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While the suffering in Haiti continues, world attention has turned to new crises.
After his fourth trip to Port-au-Prince in the six months since the earthquake struck the orphanage supported by his church, Pastor Randy Landis was approached by a member of the congregation at Lifechurch in Allentown, Pa.
"I had one of our members just recently after one of our Sunday morning services say, 'How come we're not sending people down to clean up tar balls in Louisiana?'
"I tried to answer as politely as I could: BP caused the spill, and BP is going to clean it up. If we had the assets, we'd be part of that.
John Ramantanin
The Rescue Children Orphanage has reached out to its neighbors. These children in a tent city in the Santo 25 neighborhood of northeast Port-au-Prince received staple food and fresh fruit shared by the volunteers, staff and children from the orphanage, in nearby Santo 19.
"But in Haiti, there's a moral responsibility we have to the people in the Santo 19 district of Port-au-Prince. We live there. Our children are there. There is a responsibility placed upon us: to assist, to rebuild, to continue to inspire hope for a better Haiti. We're going to remain fully engaged."
Six months after the 7.0-magnitude quake severely damaged the church-supported Rescue Children Orphanage in Port-au-Prince, volunteers say the 11 children who live there are doing well. After a stay at a much larger orphanage, the children again have their own home, a comfortable, newly outfitted orphanage a few blocks from their old one. They are in private schools again. They've been to the beach and to worship services. Despite the scares of occasional tremors, they're starting to trust that the walls won't fall in.
"It took a little time to get the children adjusted into our new home, comfortable with sleeping inside under a roof again, and being reminded of our family rules," said volunteer Julie Berger. "The children were really excited to see school start and get back to a normal, daily routine. Now our days are full with learning new things at school, doing everyday chores, playing all types of sports and games, reaching out to the community, reading and growing up fast!"
David Harris
The 11 children at Rescue Children Orphanage, with one of the "house mommies," Regine.
Outside the orphanage walls, the orphanage staff and volunteers have been reaching out to the neighborhood: putting up tents, delivering food to other orphanages, opening Lifeclinic, a medical oasis that has delivered two dozen babies and treated nearly a thousand patients. People line up at 7 a.m. in the stifling heat to be treated for scabies, asthma, scurvy. Many have amputations needing follow-up treatment. Most of the patients are women and children, and the church hopes to build a playground.
The Rescue Children orphans have joined in "to help the poor people," handing out family food packs, gathering mangos to give to other children. The orphanage has hired many of their neighbors to work as bricklayers, electricians, translators. More than 50 volunteers from the church have made the journey to Port-au-Prince.
"This group has the faith, guts and commitment to work toward providing a sustainable model of care to Santo 19," said a volunteer at the orphanage, Dr. Paul Berger, a urologist and emergency medicine practitioner in Allentown.
'Discouraging'
But this small faith-based group is seeing fewer Americans helping.
"This last flight down, on a commercial Boeing 757," Landis said, "I would say that only a handful of people were relief workers, medical professionals. Ninety-five percent of that plane were Haitian Americans going to visit family.
"One of the discouraging things has been, since the earthquake, no longer being in the news. Even when I return, there is no longer this, 'How is your trip? What took place?' It's almost as though people have moved on to the next crisis.
"You have a country, a capital that's been basically destroyed, 200,000 people lost their lives in seven seconds, and it affected millions of people. You have tens of thousands of people still living in tents. Tents as far as your eye could see. Even the best tents are not made to stand up to these conditions 24-7; the winds destroy them. They're brutally hot inside. People need houses. The reconstruction efforts are going extremely slowly."
Landis is a quiet, diplomatic leader of the Pennsylvania campus of the evangelical Lifechurch. But you can hear the dismay in his voice.
"Where are the bulldozers? Where are the cranes? Where are the backhoes?"
Lifechurch
Mackson, one of the children at Rescue Children Orphanage, celebrates after helping to build hundreds of tents for neighbors in Port-au-Prince.
The volunteers stumbled on a nearby orphanage where nuns were taking care of special-needs children. But they had barely any money or food, apparently cut off from any of their original support in the U.S.
Lifechurch's group arranged with the larger Love A Child orphanage to have food delivered, and a group of five special-needs educators accompanied a volunteer down to train the nuns to take care of the children. "You walk through the neighborhoods and behind these walls are orphanages with practically no support from someone back in the States," Landis said.
