update

We've (by the way, when I use "we" I mean the team of folks who work together on all of this. This includes the folks on the ground (henri, gladys, bobi, elsie and the American development folks - joel and mandy busby, chris hlavacek, etc - ) spent most of our time working on some behind the scenes stuff. The amount of desperate long-term needs that will emerge from the earthquake is truly staggering. Here's two thoughts:

1) Prosthetic limbs. Amputations have been so common in the last few weeks. Haiti is already a very difficult country for the crippled. Now, more so. We're working on a connection. Any feedback/contacts would be appreciated and welcomed.
2) In the months to come, we expect to see waves of malnourished children as a result of the removal of some many of the structures that were in place for acquiring food. Therefore, the nutrition program will be inundated. We purchased a truck this week. This had been identified as the first critical step in the expansion of the program from months ago. This allows the nutrition team to be more mobile. To this point, the moms and babies were mostly coming to us - some walking many as 7 hours. Now we can go to them. This is huge. Read "your partnership/donations really at work."

A few other things:

Medical team number 3 hit the ground yesterday. Dr. Ric is back in the US getting some rest before jumping back in. I hope to post an update from him ASAP.

Fundraising has gone really well. God has really brought together quite a bit of people for this. We're going to need all of it.

Thanks for checking back with us.

new update

Here's a few updates:

1) Things are still very difficult on the ground. Lots and lots of need. Canaan is working hard to find ways to help respond to the waves of refugees and suffering.

2) A team of doctors were on the ground for a week. A new team came to relieve them on Jan. 23rd. The plan is for a new medical team to basically be on the ground every successive Saturday for awhile. If we need more people to go, we'll be sure to put out the word.

3) Supplies (including lots of medicine) could be going down this Thursday (1/28). We're hoping to continue to make drives for additional supplies in the coming weeks.

One last thing. So many people have expressed interest to go and help on the ground. For now, that is not an option through our contacts. Only people with very specialized skills (specifically medical) are needed at the moment. We may be able organize teams soon, but now it's just not time.

Our contacts on the ground have recommended the following article to help understand the need to hold off on going to Haiti right now. It might be a little harsh, but we think it makes sense - for now.

Here's the link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34958965/ns/world_news-haiti_earthquake/

Do you want to help us gather stuff?

We're still getting close to our shipping/supplies connection. Our plan is to partner with Med Mission to gather supplies. Med Mission is committed to work with us to get the stuff to Canaan. Birmingham area folks, you can help us immediately! Here's some info from the Med Mission blog:

Locations for donation points will be: Mountain Brook Community Church, Liberty Baptist (Chelsea), Mountain Top Community Church and the warehouse on Oxmoor Rd. The trailers will be manned by church members from 9am to 4pm on Saturday and 1pm to 5pm on Sunday. The warehouse will be open on Saturday but Sunday has not been decided. The trailers are donated by Armstrong Relocation and Total Asset Solutions. Thank you for all the help.

List of items we are collecting this weekend:
FOOD & WATER
Bottled Water Cases (12 oz), Dried Beans, Dried Rice, Canned Meats, Canned Foods

PERSONAL HYGIENE
Shampoo, Soap, Diapers & Wipes, Feminine Products, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, Q-tips, Cotton Balls

HEALTHCARE ITEMS
Children Vitamins and Disinfectant Wipes, Aspirin, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Antiseptic Sprays & Ointments, Band Aids - assorted sizes, Triple Antibiotic Ointment, White Table Vinegar (1 quart size), Hydrogen Peroxide, Antibacterial Soap-pump bottle & refills

Interesting Connections:
1. We met a doctor who is flying his single engine plane to Miami and ferrying supplies in to Haiti and bringing evacuees back. He stopped by the warehouse and we look forward to serving together.
2. We received a call from a young man who found a group flying from Ft. Lauderdale to Haiti ferrying supplies in and bringing injured persons out on a daily basis. He then found an executive who offered their corporate jet to get supplies from Birmingham to Ft. Lauderdale. We will be putting together a program to implement this service in the next few days!
3. We got word that a group is working on bringing a C-130 cargo plane to Birmingham and asked if we could help fill it with supplies for Haiti. We're waiting to see if this works out, but it could be another great opportunity.

