Make a Difference to That One

 

There’s an illustration that’s been used by compassion ministries for years, about a man who was walking along a beach. Off in the distance he saw a child trotting back and forth, a short distance between the surf's edge and something on the beach.  As the man approached, he could see hundreds of starfish stranded on the sand as the result of a storm far out at sea.  The man looked at the starfish, and at the boy, who was picking them up and flinging them as far as he could into the waves.

 

He walked up to the child.  "You know son, there are thousands of starfish here. You can't possibly make a difference." 

 

The boy looked speculatively at the man, then stooped down, picked up a starfish, trotted toward the waves and flung it in.  Returning to the man and the slightly reduced mound where he’d been working, he remarked with satisfaction, "I made a difference to that one!"

 

You may have noticed that Haiti’s lead story status has faded.  There’s really not much for them to say now, a full month after the earthquake.  People are still sleeping in makeshift shelters, terrified to go into buildings with roofs or second stories.  Doctors are still working in tents.  Disaster relief agencies are still handing out food and water—the only food and water most people get that day.  The poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere is still the poorest, but there’s not anything new or compelling enough to be considered “news.”

 

Unemployment was already high.  Now it’s higher, because most professional businesses and government offices were destroyed.  There were already hundreds of thousands of orphaned and abandoned children.  Now there are more.  Aid agencies speak with satisfaction about how many thousands of meals they’ve served.  Yet when you look at the statistics, you realize that there are an estimated 1.2 million homeless people in Port au Prince.  When you divide “thousands of meals” by more than a million people, and then stretch it out over an entire month, it looks a lot like one starfish on a very long stretch of the beach.  It doesn’t even begin to touch the need...unless, of course, you’re one of the recipients.

 

Rescue efforts are being replaced by deconstruction, which will someday be replaced by reconstruction.  People are still seeking loved ones; not in the rubble, but in streets, tent cities, hospital areas and outlying villages.  Many will never be found.  The focus of relief work is shifting to the future.  As part of this process, many of the smaller agencies will step up to fill the gaps that the larger operations don’t address. 

 

Amber Outreach Project is one of them.  We may not be able to distribute meals to millions of people, but we can find ways to help one village.  Now that world focus is shifting, it’s time to start rebuilding the orphanage in the village of Titanyen.  The structure in which the children were living is unsafe.  Meals are prepared and eaten in the open.  Schools are closed.  Food is even more expensive than it was, and we have picked up some new orphans.  The children are living in what American children might call a “fort.”  Sleeping in your bed under a tarp might be fun for a night or a weekend, but it won’t be nearly as much fun in the rain or wind.  Hurricane season begins in four months. 

 

Specific plans will be presented for the first time at our annual fundraising dinner, “Heart for Haiti,” which will be held Friday, February 26, at 6:00 pm in the Chehalem Armory Center in Newberg, Oregon.  Admission and the Haitian dinner are by donation.  John Marvin and Thomas Dewitt will share their recent experiences in Haiti, and present ways the audience, including children, can help rebuild.  The event will also feature displays about life in Haiti, crafts for kids to make, and a local children’s choir, and information about sponsorship. 

 

For more information about this dinner, which is open to the public, please use the “Contact Us” form above, or phone 503.550.3539.