Overwhelming Love — A Few Updates
Monday, February 15th, 2010In all the chaos and mess going on in Haiti, one thing is clearly emerging: the love of our brothers.
But many have also been underestimating the relief efforts going on there. In the news for example a common image in the days after the quake was that of foreign rescue teams and crews pulling people out of the rubble and star reporters rushing around interviewing American and European doctors and relief workers and sometimes news-worthy locals — often with amusing results since many didn’t realize that the spoken language in Haiti is Haitian Creole and not French. There is no doubt that foreign aid is playing a big part there, but what was entirely missed was that the vast majority of rescue operations were performed by Haitians themselves and the foreign teams for the most part assisted, only sometimes taking the lead due to experience. The sensationalism has gone a bit too far: Haiti may now be a shadow of a country and in need of foreign help, but it is by no means helpless.
Similarly it should be noted that although on these pages we have published experiences of a lot of foreign brothers who had (and have) the privilege to assist in the relief operations, they will be the first ones to tell you that they only assisted. It is interesting to note that the brothers (Haitians, Dominicans, some foreigners) running and handling the relief efforts are rarely if ever mentioned in the many letters and forwards that are haunting the net. The 
number of foreign witnesses actively involved in Haiti and the Dominican Republic is only of a few dozens while literally hundreds Haitian brothers and sisters have been carrying most of the work all over the country and especially Port-au-Prince in excellent coordination. Their experiences are yet to be told and in the coming months we are certain to hear of many of these. Of course, the foreign help has been invaluable to the point of can’t-do-without, but again, although much help was needed, our Haitian brothers are by no means helpless.
The influx of help has been overwhelming. Thousands of brothers and sisters from quite literally all corners of the globe have written and called to offer their help and expertise for Haiti, even offered to adopt orphaned children, fly down in private planes, send loads of money, clothes, etc, etc, etc. Some loving brothers even traveled to Jimani and other places to help on their own accord, albeit it was superfluous.
It’s been a breathtaking display of brotherly love that must make our Heavenly Father proud.
To clarify a few matters, there are currently approximately 60 Haitian brothers still being taken care of in the Dominican Republic in some hospitals but mostly private homes, and about 25 in the Assembly Hall Hospital (please note: numbers are approximations and subject to constant change). Many of the foreign doctors we heard so much about are being sent back since all that could be done has been done.
The resilience of our brothers is impressive. Where many of us spoiled westerners would have broken down in desperation our brothers are shrugging it off with a smile and a joke. Although many are still living in tent cities either outside their own homes or Kingdom Halls, nobody is in despair or in want of anything. The sad and heart-breaking images on the news do not entirely apply to our brothers. Even those who have lost loved ones, limbs and houses are being helped though these difficult times materially, emotionally and spiritually. Nothing is easy, but everyone is coping.
Regular supply convoys are traveling between the Haiti and Dominican branch and everything is working, as they say, like clock-work.
All operations are being handled by the emergency relief department in Brooklyn and with fantastic speed and expediency, and thus all questions regarding help should be directed towards Brooklyn (Matt. 24:45). The organisation is retaining a list of brothers and sisters with various capabilities and expertises and are calling them as needed. You can believe there are representatives of all walks of life to be found, everything from world-class surgeons to emergency response experts, certified and specialized nurses, doctors, and so forth, so the best possible human help is reaching those who need it and everyone in need is being taken care of.
For those who still want to help you can contact Brooklyn preferably through your body of elders and let them know what you can offer. Although many loving brothers have tried to contact witnesses in Haiti and the Dominican Republic through private means and on their own accord, it is much more efficient and helpful to do it through the organisation and wait to be called. Even if we may feel we are the most qualified person for a particular effort, we can trust that the slave is doing the very best in handling the situation and everything is taken care of.
We recommend you don’t forward letters and images that have gone through dozens of senders. Often the information and images have so often been edited and shortened, a lot of the material has become very distorted and inaccurate and are painting a picture of desperation and panic that is by no means accurate.
In closing I would like to mention a brief experience I had in the weeks following the Hurricane Georges Relief Efforts in the Dominican Republic in 1998 to put these things in contrast.
I had the privilege to work in the branch yard when a convoy of black government vehicles paraded up to the branch office, a squad of pretentious government officials climbed out, shoved their clip-boards under their arms and dark glasses onto their noses and goose-stepped into the reception. I understand they came to offer help to private and non-profit organisations for disaster preparation and mitigation. Many organisations (religious and otherwise) had been caught off-guard after the hurricane and were struggling to recover, an so this group offered their help (in exchange for some terrific pay of course) to be more prepared for next time.
About 2 hours later the squad had disintegrated into a confused flock and waddled out of the offices, retaining with difficulties what little pride they had left. They crawled embarrassed back into the cars and rolled out of the yard, back into the “organized” world. I was later told they had been so impressed by the relief operations that were going on at the time, they admitted defeat and said that if anyone could learn anything from anyone, it was them from us.
I’m not surprised. From a receiving side point of view the organization and its expediency is truly breathtaking, and again that is what we see in Haiti. Even errors in logistics that occurred were quickly corrected and continually refined and nobody is found to be in need.
In our imperfection we often forget that it is not a human effort guiding the relief work, and once again we are only assisting…
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Marian says:
February 26th, 2010
2:45 pm
Thank you so much for the updates and the information. Please note that everything I have heard about the brothers in Haiti has been so positive, no one has ever indicated that the brothers there were helpless, but that they were doing everything they could. As with any project done in Jehovah’s organization the bulk of the work falls on the local brothers who are merely assisted and trained by others. I would love to hear more of their experiences.