God is providing! We're just trying to be faithful to follow His leading. Thank you for your partnership. Your prayers, support, and donations are much appreciated.


Thanks. Spread the word. Let's get stuff!

shipping supplies

We're still working really hard to solidify a supply line into Haiti. We're getting close. If so, we'll be needing to spread the word fast about a list of supplies we can be gathering....

More to come...Thanks for not moving on. Hope to update more thoroughly later today...

I haven't tossed this out there in a while, but if you're interested in making a donation and receiving something to keep Haiti on the forefront of your mind check out Mandy's haiti photoblog.

www.mandybusbyphotography.blogspot.com

update from bobi and marcus

Here's an update from Marcus and Bobi Throneburg (Marcus helps operate Canaan's school, Bobi the nutrition program). Anything from these two beats anything I could write. Let me just say that they are unbelievable. They are Godly, wise, compassionate and committed. We love them.

I will say this - please pray that we can solidfy a shipping connection. In many ways, our relief efforts are somewhat stuck until we can figure this out.

From Bobi (note: "medika mamba" - creole for peanut butter medicine; this is our nutrition program):

So I wanted to comment a bit on our trip to Port and Leogane on Monday. Lets just say that you all see the pictures at home - but to experience it and walk through the rubble yourself....is another story. To see the people and how it has effected them.....is another story. I truly am amazed at how strong the people appear and how even some of their faces have peace. I wonder how I would be reacting if I were in their shoes - to have lost so many family, to not know where my next meal would come from, to have lost nearly everything.

As Marcus mentioned the tented communities from our last blog, I wanted to go into a bit more detail. These tented villages seriously look like refugee camps. We walked through one in Leogane. I felt very intrusive, but we were following the Pastor of the area and he led us right through one. A huge group of people have settled on a soccer field and taken anything they can from their houses and the remains of construction material to make shelter and possibly an area of protection. Please see the picture below of an example of one of these communities.

I love Pastor Henri and Sister Gladys vision to reach these specific groups of people. I also like her idea of meeting their physical needs, while trying to meet their spiritual, mental, and emotional needs by setting up a P.A. system or using a megaphone to just read scripture or lead people in singing.

MEDIKA MAMBA:

So many of you know that we were ready to buy a truck for Medika Mamba and get going on the expansion work of setting up stations within a 2-4 hour radius of Canaan. I was pumped up to reach more malnourished kids. We had the money raised and ready. Well we still do, but now since the quake, that plan is a bit on hold.....

Please pray for wisdom and timing. It is inevitable that more kids will become malnourished within the next month or two, possibly after the relief work and aid are pulled out. We will be here....ready to go.... I am not sure how it is going to look, but I will keep you all posted as things change and we have a leading on direction.

Yesterday (Tuesday) we had our regular Canaan Clinic MM program. It was wonderful to be back to work with the kids! We had 25 regulars come, 3 graduated and 1 new one admitted. I am so thankful for the long and short term workers who helped with MM while I was in the States. It is great to have people like Leslie Rolling helping in there!! It is also good to see our Haitian nurse we hired for MM in September still smiling when we talk. I am so grateful for how God is sustaining this program. I have also posted a picture of a cute little guy named Luckson. He entered our program a couple months ago and is about ready to graduate.

God bless you all - thanks for your prayers and love and support. It means SO much!

Keep on keeping up. Help us spread the word....

Hi everyone. Thanks again for all the interest and support. I cannot keep up with all of the phone calls and emails. Just wanted to let you know about a few developments.

1) Doctors still on the ground, another team hoping to go down soon in relief.
2) Total dollars given - from all the different avenues - to support Canaan's efforts could be nearing the $100,000 range. Unbelievable.
3) Local guy here in Birmingham has offered to donate medicine.
4) Working really hard on a shipping connnection. We'll keep you posted. I met today with Med Mission. It's amazing what Jim Tucker can do. We've run into a few road blocks. He explains it best.

We have been working with our partners in the States and on the ground in Haiti to negotiate the logistical nightmare that exists in trying to get aid to the people of Haiti. Here is a snapshot of what we're working through: Find an open port in Haiti, organize an acceptable drop point with a trusted recipient, find a way to get materials off the boat, then onto a truck, to get to the partners who desperately need it. Then factor in that fuel is scarce and being sold on the black market for $150 a gallon. So once on shore, just getting it to our partners locations poses major problems. Not to mention corruption and other issues. Basically, this effort would have been difficult before the earthquake and since the quake, all the issues are expounded.

