Planning the Next Phase of Haitian Relief
by Kevin Ring on Feb.04, 2010, under BAM Research, Business as Mission, Church, Fundraising, Missions, Strategy
The devastation of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (and the 49 magnitude 4.5 or greater aftershocks) is heart-wrenching. The pictures of the damage… of the hurt and suffering experienced by the people there… of the chaos of a massive world effort to provide the basics: emergency care and medicine, food, shelter, security… are haunting. (Click the following links to see pictures from January 13th , January 18th, January 22nd, and February 1st. WARNING: the images are graphic.)
According to a Jan 19, 2010 USAID Fact Sheet, at least 65,000 people are estimated to have died. Another 200,000 people have been displaced and the total population who has been significantly affected is approximately 3 million people. The global response to this crisis has been amazing. As of February 3, 2010, $644 million has been contributed to private non-profit organizations from US citizens (source: Washington Post). This is only part of the total world effort. Organizations like the American Red Cross, World Vision, and Compassion International have mobilized their base and are just some of the organizations contributing to the on-the-ground efforts.
Despite the tremendous magnitude of these first-response efforts, the road to recovery is going to be long and difficult. The challenges facing the country prior to the earthquake were great. The country is the only country in the Western Hemisphere (North America, South, Central, and Latin Americas and the Caribbean) on the U.N.’s list of the World’s 50 least developed countries1 (source: UN-OHRLLS). According the the CIA World Fact Sheet, 80% of the population of Haiti live below the poverty line. Additionally the country is plagued by drug trafficking and human (both forced labor and sex) trafficking.
The need in Haiti is great.
The lives of the men, women and children there were hard before January 12th. They’re even harder now. They face threats and hardships every day that we are isolated from. Things you and I can not even imagine. Hope for progress has suffered a major set back. Before people were struggling to make the most of their existence given how little they had to rely on and work with. Now what little they had has been destroyed.
As I sit and write this I don’t have to think about where my next meal is going to come from or where I’m going to sleep tonight. I do worry about the safety of my family but the threats I imagine are exactly that: imagined. Although it’s tenuous these days, I still am fairly sure the bills will get paid. I’m confident that there is work to be had.
Not only that but I live in a world where the things I need and want, the conveniences of life, are available. To get to work this morning I had a car to drive, roads to drive on, and gas to power the car. My computer is plugged into the wall, I don’t think twice about whether the lights will turn on when I flip the switch. Not only is there going to be plenty of food at the grocery store but there is a store to go to! There is food on the shelves because there is this amazing infrastructure that connects the farms from around the world to processing and packaging facilities to distribution centers to stores. And I don’t see any of it, I just trust that food will be there.
The message of the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37 ESV) is that we are to love our neighbor. Our neighbor is identified any person we meet on our path who is in need. We are to show mercy to those in need.
But what is interesting is that the Samaritan shows mercy in two phases. First he bandages his wound and brings him to shelter — he tends to his most immediate needs with compassion. But what he does next is even more amazing (the importance of this is often lost): he invests in continued care and rehabilitation.
33But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
See, he doesn’t bring him to the inn and drop him at the door. No, it explicitly states that the Samaritan “took care of him” at the inn. It is after this intense investment of caring for the man himself that the Samaritan make additional provision for continued care, making a down payment with the innkeeper and promising to return and pay for whatever the man needs.
How are we planning to invest in continued care for Haiti?
There are a number of ways to do this, but I want to highlight two in particular that must be a priority.
First, it is important that we build up the Church in Haiti.
Whatever your views on the spiritual history of Haiti, the people of that country are utterly and completely in need of Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord just as you and I are. And it is local churches — proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom of God, caring for the physical and spiritual needs of the people, and coordinating and leading people to live their lives as children of God — that the love and redemption of Christ will flow through.
I want to draw your attention to Churches Helping Churches, an organization founded by James MacDonald and Mark Driscoll to “address the immediate and long-term needs of churches when disaster befalls a country, region, city, or people in the spirit of Galatians 6:10—“…let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” If you are interested in how you or our church can support local churches in Haiti, I highly recommend you check out Churches Helping Churches.
