Beatitudes, Inc. - Showing the love of Christ by equipping the poor to support their familes through vocational training.

Earthquake Update
March 24, 2010

Dear Friends,

It has now been almost three months since the devastating earthquake in Haiti. How strange and astonishing to think that there have been three other strong earthquakes since then, in Taiwan, Turkey and Chile! Yet the destruction, loss of life and displacement of people in Haiti still exceeds them all.

Beatitudes has been scheduled for several months to send a team to work with the Pwoje Fanm ladies in April. For some time, we wondered if this would be possible, given all that has happened. As we have watched the news and heard from our friends in Haiti, we have also wondered if it would seem frivolous, even crassly insensitive for us to travel into Haiti now with our bags laden with sparkling beads and bright fabrics when others are bringing in life-sustaining medicine and other supplies for the relief of the acute misery that so many in Haiti are experiencing. How can we stitch dolls when others are repairing bones? Or assemble handbags when so many need mended hearts?

Many of you know that I am a physician. I have ached just thinking about all the care that so many in Haiti desperately need and not all have received. For some time, I tried to get to Haiti to participate in the medical relief efforts, but alas, that door closed for me.

And as I have looked at the growing piles of supplies that have accumulated in my home—flowered fabrics instead of bandages, quilters’ pins instead of sutures—what keeps coming back to me again and again is that what we are really bringing to Haiti is jobs. Income. New skills. Hope.

I know the misery in Haiti is acute, but it is also chronic and will continue to stretch into the future. In addition to acute relief, the Haitians need ways to keep their families going, income to keep food on the table, and marketable skills so that they can rebuild their lives and their country. The women of Pwoje Fanm need the supplemental income they earn from us for their manufacturing labor, and the youth of Haiti need the skills they will learn at the future trade school more than ever. Holy Trinity Trade School was tragically lost in the earthquake. Even more tragically, more than half its students perished with it. We have to keep going, to keep working, to keep hoping and striving and inviting others to work alongside us to help the Haitians help themselves. We are more determined than ever, and not even an earthquake can shake our commitment to our sisters and brothers in Haiti.

The bishop of Haiti, the Rt. Rev. Jean-Zache Duracin, and Père Soner, the Priest-in-Charge of La Gonâve Island both recognize this need. The bishop has given us his official blessing to come in as planned next month (April 18-27) and carry on our work with the women and to continue to see how we can move forward on the trade school project, which is a greater challenge than ever, given that construction materials will be more scarce and expensive than ever.

So we are praying, planning and preparing. Will you join us by supporting us in prayer? Pray for Paige Curtis (my partner on this mission) and myself that God will keep us focused on the work He has assigned us. That He will keep our spirits strong despite the inevitable heartbreak of seeing what has happened to the people and the country we have come to know and love. That He will show us the part Beatitudes will play in rebuilding Haiti.

Go, beads. Go, fabrics. Go, cute little dolls. Go, hope. Go, faith. Go, perseverance.

Go, Jesus. Heal Haiti. Let us help.

Amen.

Faithfully,

Sandy Chai, M.D.
President, Board of Directors

Earthquake Update
Jan. 28, 2010

Dear Friends of Beatitudes,

What a lot has happened in the days since life in Haiti as we knew it changed forever!

La Gonàve, like most of Haiti’s outlying areas, has been flooded with refugees as people have left the capital in despair of ever receiving help there. The Episcopal Church, along with all the other ministries on the island, has been working hard to try to care for them. At first, it seemed that “the island Haiti forgot” had been forgotten by everyone else, too. Then, the Marines arrived and now at least 2 national television news teams have visited the island. Food and medical aid have started coming in, and that’s good news. But the road ahead is long. The island’s resources are scant, and what they have normally comes through Port-au-Prince. With that avenue disrupted for the foreseeable future and the population of the island’s port town suddenly doubled with more people arriving all the time, refugees will be dependent on food aid for some time to come. And skyrocketing prices for what goods are available are to be expected.

These are all the predictable “aftershocks” of the earthquake here on La Gonàve, even though the island didn’t sustain the terrible physical damage of the mainland.

As refugees settle in remote areas like La Gonàve, it becomes vitally important, even now in the midst of the acute disaster, to look ahead and start praying and planning for ways to create a sustainable situation for these people–ways for them to help themselves.

That’s why the work of organizations like Beatitudes is more critical than ever. Our mission of empowering the poor through vocational training will be an important part not only of rebuilding lives, but also of rebuilding the nation.

I am pleased to report that Beatitudes is once again able to wire funds to Haiti. Throughout this disaster, we have continued our work with the Pwoje Fanm program. And now we plan to move ahead with the Trade School project at an accelerated pace.

Will you help us to rebuild Haiti? All donations through the secure Donate Now button on our website will go toward the Trade School project. Please consider partnering with us by becoming a monthly donor.

If you are interested in learning about other organizations that are already at work in Haiti and are also committed for the long term, please click here.

And keep praying! There’s a long road ahead. But God is a great walking partner.

Peace and blessings,
Sandy Chai, M.D.
President, Board of Directors