All of that to say we will need your physical help, but we don't have details for you quite yet. Please hang in there. We still plan to have volunteers at the warehouse this Saturday, but stay tuned for updates.

If you want to help right now, please make a financial donation. One thing is for sure, getting the needed supplies to our Haitian partners will require money. Thank you for joining us in this effort.

Pray for us, because this could be the key to everything moving forward as we try to support Canaan's relief efforts. Please keep following the efforts and spread the word. More to come tomorrow.

update...

Not a ton new to report tonight. But here is a few updates:

1) Gladys (she runs Canaan) finally made it back in to the country. She had been in the Dominican Republic for an education conference. Gladys is starting to get a vision for how Canaan can be used to serve the waves of people coming to Canaan for help...more details to come.

2) Our doctors are working feverishly on the ground. The plan is for another team to relieve them in a few days. Please pray that we can arrange the proper travel for them.

3) I'm having a meeting with Med Mission tomorrow. This organization ships medical supplies all over the world and we're trying to solidify a shipping connection in Haiti so we can send down medical and other supplies in the coming weeks. There's still some work to be done on solidifying the shipping connection in Haiti and we're going to need it very bad. Please let me know if you know of any resources.

4) Over $20k has come in over the website. Two churches in Birmingham gathered nearly $28k yesterday and a church in Canada (Elsie's home church) collected $40k yesterday. Along with some other funding we've received, we could heading near the $100k mark. Wow - and we're going to need all of it.

Thanks so much for spreading the word, for following the story...we'll try to get more information to you ASAP.

new update from Haiti

It looks like we could be nearing $40-50k in funding so far (about $20k thru website - others $$$ were gathered in churches today). The medical team was hard at work today. Here's a report from Elsie.

Dr Ric and team arrived. We started seeing the patients that were admitted and worked till about 9:30. We stayed the night at their guesthouse and continued all day today. What tragic injuries for many of them. Basically all had fractures - some really bad ones. By now they're 4-5 days old and infections are starting. They were still gaping open. Deep ugly wounds; an ankle with infection that will probably get amputated soon; 2 whose house fell on their upper backs and bent them forward - injurying their spinal cord and now they're paraplegic; an arm that's got parts of a bone missing so won't be able to grow back together; kinds with head injuries; I could go on and on. We put 3 people's legs on traction, made with a pillowcase and sand, for about 6 weeks. After awhile we didn't even asked how it happened - it was all the same "the roof fell down". We did get two vehicle accidents too, that were awful. The first they brought in a woman that was already gone. In the second a man's face was all swollen - so many facial fractures and they couldn't help him. Don't know what they're gonna do with him. He needs a facial surgeon.

People are traveling north by the FULL busloads and truckloads. We are also looking at the possibility of a lot of people coming though, so looking at setting up tents and sheets and whatever possible to house them.






Thank you for your support. Please keep following the story and spreading the word.

more updates from our medical team on the ground

update from Marcus (Bobi's husband):

We are coming to you live from the hospital in Pierre Payen. I believe this hospital is the first one located on the main road north of Port-au-Prince. It is currently treating patients from the earthquake so they are seeing a lot of fractures and head injuries. Bobi and I are here today helping a bit in the pharmacy. The medical team that came down on a donated corporate jet brought loads of supplies which Bobi has organized and now distributes as they are needed.

Everything in this area seems fairly normal. The search for fuel continues for everyone. Without fuel we cannot go get food or run the generators for power, so obviously it is something everyone here needs. One strange thing that I just noticed looking out the window is the sight of buses headed south without any people on them. Typically they are filled to capacity with people sitting on top. For now, and probably for the foreseeable future they will be full headed out of Port, but empty headed back.

update from our folks on the ground

Hi everyone. Lots is happening. Here's an update from our folks on the ground.

1) Dr. Ric arrived at Pierre Payen hospital (just a few minutes from Canaan) yesterday at 2pm to "lots of trauma." The plan is for another team of doctors who we work with to head down later in the week to relieve Ric. All of our travel connections to access the country are being used to get our folks medical (mostly from Dallas/Fort Worth area) there...