Even help sent to Haiti can take a long time to reach Haitians -- unless one uses the old system of bribery.
"One of the things that is frustrating," Landis said, "is the backlog of containers at the port. It can take up to six weeks to retrieve a container, easily. We've been told you can get it a little bit quicker if you do it the Haitian way. And that means paying someone to get it out for you. It's extremely sad. You're hopeful, but unless there's a change in the leadership, the government will repeat a lot of the mistakes they have made for generations." (In an op-ed piece published today in The New York Times, former president Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive of Haiti say that only 10 percent of the international commitments to Haiti have been paid.)
John Ramantanin
The girls in their Easter dresses in the garden at Rescue Children Orphanage. In front, left to right, are July (pronounced Julie) and Widlyne. In the rear, Marie-Victoire and Mafouna.
How to volunteer
Lifeclinic is seeking help from physicians, physician assistants, registered nurses, emergency medical technicians, occupational therapists, optometrists and dentists to go to Haiti. Send an e-mail to Judith Walker.
To volunteer at the Rescue Children Orphanage, send an e-mail.
How to donate
Lifechurch/Lifeclinic and Rescue Children Orphanage are separate nonprofit organizations.
Give to Rescue Children Orphanage through its blog. RCO is supported by Lifechurch, Hope Point Community Church, Rice Bowls, and many individuals. The mailing address for RCO is P.O. Box 1984, Allentown, PA 18105.
Lifechurch is at 1401 East Cedar St., Allentown, PA 18109.
Stay informed
Rescue Children Orphanage blog.
Mariana Melo
Small stones outside the new Rescue Children Orphanage describe what the children are thankful for: house, food, friends, Haiti, prayer, health, RCO, family, Jesus, toys. Volunteer Mariana Melo of Hope Point Community Church in Spartanburg, S.C., led a devotional with the children on being thankful, and wrote what they named.
Previous msnbc.com coverage of the Haitian orphanage
Video: looking for a new beginning
Send story ideas and comments to investigative reporter Bill Dedman
Obviously there were no crisis before Haiti either.
It is the way of things.
Cutlass, how would you know what the Haitians do with the money they recieve if they recieve ANY.How would you be sure that the government even gives them money so they can rebuild their country if your not handing it to them yourself? Before the earthquake it was not a 'hellhole' it was beautiful. Of course there are some poor areas just like the U.S and there are wealthy places, don't just label Haiti a hellhole if you haven't been EVERYWHERE. Unless you can tell the future you can't suggest Haiti will NEVER get out of their 'political corruption'. Haiti does not need your sympathy so don't waste your breath stating that you have none.
Be Blessed.
I'm quite saddened when I see that Haitians are living in squalor---where did all of the millions of dollars of donations go? Clinton and Bush had a huge fund---why has there not been an full accounting? As he puts it, 'Haiti could be better off.' Really? I would like a list of all non-profits who are 'withholding funds' for when, pre tell? They will never receive another penny from me! My heart goes out to those who are so without man's common human needs to survive with dignity! Is it because they're Black, or that they're '3rd World'... what is the reason? And, so much for the US propping up Preval who is a sorry excuse of a leader who doesn't mind living well while the remainder of his subjects suffer. No one appears to care! No more rhetoric from the US---either assist them well or forget about it. Sean Penn was right on about the miserable conditions there.
A good guess is that the millions went to corrupt local officials. Seems to me it's time to Haiti to take over responsibility for rebuilding.
Dianne Sawyer is one thar has move on. She was a new Anchor. She seemed to have fight. She did not like the slow response. I liked and respected her. A thought I would always get my news in a neutral format. One inveiw with Obama. Suddenly no more Haiti. The story she missed. The USN Comfort, (hospital ship),took forever to leave port. The ship should have left port quickly and and picked up the Doctors and supplies on the way. It is like an ambulance. The ship shpuld have been ready to leave. This ship was converted form another ship, its top speed is 25 miles per hour in calm. The USS United States is in port waiting to be scraped. It has the same length and width as the Comfort. The USS United States can go 50 miles per hour in any seas. Instead of 5 days steaming time by the USN Comfort, the USS United States could have done it in 2.5 days.Why didn't the Navy convert the USS United States? I thought I heard there where 30,000 troops at Haiti's airport. On line said 20,000. These men could have delivered 100 pounds in a back-pack several times per day. These wonderful troops can move at 4 miles per hour loaded. The starving people could have gotten food quicker.Who was in charge? Why was it not done. A real story. A person like Sarah Palin would have covered it that way. Mrs. Sawyer you want to be an Anchor. Act like one. No more kisses on the cheek from any politican. They can kiss your ass. America needs leadership give us some.Ken Krieger 239-283 7385 Cape Coral, Florida
Yeah, I talked with the tsunami victims and they said sort of the same thing.
