BGR Update: TEAMS ON THE WAY! :)

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Medical, student teams headed to Haiti
Feb. 25, 2010

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The placement of Southern Baptist volunteer teams in Haiti is beginning to accelerate as new sites for involvement continue to be identified.

A medical team from Nebraska, a student team from Georgia, and a medical team with professionals from various states will be working in different locations around Haiti in the coming weeks, said Jim Brown, director of the U.S. office of BGR. The team from Nebraska will be first to arrive in Haiti on Feb. 27.

"Southern Baptists have responded to the crisis in Haiti in a powerful way through their giving and now through their going," Jim Brown said. "As we look to assist the Haitian population through medical assistance and community development, the projects we identify meet short-term needs with a big-picture perspective. Our approach is to have a tangible answer to the needs of the people - now and in the months and years to come."

Baptist partners from Haiti and the Dominican Republic are coordinating with Southern Baptist relief workers to identify project locations and places for volunteer teams to use as a base of operations, said David and Jo Brown, BGR directors of the relief efforts in Haiti.

A large portion of BGR's focus will be to displaced Haitians living in temporary, makeshift camps. According to a recent report from the United Nations, the number of people who have left Port-au-Prince since the Jan. 12 earthquake has increased to 597,801 people from the previous figure of 511,405. An estimated 160,000 persons have come from Port-au-Prince to the border area with the Dominican Republic.

At one camp in Haiti's mountainous region, "People were blocking off small quadrants with sticks, stones and tape, and small stick frames were being tied together for very small houses," Jo Brown said. "The whole mountain is full of people setting up houses. Tarps, tin, sheets, whatever is available is being used and they are burning the fields to create more room."

The Browns returned four days later with Haitian and Dominican pastors and found the camp had tripled in size. "This type of settlement is repeated over and over in Haiti," David Brown said. "Most, like this settlement, have not been engaged by any relief organizations. This is the ideal location for BGR to establish community development projects."

BGR volunteer medical teams will work from the facilities of Love a Child, a Christian humanitarian organization and orphanage located 30 minutes from the border with the Dominican Republic. Injured Haitians flooded to the facility following the earthquake, Jo Brown said.

"Outlying hospitals are still transferring patients to Love a Child," she said. "They have surgery suites in full operation and a large number of pediatric patients, many without families. Families of other patients have set up a tent city on the grounds of the property. The two medical teams we have coming to Love a Child will be a tremendous help."

Tangible needs for relief and development at BGR project locations are being met through the distribution of $255,000, which will be used for food distribution and shelters.

According to David Brown, the project involves BGR and the Dominican Republic Baptist Convention (CBD) partnering with four Haitian Baptist churches in Port-au-Prince to extend emergency aid and assistance to empower 16 other Haitian Baptist churches to minister in their respective communities.

This project involves six food distributions, personal hygiene items and supplies for temporary shelter over three months. Each food distribution will provide food to feed a family for about two weeks.

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To donate to the Haiti relief effort, please click here. Every dollar given will be used 100% in relief efforts conducted in partnership with local Baptist churches.

A downloadable bulletin insert raising awareness about relief needs in Haiti is available at gobgr.org.

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