2) From Bobi (she's an American who runs the nutrition project on the ground):

"Elsie (she oversees the medical clinic at Canaan on the ground and trains Haitian medical staff for the clinic) and I are with Dr Ric helping. Pray hard, just had a lady die a couple minutes ago."

This is the kind of thing that your gifts are supporting....

Joel and Mandy, Can we go down with you?

I can't tell you how many times we've been asked this in the last couple days. First, I want to say thanks so much for you heart and your passion to help. We love it. Second, things are a little more complicated than that. There may be some opportunities in the coming weeks/months, but for now, only experienced relief specialists are being let in to the country.

There are some private planes that we've been connected to that are being allowed in and out of the country. Our team has made the decision to only send down the members who do medical work. For now, we'll be primarily facilitating Dr. Ric (from Dallas/Ft. Worth - per previous posts) as he operates in Haiti. He'll be on the ground in Port Au Prince early this afternoon!

Also, we're still gathering funds. The needs are going to be insane in the coming months/years. We're going to need all the funding we can get. We also are making plans to start gathering medical/relief supplies/food supplies. We have a great shipping connection that we hope to maximize. Thanks.

Update from medical team ASAP.

YOUR GIFTS ARE HELPING MAKE ALL OF THIS HAPPEN!

We're up to $15,000 now. Thanks so much. Katie Snider, a Samford University student, is at Canaan and here's a report from her:

"Took a premature 3-week-old that weighed only 2 lbs to a hospital today. We didn't think he would make it through the ride to the hospital, but he was a trooper and is still fighting. Please pray for Saphie Aristolde."

Lots of need. Thanks for your support.

update

Wow. It has been a crazy 2-3 days. First, thanks so much to all of you who have been keeping up. Nearly $10,000 has come in the last 24 hrs. Second, thanks to especially to Josh Hausen and Jimbo Tucker who has been assisting in all kinds of ways to coordinate all of this. Other developments:

1) Dr. Ric Bonell (who has been a huge part of the development of Canaan's medical clinic) from DFW, TX (per recent blog) is in Ft. Lauderdale. He's with multiple medical personnel (including trauma surgeons) and they now have a plane, supplies and a time slot to land in Port-Au-Prince! They should be on the ground helping people in less than 24 hrs.

2) Jimbo Tucker's dad organization, Med Mission (http://med-mission.blogspot.com) is working out some shipments options in partnership with two non-profit orgs into St. Marc (a port 45 minutes from Canaan). A portion of the food collected will for shipment has promised to go to Canaan. This is amazing news.

3) We've mentioned that Canaan will be effected as a result of this tragedy. They will not only take care of their needs, they will have a primary role in providing relief. Our goal is to come along their side and help them help their people. Here are ways we see Canaan and providing help:

- the medical clinic is already seeing patients
- the hospital up the road is staffed and ready to go and is awaiting for Dr. Ric to arrive
- the orphanage facilities will/may turn into a some kind of homeless shelter for an undetermined period of time as people migrate north.
- the malnutrition clinic should see an increase in malnourished kids due to the fact that the economic and political epicenter of Haiti is destroyed. this will hit in the months to come.
- The Orphanage will deliver food to hard hit areas and families they know (usually bags of Rice and beans).

4) YOUR GIVING (THAT KEEPS COMING IN) IS INVOLVED IN ALL OF THESE THINGS! THANKS!

update #5

I just talked to Joel, and we have a few new updates.

1) We have raised close to $10,000! That is amazing! Thank you so much to everybody who has donated to help these people in need. We would love to raise even more money. The next few weeks are going to hit the orphanage hard, and we want to help them supply food and supplies for those at Canaan and those in the city who are suffering.

2) Joel spent most of last night communicating with a few of his contacts and got in touch with a charter flight that is flying into Haiti. One of our contacts was able to connect with this effort and is presumably on his way down there right now. We do not know for sure that he made it, but we should know sometime soon. Before he left, we were able to wire a large part of your donations, and we are hoping to have the money in the hands of the people at the orphanage in the next day or two. Thank the Lord for this opportunity because it is one of the only ways that we were going to be able to get money to the orphanage immediately.

Thanks again for continuing to check the blog and spread the word. Please continue to tell anybody that you know because the need is going to escalate over the next few weeks and your financial support will drastically help the people of Haiti.

