HAITI – Two years ago, a devastating earthquake ripped through the nation of Haiti—changing it forever. Since then, so many of you have made such a significant impact in these communities that we wanted to share just a few of the things your support has accomplished over the last two years.

• Clean Water – At the height of our relief efforts, 35 water purification units provided safe drinking water to more than 100,000 people…every day. We also drilled more than 30 wells and have been producing and distributing enough chlorine to hospitals and orphanages to disinfect millions of gallons of drinking water each day.

• Medical Care – When the quake hit, you helped us ship millions of dollars worth of medicine to Haiti. A few months later, we were among the first responders to the deadly cholera outbreak. We also distributed more than 3,000 wheelchairs to those in need and constructed a new surgical unit and emergency facility at St. Luke’s Family Hospital.

• Food Distribution – Immediately following the earthquake, we shipped cargo containers of emergency food supplies to feed hundreds of orphans, children, and families in need. Today, we are giving poverty-stricken families a source of income and high protein food source through fish farms.

• Orphan Care – We joined hands with Partners in Health to open Zanmi Beni Children’s Home for orphans and special needs children. Today we are continuing to improve the home through a new dormitory and even growing tilapia to provide a source of protein for the children.

In 2012, we are looking ahead to even more exciting initiatives for Haiti including being able to significantly increase the number of wells we can build each year thanks to the purchase of a new well drilling rig.

We humbly thank you for your compassion for the people of Haiti and the suffering around the world.

HAITI – About a year ago I had a chance to meet a little girl from Haiti, her name is Adianne.

Adianne was first brought to us because she had a severe bone infection and she also had sickle cell anemia. So, the combination of the two really put her at very high-risk for more infections and may possibly even lead to amputation of her arm.

Operation Blessing responded and through the collaboration of a local hospital here in Norfolk, VA, Adianne received intensive therapy and even surgery to clean up her infection and to help treat her sickle cell anemia.

I really had a chance over those eight weeks to go to the hospital almost every single day. And to also see her throughout the eight weeks that she was here.

Typically, we don’t bring kids to the United States to receive care. Typically, we go in and do things in country. So it really created a new experience for me personally–to get to know Adianne on a totally different level than I am normally able to with kids in other countries.

I actually helped fly them back home to Haiti. I remember being in the airport, taking pictures with my camera and showing her the pictures. It was just so cool to be able to see her change from the shy little girl who was sick, who was anemic, who was malnourished, to someone who had grown three inches in eight weeks and felt a lot better. She was even was speaking English to me.

Adianne’s life really was transformed by the care she received through these medical treatments. And even when she was able to return to Haiti, we were able to help transition her and her family, help provide him with a better place to live. We were able to help her go back to school and continue to learn English.

I’m just so thankful for the donors that have allowed us to impact people like Adianne, to really provide them with life transformations.

Haiti – I’ll never forget the day I met Nastalie.

Our team had just arrived to her village of Luben, Haiti, which is in the heart of the region where the deadly cholera outbreak started.

The village is surrounded by rice fields, which just two months before had been flooded with cholera-contaminated waters, surrounding the village with disease and basically cutting them off from any aid or hope of help.

Nastalie’s mom told us how she had heard the warnings on the radio to not drink from the river. But the river was their life source—the place where they bathed, cleaned clothes, and collected water for cooking and drinking.

For four days, they went without drinking water.

The mom was desperate and cried out to God for help – and the very next day an Operation Blessing truck loaded with Lifesaver jerrycans arrived, which would provide them with purified drinking water and protect them against the cholera.

As we’re walking through the village and talking, this precious 5-year-old, Nastalie, reaches up and grabs my hand, and with her other hand begins to softly stroke my arm and presses it against her dirt-stained cheek.

I don’t speak Creole, so I couldn’t really communicate well with Nastalie, but her tender touch said everything that words could not.

Nastalie is alive and healthy today because of the compassionate efforts of our supporters who enabled us to send relief to her village…just in time.

On behalf of Nastalie, her family, and all the villagers of Luben, thank you for your compassion, and merry Christmas.

Operation Blessing staff Lara Coleman shares the latest on OBI’s relief and development projects in Haiti.

