Our Major Evelyn Chavez is a good correspondent! She makes time daily to write a short note about the day’s work during her deployment as a hospital chaplain in Haiti.
The last couple of updates have had a common element; it seems she’s been playing a lot of “peek-a-boo” with the little ones!
Part of her note and a photo from Friday:
As I was visiting in the pediatric ward a nurse came and asked me for help. She had a little 3 year old who was alone and asked me if I would feed her lunch. Wow! It was so cool. The little girl was very shy at first. I played with the spoon a little and put some of the rice on it. She finally started to eat. Then we played peek-a-boo. By time I was done she was laughing. When she moved around some and her legs got uncovered I saw that her left foot has been amputated. It hurts my heart to see the people and all they’ve been through. I’m grateful for all the medical personnel who are giving so much of their time and skill to take care of such critical needs.
Her weekend photo and an excerpt from her update:
The children in the picture with me live in The Salvation Army divisional headquarters compound. They only speak creole so I couldn’t figure out if they are kids of [Salvation Army] soldiers or officers but they just hung around Major Kelly Pontsler and me the whole time we were there yesterday. I played peek-a-boo with them. I made the mistake of swinging them around. They loved it and wanted to keep doing it over and over. In 90 degrees heat, 90 percent humidity, it did take just a little out of this late 50’s year old body—but it was so worth it to play with the kids. What a blessing.
Major Evelyn Chavez usually works upstairs from me here at The Salvation Army headquarters office for the Western Territory of the US. Right now she’s serving as a hospital chaplain for The Salvation Army in Haiti. She just got there this week and has started to send us daily dispatches so we can keep up to date on our work there and what she’s doing to help.
Here’s an edited version of her most recent message:
Soon after we arrived this morning there was quite a commotion. Some men came running through carrying a man who had an obvious head wound. We directed them to our surgery/trauma room. The doctors immediately surrounded him to see what could be done. Almost immediately behind them came a second group carrying another man. He didn’t look good at all. The doctors were able to put a chest tube in him and stabilize him.
Both men needed to be transported to the hospital at the airport. There is only one ambulance so the most critical man was put in the ambulance and I took the other man in the back of a pick up truck with a doctor and a EMT on board in the back with him.
US Soldiers playing with Haitian children
Just to make things interesting, as we were starting to leave someone noticed that one of our tires was very low. We had to keep moving and just prayed that the tire would hold out long enough for us to make the twenty minute trip across town to the airport. I’m happy to say that the tire got us there.
The doctors at the University of Miami hospital site told us that if our doctor had not inserted the chest tube the man wouldn’t have made it to the hospital.
While at the hospital, the thing I noticed today is the empty eyes of so many adults. You feel as though you can see right through them and there is nothing there. The children seem to be doing a little better. Many of them laugh and want to play. They like to touch our blonde hair.
American soldiers who were in the clinic compound when we returned were playing catch with several of the children. They were wearing their machine guns but the children didn’t seem scared at all. These children are so precious and so easy to love. I pray they’ll be able to experience someone to love them back.
It was about 90 degrees today—wait until you see my tan!
Target’s latest Facebook campaign is a whole lotta fun! It’s called the Super Love Sender and it allows users to send up to 10 video Valentine cards per day to benefit their favorite charity. The promotion will end on Valentine’s Day and Target will divvy up the money to each organization based on the number of Valentines sent. Have a look at Target’s Facebook page and click on the Super Love Sender link on the left side for more details.
Super Love Sender marries the Super Bowl with Valentine’s Day! How do they do it, you ask? With football players wearing feathery pink fairy wings reciting football-themed love poetry, singing soulful tunes or dancing some heart-melting steps. I promise, it’ll make more sense once you check out their Facebook page.
When I hear of a wildly creative idea like the Super Love Sender, I like to picture the staff meeting where the idea was born. You know; folks sitting around a conference table brainstorming about how to get Target’s Facebook friends involved in distributing money to the company’s nonprofit partners.
I bet somebody started the ball rolling by asking what holiday came up next on the calendar. Perhaps someone else – a guy, no doubt – said “Super Bowl Sunday!” I’m guessing others in the room rolled their eyes and answered back, “Hello! Valentine’s Day is the next holiday, duh!” Anyway, I could go on, but you get the point.
Check out Target’s Super Love Sender and support The Salvation Army’s educational facilities across the US. And, send out a bunch of video Valentines (my email is kathy.lovin@usw.salvationarmy.org!) and put a smile on the face of those you love!
The Salvation Army Target are good friends. They’re very good to us and we’re grateful.
Every time there’s a disaster somewhere in the world, aid groups and the news media are careful to remind us of fundraising scams and other forms of exploitation. They’re right to mention it; in the emotion of the moment, we’re often so willing to help that we send our money to an organization we’ve never heard of in the hope of doing good.
So much worse than our money being lost is the tragedy of our children being snatched up by traffickers who want to profit from the disaster. Human trafficking was a problem in Haiti even before the earthquake but is now much more so. The near-total collapse of the system that held Haiti together has given predators the opening they need.
The Salvation Army is already on the forefront of the move to stop human trafficking and is applying what we’ve learned to the situation in Haiti. As the United Nation’s lead agency for the 20,000 Haitian people left homeless after the earthquake, we’ve begun registering every person living in the area and issuing printed warnings about the problem of trafficking on the food packs we’re distributing.
There’s more on this topic at The Salvation Army’s national headquarters’ blog. Please click here to read it.
If you’re interested in knowing more about our work to combat human trafficking, click here.
The Salvation Army’s national headquarters has a Facebook page where they post news and information of all kinds, from all over. Lately, they’ve been very busy keeping us up to date on what we’re doing to help survivors of the earthquake in Haiti.