-Josh

update #4

We've just received word that American Airlines cancelled us for Monday. We're formulating a new plan. We have some other possible transportation options and we have some good and trusted options to get the funding down there as well. Please continue to check back. Thanks for your support.

We want to be there.

update #3

The situation in Haiti is changing by the hour. As of now, our plan is to go forward with our trip on Monday (as long as AA will let us fly). Here's a little more background information about what we do in Haiti. The Canaan Christian Community is a Haitian-run ministry established in 1979. In addition to being home for over 100 people (many kids), in the last 5 years, a major medical clinic and nutrition program (the haiti nutrition project - this is Mandy and I's primarily development responsibility) have been established from Canaan.

On Tuesday, in light of the earthquake, Canaan basically became a relief agency. Their hearts are to serve their people in the midst of this catastrophe, but they also must stay afloat as well. In the coming days, there will be major food (rumors that basic food items could shoot up to astronomical prices), fuel, and medical needs all over Haiti. They will be called upon to help is so many ways.

Our goal is to attempt to raise a lot (please contact me jtbusby@gmail.com if you need to know our goal) of funding in the next few days, so that we can bring these resources to them for their needs and the needs of the nation - as they see fit (our philosophy is to come alongside the Haitians and help them solve problems their way). We'd love to ask you to consider giving and connecting others who can give to this effort. In the event that we cannot travel Monday, we will simply postpone our trip until it can happen.

If you'd like to give, please go to www.canaanorphanage.org and look for the "support canaan" tab on the upper left hand corner. These funds will be wired to us before our trip.

- (update to the update 12:47 pm) Many of you have asked about the grounding of flights. AA has given us some information, we'll have to wait and see. We also have some other potential transport options, as well as some other avenues to get the funding down there ASAP...

update #2

I promised an update with a precise plan tonight. Unfortunately, i don't think i'll be able to deliver. Our folks on the ground are overwhelmed and hurting. They spent the whole day in Port and it was unspeakably horrible. They don't know what they want us to do just yet. we're not sure the best way to help. please check back with us tomorrow.

update #1

thanks for all the responses and concerns. here's some information:

1) Mandy and I will be traveling to Haiti on Monday (1/18) with three others. This trip has been planned for months. If a plane can land, we will go.
2) The local orphanage that we work with and where we headquarter the nutrition program has basically become a relief agency. They went to Port Au Prince to day with medicine, water and food. This means that they need funding and supplies to continue these efforts, and to keep themselves afloat.
3) I will be hearing more about specifics tonight.
4) go to www.canaanorphanage.org and look for the "support" tab in the upper left hand corner. if you'd like to give toward these efforts. Before we go, we will withdraw the cash from this fund/account and take it with us and use it to help in any way possible. if you have any questions about how these funds will be used, contact christopher.hlavacek@gmail.com

I'll try to use this blog as the primary means of communication, please check it, re-check it and tweet the link...

earthquake

Well this blog was supposed to be rolled out, along with our final version of our video, when we had everything squared away, ready for an official launch. None of that seems like a big deal right now. So many of you have been texting, tweeting, f-booking, and asking questions. Mandy and I appreciate it so much. The question is "are your people affected?" The answer is yes and no. No, because no one we personally know seems to be injured or dead. The answer is yes, because in Haiti, when Port-Au-Prince is down, Haiti is down. Here's a story from our friend Leslie:

He (leslie's husband, Chris) was in the middle of an open road area when the quake hit Port. While the guys were working on the truck he started trying to help people get out of the buildings that had come down around him. He was able to help one girl and not able to help others. Pray for him. Those memories will be with him for a very long time. When he realized he could not do any more he walked and found a bus that took him to Archaie. On the bus he met a man named Amos who had gone out to get a sandwich and minutes later found his house was flattened as was the school where he worked. He took his sandwich and got on a bus headed for Cap Haitien because everything that had made up his life in Port was gone. Amos is sleeping in our dorms and when I took him sheets and towels and asked how he was doing he simply said, with a smile, "mwe pa pi mal, gras a Dieu." - I'm not too bad, thank God."

more specific ways to help are coming.

Welcome to the Haiti Nutrition Project Blog

Thank you so much for visiting our site. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

info@haitinutritionproject.org