http://www.delcaminoconnection.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84%20

Tom is currently there in Haiti and we spoke to Walter today. He and Raymond's families are doing well. Conditions are still very rough and they are struggling with Malaria. Please pray for their health and protection.

We anticipate an upcoming visit to Haiti from Oaxaca field coordinator Kerry Johnson soon!

We are continuing to partner with the DCC to determine the best use of resources as our Haitin friends move forward in the deconstruction, rebuilding and networking process.

Thank you for your prayers and your donations. We hope these photos will help you feel more connected to our partners in Haiti as you continue to pray for them.

Supplies.














Meeting with community leaders.





Distribution with community leaders.


And more distribution!


You can give a donation to be sent to our partners in Haiti to be used especially for earthquake relief using the button below. 100% of your donations will go directly to our trusted partners in Haiti for the benefit of their communities.

Friends & Partners of Communityfor,

Many of you have probably followed the news of the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday. As you probably know, Communityfor has begun to partner with Walter Dort and Raymond Nacius, pastors and community leaders in Croix-des-Bouquets, a suburb of Port-au-Price.

At this point we have yet to hear from Walter and Raymond, and we ask for your prayers. Please pray for their safety, for the safety of their families (especially Raymond's newborn), for their congregation in Croix-des-Bouquets, and for all Haitians. Many stateside Haitians are unable to reach their loved ones, so do keep them in your prayers as well.

UPDATE (01/13/10): We have heard today from contacts in the RDC Network (http://www.lareddelcamino.net/en/ updates found here http://www.delcaminoconnection.org/en/) in the Dominican Republic that our friends Pastors Walter Dort and Raymond Nacius, their wives Marie Sone and Dor Guerda and their children are all safe! Their homes suffered only minimal damage! Please continue to pray for them as they assist in relief efforts in their communities.

The RDC Network asks that you please pray for also the World Vision National Director in Haiti who is still trying to locate his wife and two daughters.

UPDATE (01/14/10): We've made contact with Pastor Raymond! He and his family are safe, and they're taking care of a group of local children. The group is sleeping outside, prey to mosquitos and the weather, along Airport Road in Port Au Prince. They have yet to receive any assistance from the local government, and need medicine, food, water, and other supplies. Pastors Raymond and Walter have yet to see each other, but they have communicated by phone, and Walter finds himself in a similar situation in his town of Croix-des-Bouquets (a suburb of PAP).

Donations given here are being used to purchase and transport goods to Haiti from the Dominican Republic through our long-term partners at Del Camino Connection. The supplies will be used to equip local pastors, including our friends Raymond and Walter, to offer aid in their communities. A portion will be earmarked for later stages of relief work and reconstruction. Because of DCC's strategic presence in the Dominican Republic, they're currently able to transport volunteers and resources across the DR-Haitian land border, one of the few channels for distribution of much-needed supplies. For those that are interested, you can read the DCC plan here.

We'll continue to keep you updated as we receive new news. In the meantime, continue to pray. Communityfor friend Travis Reed has put together a powerful video, which you can watch or download here.

UPDATE (01/15/10): We've been working today to connect Walter and Raymond with the on-the-ground staff of Del Camino Connection. Raymond has sent his wife and children, including his newborn infant, upcountry, to stay with family. Unfortunately that means that they're currently out of communication. Walter asks that you pray for his family's safety. Raymond and the children he's watching in Port-au-Prince have had to sleep outside again in unfavorable conditions. They have interacted with the Haitian government, which was unable to provide them with any relief supplies.

Walter is at his home in Croix-des-Bouquets, but is sleeping outside with others. He has been fortunate to access his email, at local guesthouse Mamica, in order to communicate his situation to a DCC friend, Eladia Gesto, who is coordinating relief for them and other Haitian pastors in PAP. Walter has been able to reassemble the solar panel that he and Raymond learned to use in Oaxaca with our Country Director Miguel Johnson, so he is now able to power small electronic devices.

Both pastors ask for your continued prayer. They're very thankful for your donations, and we're optimistic that supplies purchased with your funds will reach them very soon. You can specifically pray that the DCC workers can connect with Walter, Raymond & other pastors quickly on the ground in Haiti, for their continued safety, and for their emotional and physical strength as they continue to lead others through this difficult time.