Hey jerkoff, Mr. Monday Morning QB, learn how to f**cking spell
What happened to all of the money that was sent and or gathered for these people. They should all be living in mansions....
Oh, you really think anyone knows where any of the money goes? The people of Haiti have been in trouble for 50 years that I know of. I was there in my youth and it was a joke. The outheld hands were not for shaking but for money. The place looked exactly like it does now! All the people have no work and no income. All thats left is sleeping, eating and making babies! Do the math.
Americans need to wake up and smell the coffee. There is no way to track all of the contributions we make to any cause oversees. Unfortunitely, I assume that only a very small portion makes to where it is needed and the rest is pocketed or used in advertising to get more donations. Do yourselves a favor, save your money! You will need it when Obama care kicks in!
You are a total idiot! You know nothing of what is happening in Haiti, you selfish pig. Having been to Haiti seven times and working with and under the most horrible conditions, I find your comment ignorant and disgusting. You are obviously a Republican American: ALL you care about is the money. I 'd like to put upi in Port-au-Prince for a week; you would beg God for forgiveness for your hateful heart.
Larry from Apex,
You volunteer work should be applauded, and I'm sure greatly appreciated by all in Haiti. Thank You. However, please don't let your political hatred taint your great and gracious actions. Many Republicans, (like myself) do also volunteer and donate a great deal of money to charities including a lot for the Haitian recovery. We simply would prefer to donate the money to these worth while causes rather than seeing our government waste our money with taxes on inefficient, bureaucratic spending that doesn't help anyone except line the pockets of the truly rich and corrupt. God Bless and again thank you for your work.
Larry, I HAVE been to Haiti. And it was a hellhole before the earthquake and will be one until the end of time. They can never get past political corruption to get anything done. There has been more than enough money donated to make each one a millionaire, yet the corrupt government wants the money all for themselves as usual, so sorry no sympathy here.
That is a hell of a big brush you paint the American Republicans with Cutlass. This Republican along with many others have been to Haiti and are still going. Our organization (Harvest International) has multiple missionaries in Haiti and have worked countless hours organizing, collecting, and sending teams down to help out. We are in it for the long run and I can almost say with certainty that there is not one Democrat on our board. Think before you paint with such a broad brush.
I am not a republican and I agree. Quit screwing and having kids and you would not have such a large population that cannot sustain itself. We should treat these 3rd world countries like we do animals. Spay and neuter them all!
Enough money donated to make everyone there a millionaire? Really? Do tell how you came up with that calculation. Slept through math class huh.
9M people, over 800M in donations, you do the damn math.
Cutlass,
You must be a complete idiot with no grasp on reality. No one organization was given $800M. That was money given to a large variety of organizations. In every large natural disaster that has happened in the last 20 yrs, large donations have been given to organizations that claim to help but all of that money has not been spent on the people of the disater area. When you talk about coruption you really aught to be listing a lot more than just the Hatian Government. There are corrupt Cities, Towns and Companies right here in the US of A. Some of these orgainazations that have their hand out taking honest peoples money are scams. The issue of money to help people, is much larger than this one disaster. Just like the disperment of the money given to help the people of this disaster is much bigger than just the local govenment.
It's not that they may have, people have moved on to the new crisis. Now that it's old news, it doesn't need coverage as they were given tons of money and you can see that above, nothing changed it's still got it's corrupt system. Everything becomes old news at some point, This is no different and we need to focus on ourselves.
"...and we need to focus on ourselves..." And that is the scope and nature of many of our problems. Matthew 25:45,46
Maybe "ourselves" is referring to his FAMILY. There are tons of folks out of work in the USA who have kids, aging parents and maybe even cancer themselves. And it is quite hypocritical to quote the bible as you are judging.
