Samaritan’s Purse is helping Haitians recover from Hurricane Tomas, the latest disaster to hit the nation.

Roseann Dennery, a member of the Samaritan’s Purse disaster response team, reports from Haiti.

“When will it stop?”

That’s the question I heard a young woman ask as Hurricane Tomas poured down rain on her shelter community. She, like thousands of others around her, had already been displaced by the devastating January 12 earthquake. Now many of them stood huddled in a makeshift community center, trying to stay warm and weather the storm.

Haiti was once again facing disaster.

It was a sad yet remarkable sight. Sad because of the tragic nature of the situation, but remarkable because the residents had joined together, sharing their food and their warmth with one another. The presence of kindness, teamwork, and camaraderie poked through the dark clouds. Because for these people, it was all they had.

In many ways, Haiti is a place of contrasts, vacillating from one extreme to another. I believe this is because God is at work here. Out of the ashes, the rubble, and in this case, the rain, grace is emerging.

Some days, it takes all that is within you to see that in a place where everything feels so inherently harsh. But other days, like today, it’s evident.

The Samaritan’s Purse teams were out early on the morning after the hurricane, checking on the shelter communities and praying with the residents. The shelter team, led by Syd Ruiz, has been diligent these past few days leading up to the storm, visiting with people and instructing them on how to prepare. Our shelters have held up well, and the teams went to each site after the storm, fixing some dangling tarps and other materials that came down during the heavy rains.

One woman who lives in our Laffito community was outside, thanking Samaritan’s Purse as our staff surrounded her. She shared her story.

“My husband died in the earthquake,” she said. “I have eight children. This shelter is all I have. Thank you for coming here, to make sure we are okay. Thank you for this house. Thank you, thank you.”

Just down the road, another one of our teams was distributing tarps to the policemen at the checkpoints around the area. We ministered to them and prayed over their work, hoping they’d feel God’s love in this time when their job must feel impossible.

The team located at our other base near Leogane was also out assessing the damage.

Leogane was slammed hard yesterday, just as it was during the earthquake when over 80 percent of its building were destroyed. The entire downtown area was underwater, with flooding at waist-level in some areas.

Temporary tent communities were also flooded, forcing evacuations of thousands of people. Men and woman carried what few possessions they had above their heads as they waded through the waters, seeking high ground.

Samaritan’s Purse has a close relationship with the mayor of Leogane, where we have been conducting rubble removal since the first few days after the earthquake. “Please help. Leogane is flooded. We need food and shelter,” he pleaded in a call to us.

Our teams are mobilizing quickly, ready with hygiene kits and temporary shelter materials to serve 4,500 households. We are there, and will remain there, to walk alongside the victims during these uncertain next several days.

Simultaneously, our medical team, under the guidance of Dr. Kara Gibson, was out identifying new sites for cholera treatment centers. Samaritan’s Purse is moving quickly in anticipation that the outbreak will spread. Heavy rains and flooded areas are a virtual breeding ground for waterborne illnesses like cholera, and we are going into places like Cabaret and Cite Soleil where little is being done to prepare.

Prepare for the worst, pray for the best—this is the maxim we are operating under.

The worst seems to be moving in. We have received calls daily of new cases, in areas where cholera had yet to be seen. Just yesterday, we took five very sick patients into a treatment center we quickly resurrected in response to the increasing amount of sick people. Our nurses have stayed by their sides through the late hours of the night, changing IVs, comforting family members and being present.

Today, it seems, will present more of the inevitable. The medical team will again be setting up treatment centers throughout the areas where cholera appears to be inching its way in, threatening entire communities.

Haiti has been hit hard lately. I imagine it’s easy for people to get compassion fatigue, to tune the stories out because it’s just too overwhelming. But we believe that this small, seemingly plagued island is a very real part of God’s story for humanity. We can’t imagine a more fertile place to sow the seeds of Christ’s ministry on earth. Samaritan’s Purse is right at the center of that here, providing compassion and immediate, tangible assistance.

Thank you for listening, for not turning your ears away from the cries of the people of Haiti. Your care and support is giving us strength to be here, and to be ambassadors of Christ’s ministry to the poor and hurting.

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