MEDAN BELIZE, Haiti – Today we brought our water truck and another vehicle filled with food down the treacherous road towards Lake Azuei. We were able to deliver 4,000 gallons of clean water and nearly 1.5 tons of food to the 45 families living in the village Medan Belize.

There were enough supplies to help an additional 30 families living in the neighboring village called Canez.

The items we delivered included packaged military food supplies and “Manny Food” packs, which are a mix of rice and soy, packed with nutrients to help malnourished children.

Operation Blessing staff Lara Coleman shares the latest on OBI’s relief and development projects in Haiti.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – After months of waiting and watching the little fish grow it was finally time to harvest the tilapia from Operation Blessing’s aquaponics system at Zanmi Beni Children’s Home.

Excitement was in the air as everyone watched the tilapia harvest and anticipation grew as the kitchen staff cleaned, breaded and fried the protein-packed fish.

In Haiti, the standard meal consists simply of diri ak pwa (rice and beans) or mayi moulen ak sos pwa (cornmeal with bean sauce). The waters surrounding Haiti have been overfished and the chance to have a delicacy such as fresh tilapia is a rare treat.

The children were all smiles as they gathered for the special meal. The fish could not have looked any more delicious. One big smile from a shy little boy caught my eye.

Three-year-old Marcus had been abandoned by his parents at the general hospital and was brought into the care of Zamni Beni. Now he receives the nutrition, care and education that he needs to grow strong and healthy. I watched as this delightful little guy ate mouthful after mouthful of the fried tilapia, knowing that the possibilities for these kids are endless.

The OBI team here is continuing to build a much larger tilapia project where thousands of pounds of the fish will feed the children of Haiti.

MEDAN BELIZE, Haiti – The rainy season has officially started in Haiti, and while the rains are needed for crop production, for many people the season spells trouble. Last year flooding from heavy rain spread cholera, resulting in the tragic death of thousands of Haitians. Operation Blessing played a major part in bringing the cholera outbreak under control in the Artibonite region through the provision of clean water.

Now Haiti is bracing for a resurgence of cholera and Operation Blessing is ready to respond with emergency water systems and disinfecting chlorine solution if needed. The rainy season will also bring misery to those still living in tent camps since the earthquake. Operation Blessing continues to operate 35 water purification systems to provide displaced families with safe water despite their unsafe surroundings.

For the villagers of Medan Belize, the rainy season is seen as a nuisance; the rain erodes their mud homes and leaks through their thatch roofs. But Operation Blessing is helping the villagers keep dry and make the most out of the rain. We distributed metal roofing materials to all 72 families in the village which will allow them to cover their homes and harvest the rain for drinking water.

Without the harvested rain water, the villagers would need to make a four-mile trek to collect water from a well. Operation Blessing distributed Lifesaver jerrycans to each family in the village, the jerrycans allow the families to filter the rainwater before drinking; it’s safe and effective and is making a huge difference.

As I write this a huge thunderstorm is raging outside and it’s pouring down rain. But tonight families in Medan Belize will be hearing these raindrops beating against their new metal roofs instead of leaking through the thatch and tomorrow they will have safe clean water to drink.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – It’s Mother’s Day in Haiti, and for the kids at the Zanmi Beni Children’s Home it’s a time to celebrate and say thank you to all the staff “moms.” All of the children at Zanmi Beni are either orphans or were abandoned at birth, so it is the female staff members here that have developed special bonds with the children and shown them motherly love all year long. It is so evident when you hear the children calling out “Mama!” that the kids and staff at Zanmi Beni are one big family.

It was a special day for the Operation Blessing team since it was the first time the new dining room and kitchen had been used. Last year’s Mother’s Day celebrations were held under a mango tree. This year, after continual improvements and construction at Zanmi Beni, the party was held in a beautiful new building on the campus.

It was also great to reflect on how far along the children have come. Little Natasha was a tiny infant last year, just a few months old, today she was sitting in a high chair with pink ribbons in her hair. Thanks to the hard working physical therapists, some of the children who were sitting in wheelchairs last year were on their feet and dancing with “Mama Loune” today.