You're not supposed to be aware of those domestic problems. We're doing our very best to sweep those under the rug:)
The American government didn't go to Haiti to help the people they went there to protect their own assets . Why do you think they made sure they sent all the other countries away and they took charge of the airport like it was a take over and actually it is a take over. Haven't you heard that Haiti was sold to the American government. Haiti is a rich country, but they turned it into slums because of greeds. If any of you were paying any attentions at all you would have heard how the other countries like France, Canada, China was complaining because the American governtment made their planes turned around. Why would you do that? When you need all the help you can get.
By the way not all the American Red Cross money are for the Haitian victims. The only people that are truly helping are the Christians.
All the American government are alike from democrats to republicans, and if I were them I would have done the same thing protecting my assets. Why do you think the Clintons went down there it's because they had business there and still does. Every government that has been put to hurt the Haitians were put by the American government, those people would sell their own kids for money. God is our savior, God will save Haiti. Everything that happens on this earth is for his glory no one else. Just like he sent manna from heaven for the Jews he will do the same for my people. My faith and hope is not on any government on earth they are all after their own gained...
Now let's talk about what they are doing here... Millions of people are out of work and what is the American government doing. Raising every thing up.. The price of passport has gone up, the price of gas, food prices, the government is the only making millions through the sufferings of the people. They say we are for the people while a lot of people have lost their homes, jobs, and they are not really helping them with welfare and healthcare.
You tell me where should you put your trust in men or in God?
Blessed Nadia GOD bless you. You couldn't have said it better. All the money that they sent to Haiti after the quake, not 1 cent went to the Haitian government. The money went to the Red Cross. And what the Red Cross have done so far? I just came back from Haiti this weekend, I saw first hand the devastation and the misery that increased in Port-Au-Prince. I don't want to say much about The Red Cross, it's up to the people that ave their hard earned money to them to go down there and ask to see what the RC has done in Haiti. From what I saw with my own eyes, if someone really wants to help, send your help to the Christians based organization. People may not know and understand why during the first few days after the quake they try to accuse Wyclef Jean. When he brought proof against what they were accusing him it was over. Like blessednadia said, it doesn't matter if it is republican or democrat or the clintons all they are doing and saying it's about their interest in Haiti. Anyone who wants and has the mean in any form or shape to help, join a Christian organization that is seeking help and volunteers. For those who are saying negative things about Haiti and making stupid ignorant comments, all I have to say to you the people of Haiti are GOD's children also one day you will be eating your words and the Haitian people will forgive you and forget what you have said and others from the US have done to their country. It's not a prophecy but I hope you can be alive to see it. Read 2 kings 7:1 and 2
Lucney is that you?
Please, please, please shut the f**k up; the depths of ignorance you exhibit are shocking. Tell me, do you wake each morning and finger your anus and smell it?
Larry from Apex,
You are a naive and hatefilled man.
Haiti was a cesspool, is a cesspool, and will always be a cesspool.
The first Black Republic.... What a joke....
To the person that asked where the money we send goes, It goes to the pockets of the rich black elite that rule the island.
I will give you an example. Take Jesse Jackson and his rainbow coalition. You see what he did with the money? Now apply this method on a much larger scale and you get Haiti.
Call me a cynic but I would bet that the powers that be in Haiti want more money and thats why this sudden cry out for aid has occurred.
The Pastor Landis is a joke also. BP made the spill so they clean it up..> But the Lawd GAWD made the earthquake so we are obligated to help the Haitians.
What a pathetic joke some people are.
Yes, it is horrible that this happened in Haiti, and I give my condolences to the families with relatives who were killed in the quake. BUT, as someone said in an earlier comment, what happened to all the money that was already raised for them? The million dollar telethons, the gifts collected in practically every grocery store and gas station. We gave what we could then, and now we have to focus on our own problems. We are a country at war, recovering from a recession, and facing high unemployment rates around the country. What about those in need in our OWN country? Are the people in Haiti more important than your neighbors and fellow Americans? I don't think so.