Second, it is important that we build up infrastructure in Haiti.
This means investing in the physical structures, services, and facilities necessary for the Haitian economy to develop. Recent studies have argued that foreign aid doesn’t work. At the same time, a lot of attention has been given to the role business plays in developing economies. In recent years, Christian business men and women have been leveraging the power of business in order to spread the Gospel in countries whose governments are hostile toward Christian missionaries. The global Business as Mission movement has developed as more and more people are awakening to how God can use their business talents as part of his redemptive plan.
Haiti needs Business as Mission companies now more than ever.
The need and opportunity to develop creative business solutions to many of the problems facing the people of Haiti is great. If you believe that this is a way that you can get involved I want to encourage you to do something. I wish I could point you to specific ways that you could help but I don’t know of any right now. Many organizations are rightfully focused on meeting the immediate needs in Haiti. But as the dust settles our efforts must not lose momentum.
To help spark ideas about potential business opportunities I’ve include some facts about Haiti below. These factors will help identify what opportunities for business exist in Haiti. Obvious needs are infrastructure and construction. Additionally, the Haitian people will need resources to get back on their feet, so opportunities for micro-finance might exist. I’ve also included quality of life statistics in the hopes it might spark some ideas about opportunities to address some of the less critical issues facing the people there.
If you or your organization are serious about engaging in Business as Mission, I offer a number of services that will help you develop an appropriate Business as Mission strategy and maximize the impact of your efforts. You can contact me through my company website: http://www.unconventionalmethod.com/contact/.
Facts about Haiti
source: originally published at The Resurgence; Data from the CIA’s World Fact Book
Location and Size
Caribbean, western one-third of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the Dominican Republic (which is two-thirds of the eastern side of Hispaniola). The terrain is mostly rough and mountainous.
17,243 sq miles (slightly smaller than Maryland).
Natural resources
bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble, hydropower
Agriculture products
coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, rice, corn, sorghum; wood
Industries
sugar refining, flour milling, textiles, cement, light assembly based on imported parts
Labor force
agriculture: 66%
industry: 9%
services: 25% (1995)
shortage of skilled laborers, abundance of unskilled laborers
widespread unemployment and underemployment; more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs
80% of the population is below the poverty line
Population
9,035,536
Age structure
0-14 years: 38.1% (male 1,735,917/female 1,704,383)
15-64 years: 58.5% (male 2,621,059/female 2,665,447)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 120,040/female 188,690) (2009 est.)
Ethnic group
95% black, 5% mulatto and white
Urbanization
urban population: 47% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 4.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 52.9%
male: 54.8%
female: 51.2% (2003 est.)
Government
Type: Republic
Port-au-Prince (capitol)
Independence from French in Jan 1, 1804
Their constitution was approved March 1987
Note: Suspended June 1988 with most articles reinstated March 1989; constitutional government ousted in a military coup in September 1991, although in October 1991 military government claimed to be observing the constitution; returned to constitutional rule in October 1994; constitution, while technically in force between 2004-2006, was not enforced; returned to constitutional rule in May 2006
Infant Mortality
total: 59.69 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 37
male: 66.18 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 53.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life Expectancy
total population: 60.78 years
country comparison to the world: 181
male: 59.13 years
female: 62.48 years (2009 est.)
Total Fertility
3.81 children born/woman (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS-adult prevalence rate
2.2% (country comparison to the world: 28)
Living with AIDS
120,000 (2007 estimates)
HIV/AIDS deaths/year
7,200
Major Infectious Diseases
degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria water contact disease: leptospirosis (2009)
Natural hazards
lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding and earthquakes; periodic droughts
1. The UN classifies countries as “least developed” based on three criteria: (1) annual gross domestic product (GDP) below $900 per capita; (2) quality of life, based on life expectancy at birth, per capita calorie intake, primary and secondary school enrollment rates, and adult literacy; and (3) economic vulnerability, based on instability of agricultural productions and exports, inadequate diversification, and economic smallness. Half or more of the population in the 50 least developed countries listed above are estimated to live at or below the absolute poverty line of U.S. $1 per day.
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