As the “moms” were served a big Mother’s Day feast, the kids put on headbands that read “Happy Mother’s Day.” Music was playing and children were dancing, singing, and hugging the staff. Soon all these children will be able to move into the new dormitory building, which is just days away from completion.

The Zanmi Beni campus continues to expand and improve and the children are flourishing. It was clear today that the Zanmi Beni “family” is growing closer and that on Mother’s Day these beautiful children get to feel true motherly love.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there from the Operation Blessing Haiti team.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—Today is a heavy day for us here in Haiti as we stop to reflect and pray for the victims and their families. The Haiti earthquake anniversary is bringing back memories and emotions of those difficult hours, days and weeks that we all endured last year.  Yet through the challenges we faced, it’s amazing and miraculous to look back and see our accomplishments and consider how much we were able to achieve as a team.

Yesterday I visited our fish farms, our fishing village, went to the general hospital and attended a candlelight vigil for the dead at the site of the mass graves at Tetanye. Eric installed washers and dryers at the cholera clinic and was making big improvements to our guesthouse. It is still nonstop here—a year after it all started.

Watch “The Hope That Remains: Remembering Haiti One Year Later”

Despite the media’s criticism over the seemingly slow pace of the recovery effort, every day we see positive change thanks to our work and the strength given to us by God. One of the most powerful miracle stories that reflects this is the story of Jessica.

It was day seven after the earthquake and our team of Israeli paramedics were working tirelessly to treat wounds and do everything they could to save the lives of injured Haitians. OB had established a field hospital in the heart of Port-au-Prince and it had become the focal point for many of the wounded in the city. Suddenly the already noisy clinic was roused with the shouts of two men running into the stadium carrying a little girl. They laid her on one of the consultation tables and screamed frantically that she was “still alive.”

The fact Jessica was still alive was a miracle. She had been in her home when the quake struck. Her grandmother grabbed her arm and bolted for the door but it was too late—the house collapsed around them entombing them in layers of concrete. In the pitch darkness Jessica was completely pinned and unable to move but could still feel her grandmother’s hand gripping her arm. For three days her grandmother would squeeze her arm to let her know she was still there, but on the third day the squeezing stopped and her hand went cold. Jessica knew her grandmother had died. She laid there four more days in the heat with no food or water.

The doctors scrambled to get IVs into her withered veins, her eyes were rolled back and she was completely limp.  I could smell the stench of death on her, the smell of her grandmother’s decaying body.  

She was as close to death as I have ever seen anybody, as close to death as you can possibly be. But despite every imaginable pain, darkness, sickness, and fear that had come against her, 30 minutes later Jessica opened her eyes. She was alive.

I first saw Jessica seven days after the quake. She came back to life in front of my eyes and was soon able to talk in a faint whisper. It was one of the moments that will last with me forever, one of many moments that have come to define our success in Haiti. So today, 358 days after we first met, I wanted to see Jessica and check on her recovery.  

We drove downtown through streets that were once covered in rubble but are now clear, past the general hospital which now has improved infrastructure thanks to OB, past the stadium where it all took place, to Jessica’s new house.

I was half expecting to meet a child still bearing the mental scars of her ordeal, but instead I saw Jessica at the window smiling and waving, excited to have visitors.

She ran out and gave me a hug, giggled and took us inside. She couldn’t remember me from that day, but I hadn’t expected that. Her parents had told her that we were “good people who had saved her.” Jessica is doing amazingly well. She went through a time of therapy and is now back in school. I asked her what she would like to be when she grows up and she said “a teacher.” We laughed with the family and spoke of the remarkable circumstances of Jessica’s survival. After a big high five and a hug, we left. I was so happy to see Jessica thriving.

Jessica’s survival represents the destiny of Haiti and the Haitian people. Despite all the cards stacked against this nation, at rock bottom in a seemingly impossible recovery, Haiti will spring back to thrive again one day. And just like Jessica’s determination in not allowing her will to be crushed, the Haitian people will end up surprising us all in how quickly they can recover given the right circumstances.

