On Jan 31, Students International partnered with NET ( Nations in Transformation) and sent Nate, Rudy Rosario, and Vito Mazzara (missions pastor from Nebraska) to help transport a team of relief workers from the Santo Domingo airport across the Haitian border and on into Port-au-Prince. This trip also provided an opportunity for Students International to investigate and determine if and how they could help with relief and development efforts in Haiti following the earthquake that claimed the lives of 200,000 people.
(Vito, Rudy, and Nate - Haiti bound)
(Vito, Rudy, and Nate - Haiti bound)The trip from the Dominican/Haitian border to Port-au-Prince took two hours. We first began to see evidences of the earthquake as we reached the outskirts of the city – a fallen property wall, a roof that had caved in, structures with cracked walls. As we proceeded into the city, the destruction increased. 
(Buildings destroyed by the earthquake)
We passed five and six story buildings that had completely collapsed. Tent camps had sprung up in open lots where those who had lost homes were living in makeshift tents made of tarps, bed sheets, pieces of tin, and whatever else that could be gathered. 
(Collapsed Free Methodist mission building)
We stayed at a Free Methodist mission which had also suffered considerable damage to some of their buildings. Their four-story ministry center had collapsed trapping six staff members. Rescue workers were able to reach and save two of the six, but four staff had been killed and remained buried in the rubble. Nate, Rudy, and Vito spent one morning helping to salvage furniture, cabinets, appliances, and supplies from the part of the building that was still standing.
Many of the Haitian government buildings were severely damaged by the quake. The beautiful colonial-style presidential palace lay in shambles. 
We stood in the street by the government tax building which had been reduced to a mountain of broken concrete and twisted steel. As we watched the wind rustle through the thousands of documents that were scattered throughout the rubble, we asked, “How does a government even begin to recover from this?”
NET has been focusing on relief and development for a smaller tent camp of about two hundred families. They have been helping to organize a leadership committee within the camp and have been providing clean drinking water. 
We visited the camp and were able to take part in a meeting with the five committee members. They approved a plan to do a family- by- family census/assessment to identify needs and discussed the need for sanitation and food. We were also able to encourage and pray for the committee members.
(Collapsed Free Methodist mission building)We stayed at a Free Methodist mission which had also suffered considerable damage to some of their buildings. Their four-story ministry center had collapsed trapping six staff members. Rescue workers were able to reach and save two of the six, but four staff had been killed and remained buried in the rubble. Nate, Rudy, and Vito spent one morning helping to salvage furniture, cabinets, appliances, and supplies from the part of the building that was still standing.
Many of the Haitian government buildings were severely damaged by the quake. The beautiful colonial-style presidential palace lay in shambles. We stood in the street by the government tax building which had been reduced to a mountain of broken concrete and twisted steel. As we watched the wind rustle through the thousands of documents that were scattered throughout the rubble, we asked, “How does a government even begin to recover from this?” NET has been focusing on relief and development for a smaller tent camp of about two hundred families. They have been helping to organize a leadership committee within the camp and have been providing clean drinking water. We visited the camp and were able to take part in a meeting with the five committee members. They approved a plan to do a family- by- family census/assessment to identify needs and discussed the need for sanitation and food. We were also able to encourage and pray for the committee members.We at Students International have decided to continue to partner with NET. We are planning to replace our normal spring staff retreat with a staff relief trip to Haiti. Our staff are equipped to do dentistry, physical therapy, medical, children’s programs, construction, and grief ministry to the members of the two-hundred family tent camp. Pray for us as we raise funds and prepare our staff for this trip.
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