Well said Simon! With ALL the people in Haiti, you would think they could all ban together and rebuild themselves instead of ask where the Americans are! We DID give them a ton of money, supplies and help but at some point they have to help themselves! Where are all the other countries?! Why does it always fall on the Americans to help!? With our current President, we have enough financial problems of our own to deal with! Haiti obviously doesn't appreciate the help we have already given them. All they can say is "where is the money? The bulldozers? The volunteers?" Where did all the money and supplies go that we already gave?! There was a point where we were being told NOT to give supplies because they were too expensive to send over there. Give only money. It's time charity started at home for once!
i agree, from the time this started, in the news all we seen is a lot of people standing around doing nothing while the aide workers did all the digging and recovery, i never once seen a scene on tv when they showed the people that live there doing anything,
we need to take that money being wasted in haiti and put it to use here, there are a lot of americans that could use help right now, they lost thier jobs, are loosing their house and no one gives a damn, and it is time the us puts the us front and foremost,
for those that remember the influx of haitians that flooded the us back in the 80's, well they are still here, the haitians have a gang in flordia that is not only extremely violent but makes there living off selling drugs and weapons, and we brought them here, most if not all are still on welfare, they do not work or very few do, those that do are not in the little haiti,
and so what if slick willie was there, he is a washed up nothing and his time for being in the spot light is long since past, like hillary or even the ugly troll, most americans are more concerned about taking care of the us and not a country that is so corrupt even the agencies that tried to help are leaving,
haiti has done nothing to help itself and never will, they are a country that sits back complaining about their living conditions, yet they do nothing to help themself, they had the chance to have running water, better food production, sanitary conditions before this earthquake and they did nothing,
if the church wants to help, help the millions of people here in the us, the ones that are loosing everything because the person who is suppose to be leasding the country is more concerned about ratings and legacy that actually being a leader and defending the us, or the thousands along the coast that is being devastated by all the oil, sttop bailing out all these thrid world countries and put those same resourses and time into the united states, at least here people will help build their town, city or neighborhood from the ground up if needed,
at least we was not made to suffer when the troll was there, god forbid if she gets her fatt ugly butt on tv and starts telling us to help them when she does nothing to help the working poor in the us
I'm sooo surprised.!!!!!
Nadia,
The word of god has been rewritten so many times by men that it no longer contains the original intent.
Men are rewriting the bible right this second. Homosexuals want the bible to glorify their lifestyle. The Rev. Cre Flo Dollar, as well as most of the southern baptist churches are rewriting the bible to suggest that a persons wealth is directly in prorportion to that families faith!!!
Can you believe some of the things that Men do? Its sortof hard to put your faith in anything these days. Actually I have a bit of advice.
Forget about Republicans, Democrats, and Religion. Try living by the Golden Rule for a few months and see how much better your life becomes.
"Do onto others as you would have them do onto you."
You are funny! You say forget religion, then quote the Bible. And the true intent of the Bible is not lost by any means. It's an old copout to say the Bible has been rewritten so many times, but it just isn't supported by the facts. When they found the dead sea scrolls they were astounded to find a great deal of the old testement, word for word, thousands of years later. When they translate the old greek and aremaic texts, they are pretty much exactly the same. There are small discrepencies, (say between King james/hebrew) but none of them change anything fundamental about the word of God.
Help the poor and needy, and you are right. Do unto others.
Anyone who actually changes the Word to suit their own agendas will have their own judgement to face. We must have the faith and intelligence for discernment.
My dear that is why I said to put your trust in God not in men. The earth is the devil's kingdom it doesn't matter if a person is a well known pastor even him could be use by satan.
The Holy Spirit is the only one that will teach you all truth that you need to know about God. The love of money is the root of all evil.. That is why you see all this suffering, no one is thinking about getting to heaven now they are thinking about how to get rich and worry about my soul later.
We were given one role model and that is Jesus.. He is the way, the truth and the life.
Vanity is vanity all is vanity... After all is said and done.. God is the ultimate supreme, and his glory will not be shared with no one.You are quite right... We all need discernment to go on. The person you might think will have your back is actually your own enemy..
Your first statement is not plausable for I sensed an assumption in your tone that "God's words have been rewritten..." for the sake this argument, let's say you write a book and it become popular, meaning, everyone reads it. You later realize that what you have said has become so spoken about that there are other versions derived from your book. What would be happening here is you book has become the instrument of learning. It has elevated itself from words set out on pages to becoming a medium through which other can follow. If anyone ( the student) of that book become knowlegable and writes about something or anything learned from reading that book, then that person would have been accredited for his/her knowledge but not anything appertaining to rewriting of the original book. The Constitution of the United State is a document that will and can never be rewritten. There have been interpretations and will be diverse interpretation and even misinterpretation of this document we hold so dearly. This is similar to the Bible.
haiti-same as it ever was.
