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Arriving in Jeannette, Haiti last week, the first thing we noticed were the damaged, but inhabited houses, visible now because of the fallen trees.  It was not laundry day, but the contents of the houses were hanging in the sun to dry, because it had rained the night before. Last week Susan Webster, Grace Church Madison, and Heidi Ropa, Executive Director of the Haiti Project, returned from a week in Haiti.  They took part in three days of meetings with local groups: including a meeting with the St. Marc's Hurricane Relief Committee to hear of their assessment of needs in the community; meeting with Judith D'or and ERD to learn about the challenges faced by micro-loan recipients; and meetings with teachers at St. Marc's.  No one in the community was untouched by the ferocity of Hurricane Matthew.

• 300 homes and 100 roofs lost.
• Widespread livestock loss - a goat is your savings account in Haiti
• 40% loss of tree cover: plantains, breadfruit, avocado, coconut, mango -- sources of food as well as vital to the environment.
• Livelihoods lost: crops were lost; small businesses like the bakery incurred damage.
• Food security: garden plots were washed away, post-Hurricane inflation is making food expensive.

Click HERE to view photo gallery of post-Hurricane Matthew photos taken in Jeannette, Haiti October 2016.  Photos include: meetings in the community to determine priorities for spending hurricane relief money --  Haiti Project has committed to immediate food needs in the community and expanding the school lunch program and a model hurricane-proof home building project teaching skills to local people.  Other photos are of Cathy Parrill of Creative Exchanges Initiative giving out 225 cash grants to farmers to purchase seeds to plant for this planting season. (CEI and Haiti Project are collaborating in Jeannette to meet needs).

Prayerfully consider supporting local efforts in Haiti to rebuild.  http://haitiproject.org/donate/