This morning they posted a short update on Facebook and a link to their Flickr page with the news that, contrary to media coverage about food distribution elsewhere, we’ve witnessed nothing but peaceful, grateful survivors lining up for food on The Salvation Army compound.
The only way that’s possible is through God’s grace and the prayers of His people. Thank you for being faithful to keep survivors and responders in your prayers. It’s the most important thing you can do!
Did you know that a depiction of The Salvation Army – a thrift store, a kettle and a bellringer, or a Salvation Army officer serving someone in need – has appeared in approximately 140 movies? Popular films spanning several decades like Titanic, King Kong, Time Bandits, and Around the World in 80 Days have all included a recognizable Salvation Army icon or character.
Watch this brief video to find out more…
Our Salvation Army USA blog posted some great news today about our relief efforts in Haiti.
1) The United Nations named The Salvation Army the lead agency in managing the needs of Haiti’s homeless population. That means that we’ll be responsible for telling the United Nations about the specific needs of homeless people in Haiti. The designation will also give us better access to important resources. To read more about this subject, click here.
2) The Salvation Army is re-opening our school in Port au Prince, Haiti and providing a modified school day for kids aged 3 to 6. Not only is this a sign that daily life is slowly returning to normal, but it will give local children something to focus on while we assess and provide for their long-term needs. To find out more about this story, click here.
If you’d like to make a financial gift, here are your options:
> Text the word Haiti to 52000 from your cell phone. A $10 donation will show up on your phone bill. Please be sure to confirm the return text.
> Call 1 800 SAL ARMY and speak to one of our operators over the phone to make a credit card gift.
> Click here to be connected to our donation page to make an online gift via credit card or PayPal.
> Make out a check and snail mail it to our Salvation Army World Services Office (SAWSO) earmarked “Haiti Earthquake:” The Salvation Army World Service Office, International Disaster Relief Fund, P.O. Box 630728, Baltimore, MD 21263-0728
The talented Salvation Army communications professionals in our Atlanta office produced this public service announcement about our work in Haiti. Have a look!
Haiti Disaster Relief 60 sec PSA from Communications Bureau on Vimeo.
For more information on what The Salvation Army is doing to help in Haiti, please visit these online resources:
The Salvation Army USA website
The Salvation Army international website
The Salvation Army USA blog
The Salvation Army USA Facebook page
The Salvation Army USA Twitter feed
If you’d like to make a financial gift, here are your options:
> Text the word Haiti to 52000 from your cell phone. A $10 donation will show up on your phone bill. Please be sure to confirm the return text.
> Call 1 800 SAL ARMY and speak to one of our operators over the phone to make a credit card gift.
> Click here to be connected to our donation page to make an online gift via credit card or PayPal.
> Make out a check and snail mail it to our Salvation Army World Services Office (SAWSO) earmarked “Haiti Earthquake:” The Salvation Army World Service Office, International Disaster Relief Fund, P.O. Box 630728, Baltimore, MD 21263-0728
Thank you for your interest and support in the work of The Salvation Army. God bless you!
The man in charge of The Salvation Army’s operations in Reno, Nevada was deployed earlier this week to Miami to help manage disaster relief logistics for Haiti. Major Doug Williams specializes in running warehouse operations and getting items where they need to be in short order. His job in Miami is to direct the supply chain which takes much-needed food and water on two small planes into Haiti’s one runway airport or through nearby Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
Today, Major Williams says that The Salvation Army is sending in a special load of infant formula on pallets for the youngest survivors of the deadly earthquake.
Few people are better suited to the job than Major Williams. Before his move to Reno, he managed the 12 thrift stores in the metropolitan San Diego area and the local no-cost drug and alcohol rehabilitation center which is funded by the sale of items in the stores.
Read more about Major Doug Williams and our Western connection to the Haiti relief efforts on the Reno Journal Gazette’s website.
Please pray fthat Major Williams and his team of six would be successful in their efforts to get life-saving essentials into the hands of Haitian earthquake survivors through the local Salvation Army staff.
Thank you!
Acting on a tip that was posted to a Salvation Army website, two of our emergency workers in Haiti ventured into the countryside and found thirty babies tucked into a tractor trailer. The little ones were transferred to our care Port au Price and are now safe and sound. Read more about the story at The Salvation Army Australia Haiti relief team’s Facebook page.
The 52 kids already living at The Salvation Army’s La Maison du Bonheur childrens’ home are all accounted for after the earthquake and will soon be joined by more than 100 children from another orphanage that sustained serious damage.
For more information on what The Salvation Army is doing to help in Haiti, please visit these online resources:
The Salvation Army USA website
The Salvation Army international website
The Salvation Army USA blog
The Salvation Army USA Facebook page
The Salvation Army USA Twitter feed
If you’d like to make a financial gift, here are your options:
> Text the word Haiti to 52000 from your cell phone. A $10 donation will show up on your phone bill. Please be sure to confirm the return text.
> Call 1 800 SAL ARMY and speak to one of our operators over the phone to make a credit card gift.
> Click here to be connected to our donation page to make an online gift via credit card or PayPal.
> Make out a check and snail mail it to our Salvation Army World Services Office (SAWSO) earmarked “Haiti Earthquake:” The Salvation Army World Service Office, International Disaster Relief Fund, P.O. Box 630728, Baltimore, MD 21263-0728
Thank you for your support! Please keep praying for our teams in Haiti and the people we’re there to serve.
ABOUT
Stop by and check this Salvation Army blog often for stories of transformation from our alcohol and drug rehab programs, worship centers, homeless or family shelters, youth programs, thrift stores, Kroc Centers and so much more. When you support The Salvation Army, expect change!
