Haiti, 12/01/2016, “There are anniversaries that will be carved into our hearts and souls forever”

Dear NPH Family,

There are anniversaries that will be carved into our hearts and souls forever. Today, January 12th, we commemorate the 6th year after the devastating earthquake, with its tremendous destructive force of buildings and infrastructure, but more importantly, hundreds of thousands of lives. We will always remember with heartache our Haitian collaborators and many of their loved ones, who died in this event, and volunteers Molly Hightower and Ryan Kloos, who lost their lives in service to the poor of Haiti.

We also remember with awe, the extraordinary response of solidarity, locally through Haitians and worldwide through the international community. (See attached photo). So many helping hands who immediately joined us in our efforts to save lives immediately after the earthquake, and then later on, as the arduous task of rebuilding this already severely impoverished nation began. We continue to be grateful for the trust placed in us by those who supported us most generously through their donations. We are proud to witness all the healing and transformational work that we were able to accomplish through this help.

Needless to say, that six years after the horrible earthquake, many more tragedies have occurred throughout the world and the initial outpour of support has waned. Yet, NPH Haiti is a grass roots organization, that above all believes in the human spirit, faith and each person’s potential to become a productive contributor to society. For this reason, we organize our programs around long-term goals of human growth and development, which also require ongoing funding. We are grateful to all of you who continue with your loyal support of our mission.

Today, please remember in your prayers the Haitian people, our mission and its collaborators, and especially those who lost their lives, and their loved ones who suffered this irreparable loss. Let’s also look forward with courage and hope that we know in our hearts that life is a beautiful gift from God, in spite of all the tragedies that we witness and suffer.

To read more about our programs in Haiti visit: https://www.nph.org/ws/news/index.php?lang=en&haiti

Reinhart Koehler, Board Chair