Re the headline, didn't we all foresee that at the time? Isn't that the human trait? Not only is it shameful and cruel but on the flip side one must consider that there are so very many tragedies happening constantly and everywhere, plus today's rapid reporting of new tragedies, that people become overwhelmed at the vast need everywhere and then numbness sets in, resulting in giving up as it seems too much for us to make a difference. I think if each person would concentrate on only one or two of the vital needs rather than trying to absorb everything that's going on, we might en masse be of more use.
America Today-Anthony,
You read my mind. This is what I live by, and what I teach my children.
"Forget about Republicans, Democrats, and Religion. Try living by the Golden Rule for a few months and see how much better your life becomes.
"Do onto others as you would have them do onto you."
The Pastor Landis is a joke also. BP made the spill so they clean it up..> But the Lawd GAWD made the earthquake so we are obligated to help the Haitians."
If people are making the decision as to whether to help based on what "God" has done, then they are hypocrites. As I see it, "God" was trying to wipe Haiti off the map. And, that would mean that "God" had his hand in the oil spill...maybe he damaged the BOM?
Let's use our brains people.
The title should be "Six months and 1.3 BILLION dollars later, nothing has changed in Hati".
nothing WILL ever change Haiti. It started out poor and corrupt, it will stay poor and corrupt. These people need to keep from stretching out their hands for hand-outs and maybe become a little more educated instead of breeding so many children. Maybe we ought to start a birth-control outreach program for them? Really, they need to take care of themselves,it's about time.
That may possibly be the most ignorant, pessimistic, and appaling statement i have ever laid eyes on. I have personally been to Haiti in the past months. Change is more prevalent than you could ever imagine. The fact that you are gonna make your false assumption from a computer chair in the United States where a house, car, and food are a few steps away is absolutely ridiculous. God is moving in Haiti and i have experienced it first hand. Haiti IS changing.
brandon c- the reason i CAN sit in a chair at a computer where a house, car and food are a few steps away may have something to do with the fact that i actually work for everything i have. obviously the work ethic of the haitians leave a lot to be desired, otherwise they would be more upwardly mobile. their lack of education is what is bringing them down and they won't get that if they keep having children they can't afford to have, if God is moving in haiti, maybe he will be able to spur them on to start standing on their own feet instead of asking for handouts yelling "poor us, poor us."
john martin-1796548,
I guess you have never had an problems that you need support, well thats good for you. Keep helping yourself and keep calling people that have no way to help themselves at the moment 'lazy'. See how far it gets you. If you think all Haiti will be is a corrupt and poor country then all you will ever be is a lonely and unsympathetic indivisual. If you haven't had a educated conversation with a Haitian how would you know if their educated or not? And if you conversations were like the nonsense you post here then you are the uneducated one. Most of the time people use breeding referring to a dog so i hope you are not using it in that context. Also, if you are so worried about them having children how come you don't give them the birth control yourself?
first off, of course i have had problems and have recieved help. however, once help was given i didn't continue to stick my hand out for more and whine that everyone has forgotten about me and my crisis. as for being me calling them lazy, they sure do seem to lay up and let everyone around them do all the work and spend money on them. as others on this thread have pointed out, haiti had been a cesspool of corruption and uneducated individuals for at least the last century or more. they have very little or no export and rely on other countries to always come to their aid. that certainly makes it seem as if any educated people from haiti either get the hell out of there or else they become part of the problem. as for using the term breeding, get over it. and as far as me paying for their birth control, maybe their mythical "educated people" should do something about it, it is not my problem and certainly not the united states' problem, these people need to just suck it up and take care of themselves for once.
