Uncategorized•
on January 7th, 2011•
Louize and Ricky - January 7, 2011
Louize had just found out she was pregnant. Like most young women who find out they are going to be a new mom she was excited about her future, but that moment of joy was short-lived. On January 12, 2010 when the earthquake ransacked Haiti, her life changed in a way she never anticipated. As she sat in her home that day, her husband next to her, the earthquake shook their home so violently that it collapsed all around them. Her husband was killed. Louize, only a few weeks pregnant, survived. A few feet one way or the other separated life from death.
Because her parents also died in the earthquake Louize was now alone. She eventually found a tent and camped out in a person’s yard for the next several months. She weathered the rains and the food shortages and political upheaval and gave birth in late summer to a boy she named Ricky. In the truest sense of the term, Louize is a survivor.
Louize’s life started changing for the better a couple of months ago when World Concern built her and her newborn son a very simple house. She told me, “It was a way to re-start my life.” Once in her new home her life stabilized. She started to take pride in her home and before long she added a nice porcelain patio and inside put up curtains and a mosquito net. She very simply states, “I no longer am afraid. I no longer have sadness.” It’s a great story of hope…and therein lies the temptation.
The temptation is to say “problem solved,” but in reality we have only “solved” one segment – housing – of one person’s life. It is significant, but with over one million people in Haiti still living in tents and under tarps the problem is far from solved. What we have now is simply a proven place to begin.
My first blog entry was titled “Strangely Optimistic” which I wrote before leaving for Haiti because I just had a sense that I’d see some of the long needed signs of hope. I have seen them! In fact more than I imagined I would in things like a clear and systematized process through immigration, traffic that is still definitely third world and chaotic but slightly less so, a paved street outside the World Concern office, and a block of Port au Prince that I visited back in March which was purely rubble has now been cleared and replaced by about 11 sturdy and safe homes.
So this coming week I’ll be sharing stories on the radio about this trip. If you listen you’ll hear Louize tell her story, as well as others who I interviewed today. They are uplifting and encouraging stories, and as you hear them you may be tempted to think the job is done. It’s not. It’s really just begun.
haiti•
on January 6th, 2011•
I flew into Haiti this morning on the same plane as Sean Penn. OK, that was the glamour portion of this blog entry and I wish I could tell you that I got an exclusive interview with him, but, in reality all I did was say “Hi”, he nodded, and then I took my seat back in coach. But hey…I “met” Sean Penn!
The first thing that hit me after landing in Haiti was that I actually noticed changes immediately! On prior trips getting through immigration and the airport took quite a while and was rather chaotic, but this time everything seemed more organized and more systematized. It was a good start.
After leaving the airport we immediately went to a church where World Concern was leading a seminar on cholera prevention and treatment.
Over 800 people getting cholera prevention training through World Concern
Over 800 people attended. It was rather sobering, however, because the first topic was what to do if someone in your household dies from cholera: 1. Don’t touch the body, 2. Contact officials who will come take it away and bury it outside the city, 3. Learn how to use Lysol and Chlorine. All of the sudden the news reports of the cholera outbreak weren’t so “over there in Haiti” because I was now IN Haiti and the fear and grief were palpable. I reached for and applied another dose of hand sanitizer. Preventing cholera was taught as was what do at the first symptom of cholera. The audience was very attentive. Afterward, courtesy of donations to World Concern, everyone received a kit which contained water purification tablets, serum to mix with water if you develop symptoms, a one gallon jug for water, and soap.
Port au Prince, March 2010
After the seminar we went into an area of Port au Prince where World Concern has been building homes, and with over a million people still living under tarps these homes are desperately needed. This was the part of my day that I was looking forward to most because last year our radio campaign provided the funds for hundreds of these homes and I wanted to see the progress. I wasn’t disappointed. We spent a good portion of the afternoon in the exact same spot I came to last March. Back then it was totally devastated and, in fact, I saw human remains being taken from the massive rubble. But today that exact same spot is totally transformed!
Me and Widzer (on the porch of his new home) in the exact same spot one year later
The highlight, by far, was meeting Widzer, a man now owning and occupying one of these homes. After the earthquake he and what was left of his family were living under a tree. When World Concern told him he would receive one of these new homes he jumped in to the effort with both feet. He was part of the “Cash for Work” program funded by World Concern where he was hired to remove rubble from the area where the homes were going to be built. Once the rubble was cleared and the construction started Widzer refused to occupy his new home until others had their homes built as well. Widzer’s home was soon used as a staging area for the other homes getting built and pretty soon an entirely new community was established. Widzer had such pride in his new home that he worked even harder and eventually was able to afford the addition of a front porch and
A new home under construction
an inside ceramic toilet. The exact same spot which experienced such devastation was now an example of World Concern’s motto: Life, Opportunity, Hope. Oh, and Widzer says that in this community with new homes (i.e. no one living in tents or under tarps) there hasn’t been a single case of cholera.
I feel surprisingly optimistic about Haiti, and I can’t say that I felt that when I was last here in August. Yes, there are still some significant issues, namely political unrest, cholera and the overall poverty that has plagued this country for decades, but I see signs of hope. Tomorrow we’ll spend the day interviewing more homeowners – I can’t wait!
One of the “Cholera Kits”
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Haiti Cholera Prevention Training
Part 1
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Haiti Cholera Prevention Training
Part 2
haiti, i58:10 Media•
on January 5th, 2011•
An amazing thing happened yesterday. I was preparing for my trip to Haiti (I’m leaving today) and as I was packing I was putting all my tech gear together – audio recorder, video camera, microphones, camera – and it hit me: I don’t HAVE to pack all this equipment! Every piece of tech equipment I was packing is actually in my iPhone 4. Did I really HAVE to take all this other equipment? So, I checked and re-checked the quality of each app, and I e-mailed test videos, and I uploaded audio and I did all the necessary testing and decided to use my iPhone for everything! That was a bit scary. Can I really capture everything I need – at an acceptable quality – to communicate to radio and web audiences my experiences on this trip? I’m going to try! So, every post, every picture, every video, every audio bite from my trip will be captured on my iPhone 4. Let’s see how this goes. Today’s technology amazes me still.
P.S. Just top be sure I packed all that other equipment too…just in case :)
Uncategorized•
on December 21st, 2010•
We pray you have a blessed Holiday Season with family and friends!
We consider it a privilege and blessing to work with you as a partner in ministry to those in need.
Merry Christmas!
Your Friends at i58:10 Media
Radio•
on October 15th, 2010•
Yesterday the team at i58:10 Media facilitated a radio-thon on KPDQ in Portland, Oregon for Forward Edge International, one of our newest clients. The results were astounding, exceeding the goal by an amazing 42%. And the good news is that our last three radio-thon events (all since mid-September) have also exceeded the goals by a double digit percentage. I posted the amazing news from yesterday on our Twitter feed and I got a tweet back from a follower who wrote “and they say radio is a dying form…HA! Good news man.” My friend is right, many DO think radio is a dying form…but I haven’t seen it yet. Why? Because radio is adapting, slower than I’d like, but radio IS adapting to the new media world. Plus, we need to re-define what is “radio.” For instance, I can now stream dozens of radio stations through my iPhone because many stations now have their own app. I don’t need my car or a clock radio…my “radio station” has become even more mobile and that’s good news.
Radio is still delivering a substantial audience and motivating them to your cause can still be very successful when you apply the fundraising principles we have used for years. No matter how you listen, from a fundraising standpoint radio still has to deliver results, and with the success we’ve seen so far this fall it’s delivering at a record pace.
David