I’m proud to be a part of our organization and knowing that there are countless “Jessicas” in Haiti that we have saved and will go on to empower in the coming year. Please stand with us in prayer today for Haiti and for the strength to enable us to continue to play a vital role in Haiti’s recovery.

Our team had just arrived to the village of Luben. To get there, we had to abandon the narrow dirt road we drove in on and carve a rather erratic path with our SUV through the harvested rice fields. A group of children from the village were running excitedly in front of us, mapping out the best route and pointing out where we should drive so that we could avoid getting stuck in the mud and deep ditches. These were the same rice fields that only two months before were flooded several feet high with cholera-contaminated waters, surrounding the village with disease and effectively cutting them off from any aid or hope of help.

There in the dusty village of Luben with its mud-and-straw huts, we met Wilna, 24, and her two beautiful girls—Nastalie, 5, and Edna, 2.

Wilna remembered the exact day that cholera arrived to her village.
“On October 19, the water became bad,” she told us.

Wilna had heard the warnings on the radio to not drink from the river. But the river was their life source—the place where they bathed, cleaned clothes, and collected water for cooking and drinking.

Of the 1,500 people who call Luben home, 500 became sick with cholera. Two hundred people died—and more than half of those deaths were children.

Wilna was desperate to protect her children, so she heeded the warnings to not drink the water, but she faced another critical dilemma: the rice fields surrounding their village were flooded. They were trapped. And there was no water to drink.

Time was running out for Nastalie and her sister Edna. For four days, they went without drinking water.

“My children would ask me, ‘Mama, Mama, give me some water,’ and I didn’t have anything to give,” she said. “I didn’t sleep for four days and prayed for God to protect my children.”

The very next day, Wilna’s prayers were answered when an Operation Blessing truck loaded with Lifesaver jerrycans arrived just beyond the flooded fields that surrounded their village.

Like a Biblical mass exodus, the villagers crossed the fields in waist-deep water to collect their jerrycans that would provide them with purified drinking water and ultimately, give them life.

Life. That’s all I could think about as young Nastalie reached up and grabbed my hand, softly stroking my arm and pressing it against her dirt-stained cheek.

I don’t speak Creole, so I couldn’t really communicate well with Nastalie or the others in her village, but this 5-year-old’s tender touch said everything that words could not.

I was moved to tears at the thought that this precious young girl had come dangerously close to death, but here she was today, alive and healthy because Operation Blessing had arrived to her village…just in time.

On behalf of Nastalie, her family, and the villagers of Luben, thank you for your support that is truly making a difference and saving lives.

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To help bring life-saving relief to a precious child like Nastalie, please click here.

LUBEN, Haiti – Tony Cece, OBI’s video producer, was on the ground in Haiti at the height of the cholera outbreak, and now, 2 months later, he is back to visit the patients he helped.

I’m pretty tired after the weekend up in the St. Marc region, but I just wanted to share my personal excitement and answered prayers with you.  All three of the worst cholera patients that Operation Blessing helped in Luben in October survived and are doing very well!

Mejin and Louvenskeigh are the two children that Eric Lotz, OBI’s national director for Haiti, and I drove to the clinic a couple miles up the road.  I didn’t even recognize Mejin because she looks much younger now that she is healthy and her face has filled in.

Mejin when she was ill with cholera in October, and now healthy.

It was unfortunate to learn that her 8-month-old sister had died on Oct. 18 of cholera, before they knew what it was and could properly treat the disease.  Her mother had feared that she would also lose Mejin.  She was very, very grateful for the help we provided.

The villagers all recognized us from that trip. To the villagers’ delight, I showed them pictures on my phone from that day. But I kept skipping over photos of Bernice because I really didn’t think he could have survived, and I really didn’t want to hear that he had died.  I had prayed so hard for all three of these individuals ever since the day we met them; I didn’t want to have failed them somehow.

When we were at Mejin’s house, I turned around to see a smiling Bernice right behind me.  He quickly grabbed my hand and shook it, and I shook back in complete awe.  He looked fit and healthy.  We keep finding such testimonies of a powerful God that is working through everyone at Operation Blessing to breathe His life into His children.

Bernice when he was ill with cholera, and now fit and healthy.