UPDATE (01/19/10): Walter and Raymond are together in Croix-des-Bouquets. They and their families are safe but sound very weary. They've made arrangements with the local hospital director and developed a distribution scheme for when supplies arrive. I saw that a medical organization (one we are not affiliated with) is planning to move into their area beginning tomorrow. Please pray that that move would be successful. The DCC & their parters are nearing success in securing local pastors with supplies to serve the needs of their communities. You've all heard of the difficulties surrounding aid distribution in Haiti so please pray for the logistics of those connections.

Walter and Raymond ask for your prayers of protection.

UPDATE (01/21/10): The communication between the DR and Haiti has finally opened and the DCC has been in direct contact with Walter and Raymond to get them supplies. Their first shipment arrived in Delmas and the aid is being distributed to local pastors. Tom Yaccino of the DCC is traveling to Haiti today and will be in Croix-des-Bouquet with Walter and Raymond. Please pray for his safe passage as he works to distribute aid an make assessments for future distribution.

Please continue to be in prayer for Walter & Raymond, their families, the people of their church & their community in Croix-des-Bouquet and all those suffering now in Haiti.

Thank you for your care and support for the people of Haiti.

UPDATE (01/22/10): Please take a moment to read an update here from our partners at Del Camino Connection. In it you will find futher details on relief efforts including info about medical outreach, water purification, distribution and relief kit contents and ways you can continue to pray. You can also check their home page for updates. You may also continue to check here in Communityfor news section for updates as well.

Del Camino Connection is working directly with our partners Pastor Walter Dort and Raymond Nacius along with other trustworthy local pastors. I heard today from Raymond that Tom Yaccino from the DCC is there with him in Croix-des-Bouquet.

UPDATE (01/25/10): Tom was able to meet up with Walter and Raymond over the weekend and the supplies were transfered and stored for distribution at the police station. A FEMA trained medical group will also soon be arriving in Haiti from Chicago (faciliated by the DCC) and another medical facility has been established in the area. We are expecting a report on the distribution of goods tomorrow! Thank you for following the story, for your continued support and your prayers.

UPDATE (1/26/10): We have received a report from Walter and Raymond with information about 26 communities in and around Croix-des-Bouquet who have received aid from them. They distributed 1785 food kits and 368 gallons of water. You donated to COF/Communityfor, the DCC and their partners purchased and transported supplies from the Dominican Republic and Walter and Raymond distributed in their local communities. They have asked us to pass on a very BIG THANK YOU to all of you who have been willing to share with them during this difficult time! The need is still great in their area and they have assessed that still 3237 families in their area are in need of basic supplies. We will keep you updated on plans to address those needs. As you have probably seen on the news, obtaining supplies, transporting them and storing them safely is still a big challenge in Haiti.

We at Communityfor are so very impressed with Walter and Raymond. Our friends have remained calm, smart and well organized in the midst of great chaos. We thank you so much for your financial support and your prayers. Please continue to pray for Walter and Raymond, their communities and for all of our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Please click here (the Del Camino Connection News site) for Tom Yaccino's most recent up update on his trip to Haiti, DCC aid distibution efforts and his time with Walter and Raymond.

 

You can give a donation to be sent to our partners in Haiti to be used especially for earthquake relief using the button below. 100% of your donations will go directly to our trusted partners in Haiti for the benefit of their communities.

Please continue to pray. We'll keep you as up to date as we are.

Claude's wife Kelley, Communityfor Burundi Director and Director of Curriculum Development, will join him later in the Spring with their daughter.

Also check out Communityfor Oaxaca Director Miguel Johnson's summary of what happened in 2008, at his blog.

Please add us to your RSS feeds, comment and interact with us, and enjoy our journey together!

Read updates from:

Burundi, where you can follow our journey with the Batwa.

Houston, where you can follow our journey within our own local community, as well as learning what you can do locally to get involved.

Oaxaca, where you can learn why rabbit meat is better food than beef.

and our Director's Blog, moderated by David Shook, with input from all of our operations worldwide.

In early September the Batwa Committee secured a home where 40 Batwa students will reside for the school  year. The home is in a new neighborhood and walking distance from the secondary schools where the students are enrolled. As a matter of fact, one school is even in view from the house!

