Project Haiti

Francophone Fellowship

 

A FELLOWSHIP OF TEACHERS
Equipping Christian Leaders in French-speaking Africa

After the January 12th, 2010, tragedy that devastated Haiti and more specifically Port au Prince and its environs, I had the opportunity to make a trip to Haiti from February 1st – 6th. “Christian Direction” and URBANUS International asked me to evaluate the situation, and in particular the psychological and spiritual state of the population.

The Red Cross and other organizations are accomplishing an enormous amount of work on the ground, and yet, no importance is given to one particular domain: the spiritual and psychological domain. Aware of this situation, URBANUS has put together a project to help the Haitian people in this context. The project consists of the following:

      1.     Form a group of experts on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

      2.     Form a group on trauma and grief

      3.     Form a group on spirituality after a disaster

Our objective is to train individuals to intercede, so that they in turn can go out and help those experiencing these forms of trauma.

Our time frame is March 2nd – 9th, 2010. We have formed a group of 10 people, among whom are two Haitians from Montreal. In this group are individuals with training in trauma and grief, social workers, two psychologists, and one theologian. We have divided the groups into three and will reach the city of Port au Prince, Cap Haitian (second largest city and the capital of the North) and the Christian University of North Haiti at Limbe, also in the north of the country. Why these cities? Port au Prince, of course, because of the disaster that hit there. Ville du Cap, being the second largest city of the country, is the location where an enormous number of internally displaced people are arriving. The latest numbers place the massive arrival of trucks and buses at 75 a day. The exact number of internally displaced is impossible to calculate, nevertheless, many believe the count to be around 100,000. The Christian University is, in our opinion, the best location for the training we will be offering. In addition to the regular presence of theology students, also present are professors and pastors.

We are pleased to share this project with you and count on your partnership in its realization.

 

José da Silva

Dr. José da Silva’s Curriculum Vitae <here>

 

A Personal story:

“I met a Haitian, visibly in choc, who described having spent three days by his son’s corpse, which was half buried under the debris of their house, in order to keep the dogs from eating the body. After three days, unable to pull the body from the debris, he decided to cut off a leg in order to hold a symbolic funeral.”

This story touched me enormously and compelled us to do something to help these long-suffering people.                                    

 

A mother and her son

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bus with displaced people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A street of Ville du Cap with displaced people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Motorcycle taxis waiting for the displaced.

 

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Dr. José da Silva Project Haiti