected with their immediate needs – food, clothing, and shelter.
On the World Race, we will be helping people in many different ways. Last week we learned another country we are going to will be Haiti. We all then heard the devastating news of the earthquake there. With that knowledge, came along the knowledge of what we will be doing there – disaster relief. As many know from Hurricane Katrina, rebuilding takes time. We will be going to the Dominican Republic in July and then heading to Haiti in August. When I heard about Haiti, it was good to know that I will be able to help even if it isn’t right now.
When people hear about disasters and see the devastation that they cause, many want to get involved. There are many different organizations asking for money and many people have given. If you are one of those people who wants to get involved but does’t know how there are 3 different ways you can be involved: 1.) Pray 2.) Give 3.) Go
PRAY:
Pray for those who were affected by the earthquake. Some are still under rubble and fighting for there lives. Some are injured. Others have lost everything including family members. Pray for those who have gone to help. The need is so great.
I have a child in Haiti that I sponsor through Compassion International. She and her family live about 85 miles west of Port-au-Prince. That area wasn’t hit as hard, but I have not heard if she and her family okay. Compassion staff report there are many missing people and they will let us know when they have information. Please pray for Rose and her family.
GIVE:
There are many different organizations that you can donate money to help those in Haiti. Adventures in Mission is one of those organizations. AIM Dominican Republic base director Miguel and Kristen Shaul live about four hours from Port-au-Prince and are coordinating immediate relief efforts. There are also alumni from the AIM World Race program traveling to Haiti soon to help prepare for short-term teams. Our mission teams have been to Haiti, have fallen in love with the people there, and are very anxious to help. Their primary goal is to bring first-response relief to those in need with supplies such as food, blankets, shelters, basic health care, and more. Their secondary goal is to identify communities in which we can get involved in long-term rebuilding. They need people to donate money in order to do this. If you are interested in giving, please go to: http://www.adventures.org/haiti/
GO:
As mentioned above, AIM is trying to organize short-term trips to Haiti to help. You can get involved and go with them. Look for updates at http://www.adventures.org/haiti or join the July WR team as we will be going in August.