The house is spacious enough for the students to live, eat, study and relax… well, spacious as any college dormitory, that is! The women will live in the main house, which boasts of 5 bedrooms. The men will live in the guest quarters, which has 4 large rooms. There is ample room for outdoor cooking as well as indoor kitchen facilities, as needed. There are a few patios where students can gather to study, room for dining and visiting and even office space for the Batwa Committee members.

Living with the students will be 2 of the Batwa Committee members, Evariste Ndikumana and Diane Nduwimana. They will be on site to be a present help, resource and encouragement to the students as they face the rigors and joy of student life. Two other Committee members live in a nearby neighborhood and will be available for the students as well. These 40 Batwa students will be in a great environment for learning, with all the necessities as well as the luxuries of much support from Community For Burundi.

This Sunday, move-in day for the students, has been a dream of the Batwa Committee for years. When we met them at the house earlier this week they were bursting with excitement, hardly able to believe this was really becoming a reality for them and the students they’ve been advocating for all these years. They looked at the home as if it were the Promised Land – a place of milk and honey for their students and the future dreams of the Batwa communities in Burundi. We knew we were standing with them on the threshold of something amazing and long hoped for…

What follows is a short introduction to the Batwa, together with five prayer points to consider during the fast, written by Etienne Ndayishimiye, a Batwa Parliamentarian, and Evariste Ndikumana, a Batwa university student:

Of the people groups living in Burundi, the Batwa have resided in the region the longest.  For centuries they lived off the land as nomadic hunter/gatherers, moving freely from place to place.  As new groups moved into the area and settled into more permanent agricultural societies, however, the Batwa were pushed further into the forests and away from the development of the region.  After European colonialism in the 19th century, the Batwa’s rank in society was lowered further due to ever decreasing availability of natural resources and forest land, exclusion from access to public education, and the dwindling demand for the pottery they created which had once helped sustain them.  Today the Batwa live on the very outer fringes of Burundian society, facing extreme discrimination and limited, if any, opportunities in most areas of life.  From education to health care to politics, the Batwa are demeaned, refused access, and pushed aside.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE BATWA PEOPLE OF BURUNDI:

1. For God to come and deliver the Batwa from the poor conditions that they live in, including the lack of land for their families.
2. For God to touch the leaders of Burundi so that they would recognize and support the Batwa of Burundi in matters of governmental justice.
3. For God to touch those in Burundi, especially the neighbors to the Batwa communities, so that they would be kind and offer common respect to the Batwa.
4. For God’s provision for students as the new school year comes in September, as families will be looking for school materials and uniforms.
5. For God to raise up advocates from other tribes in Burundi to speak on the behalf of the Batwa.

They will continue the work they have been engaged in for the past several years, partnering with indigenous Mexican communities throughout greater Oaxaca.

Communityfor is also pleased to formally anounce two Community Trips, one in August and one in September, to visit projects in Oaxaca. For more information, contact us.

Friends – We did it today! Our new friends from the hospital are home free, thanks to you!

For the past week, I have been visiting the Prince Charles Hospital meeting with the chief social worker to learn about patient prisoners in their facility. What I discovered is that there were 18 men and women currently detained in this hospital, ranging from the age of 17 to 73. Some had come to the hospital in late 2007 to seek medical care, but upon recovery have been kept on-site because they do not have the money to cover their bill.

Looking at the release dates reveals that some of these men and women could have returned home 4 or 5 months ago – if they could have only paid their bill. The total tally of their combined bills exceeded the funds we had available. However, we were not going to let these fellow countrymen suffer a day longer than necessary.

So, in true African fashion, we began to prayerfully negotiate their release with the hospital. I imagined that the hospital would be glad to receive even partial payment now, as opposed to the bleak chance of repayment from these impoverished patients in the near (or distant) future. So I made a proposal to cover a percentage of the total combined bill in cash if the hospital would forgive the remaining percentage and guarantee the immediate release of these men and women.

The hospital accepted the proposal! They agreed that assured payment now was better than their prospects otherwise. So today with [my wife] Kelley and [co-worker] Ron Gonski, we went to the hospital with the cash for their release, and took a few Burundian friends to bear witness to this good news afoot in the Prince Charles Hospital.

For photos and stories from the patient prisoners, visit Our Stories.