Haiti ran their French masters off 200 years ago and achieved freedom. There are several million people there and for the last hundred years have been given hundreds of millions of dollars in aid. When I asked the leader of a mission from our church about why with all the available labor and all the money that they have received the conditions are not better (paved roads, safe water, sanitation, etc.) he responded that there is a problem with their work ethic. That and corruption seems to be a common denominator in many black areas of the world. There seems to be no real solution, regardless of its source. Anyone been to East St. Louis in the last 30 to 40 years?
or detroit.
maybe haiti has the same attitude that is instilled in so many of our "inner city" population, "everybody owes me because my ancestors were slaves". Guess what? nobody cares anymore!!! Get over it!!! Nobody owes these people a thing if they can't seem to get it together enough to take advantage of what has already been given.
A very valid point. Work ethic is obviously an issue in the poorest country in the western hemisphere. If we would have all grown up living off things that were given to us we would all be just like the Haitian people. The Haitians had no one to teach them about working for what they receive because taking advantage of aid is all they have ever known.
Haiti has no industry. They export nothing. Everything the country gets is from foreign aid. Nothing will change there.
If "God" was responsible for the earthquake, than maybe he was also responsible for the oil spill? Who decides where the line is drawn?? And, to me, it seems as if this "God" was trying to wipe Haiti off the map.
I think it's time the US starts taking care of it's own, and not every single disaster or failed government in the world. I don't know the stats, but I am sure we have enough homeless people to rival Haiti. Who's helping them?
You know who should be helping Haiti?
It should start with those 'Haitian Americans' going to visit family mentioned in the article.
But this small faith-based group is seeing fewer Americans helping.
"This last flight down, on a commercial Boeing 757," Landis said, "I would say that only a handful of people were relief workers, medical professionals. Ninety-five percent of that plane were Haitian Americans going to visit family.
Ummm, why did family come to "visit" if they don't plan on helping?
They live in a tropical environment and need money for food?
Are you kidding?
I thought we had agriculture thousands of years ago.
Sorry your failed state had an earthquake. Maybe it's time for a political revolution - and to stop looking at other countries for money and food and look in a mirror.
lazy haitians.
Bono is right!!!!!
America just does not do enough.
I might have donated some money to Haiti but the lying american government beat me to it with a bear market for their political insiders! thanks but from now on I geuss I am for states rights and a confederate USA! Ohio needs to be number one to educate me not new york city with its federal allowances to publish any crap it wants!
Listen to all of you... fast to point out the flaws in the government. And where the money went when you gave it to them! At least Pastor Landis knows where he is spending his money! And his time. Get your heads out of the sand and do your own research... Read what your own Constitution says, you should all be aware that we are all enslaved, from birth. The Haitian people need to be aware of their own rights and get off their asses and quit looking for handouts and start helping themselves. They need to be educated. I hate seeing people sitting around looking for someone else to do the work for them. If there are a hundred people, then there are enough to start raising a building at least out of the wreckage that is left. It's called recycle. Start slow, and before you know it, there is a town. and then a city. It can be done. It just takes an educated leader and enough followers to join together to rebuild. How on earth did the Aztecs do it? Or the American Indians? It's not rocket science...
NOTHING will change as long as the Haitians are following this Christian garbage. Everyone needs to stop having babies ASAP. The pictures of all the children prove that the human population is too large. NO MORE BABIES! GET-THAT-THROUGH-YOUR-STUPID-HEADS!!!!
I think it is sad that Pastor Landis is dismissed as a "joke" in one comment here. Note that he was involved in an orphanage there before this disaster hit. There are people (for example that group of nuns) who are making a difference in people's lives with NO MONEY to work with -- read the article. Why don't we focus on those who care and are making a diference, and even support (or continue supporting) a well-researched cause, rather than blast away at Democrats, Republicans, religious bigots, etc.? Yes, "doing unto others as we would have them do to us" goes for needy people of our own country, but also to those who are hurting other places. Let's do what we can, if only sponsoring a child with a reputable organization. And let the Good Lord deal with all the over-reaching chaos.
We should not be in other countries untill all problems at home are fixed.
That seems a bit naiive to me. I understand the importance of seeing the hungry and homeless in front of our eyes and seeing the brokenness right next door. But to assume that we can and should perfect our circumstances before we can help others is just silly. There is no way that is possible; we're human. :)
There's a balance that needs to be maintained. I would offer the idea that different people are better at and have passions/visions for different things. There is nothing wrong with people who focus more on the needs of our neighborhood and those who focus on the needs of international neighborhoods. Both are necessary. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
Just some food for thought.