Hurricane Matthew Strikes Haiti

GO Project Family,

Thank you for praying. As many of you know, Hurricane Matthew struck Haiti this morning. Reports that the southwest corner (Cayes region) would bear the brunt appear to be true. Communication is limited but not completely cut off. This video posted by Pastor Louis St. Germain at El Shaddai Ministries International was taken from what appears to be the porch of his home.

Over the weekend, our GO Haiti team worked hard to help our church partners prepare. Given the path of the storm, our biggest concern is in the southern region. We have four current partner locations there: Darivager, Biggarouse, Cassamajor and La Hatte. Combined, there are 333 children in these locations.

The children from Darivager and Biggarouse have been evacuated and temporarily relocated to Cambry, which sits on much higher ground. Last night, we confirmed the safe arrival of these children to Cambry. We just finished a storm shelter at Cassamajor to address flood situations, with the capacity to serve both Cassamajor and La Hatte. However, we are still working to communicate with the leadership of both villages.

The situation is fluid. The children at Cassamajor and La Hatte are our biggest concern right now.

We are ready to take next steps as this unfolds and have clear plans for that (to the extent that we can). While the situations we went through with the hurricanes in 2008 and the earthquake in 2010 were brutal, God has given us some solid wisdom through those trials. As we learn more, we will continue to provide updates via email and social media.

Please continue in prayer, particularly for Cassamajor and La Hatte. Also pray for El Shaddai, as it is quite literally in the eye of this storm.

If you or friends would like to give, please direct donations to our Health and Safety Fund. If you have any questions, please contact Ryan Hudnall at [email protected].

Faithfully,

Joe Knittig, CEO of The Global Orphan Project