Here’s a daily recap of a recent trip taken by college students from Sevier Heights The Walk.

Friday, May 28, 2010 ~ 11:00 pm
Well, we made it safe to Haiti! All 34 of us and over 60 bags of personal luggage and supplies for the orphanage and One Vision. Really an answered prayer to have us and all our luggage arrive safe. Ran into some traffic in Port-au-Prince that set us back arriving at the hotel. No big deal though. It gave us all a chance to see the city and let everything sink in. 

Before arriving at the hotel, we made a surprise stop at the orphanage. Seeing all the kids wave, smile, and go crazy was so awesome. All the kids swarmed us and we swarmed them. We’re gonna have TONS of fun with them this week! Pray for our Youth Conference we’re organizing with One Vision on Monday. We’ve got 6 of our group members speaking on Evangelism and Abstinence to the youth and young adults in the area. Really looking forward to that. 

Getting up bright and early tomorrow to do VBS and party with the kids! Thanks for all the prayers, we’re feeling them.  Next update, hopefully tomorrow. 

Saturday, May 29, 2010 ~ 9:28 pm
Day Two…and none of us have stopped sweating in that many days. It’s a little toasty here. We got up bright and early this morning, seriously. Bright AND early, since the sun rises at 5 a.m. John’s wake-up calls at 6:50 were met with squinty-eyed, disoriented college kids. We loaded up and shipped out at around 8:30 and headed to the orphanage.

Much like last night, the kids charged us before we could step off the bus. It was exciting and vaguely frightening to be stampeded 72 children ready to be held. We did our first day of VBS today. College students shared the stories of Mary being visited by an angel, Jesus gets a family, and Jesus’ birth. The idea is to go through Jesus’ life with each day of VBS. But there’s plenty of room for awkwardness pausing for the translator after each sentence. After the stories, we sang. The kids gathered around and sang Jesus Loves Me, B-I-B-L-E, and other songs in Creole. Every time we thought of a song to teach them, they already knew it! They love to sing.

The language barrier can be a little frustrating. But all these kids want is to be hugged, to be held, to be loved. Much of our day was spent sitting and holding the kids. Many of us were left cradling sweaty, beautiful boys and girls as they slept in our arms. We’re learning to listen to the silences. Their habits, mannerisms, and smiles speak more than words ever could. We’re learning to love without words. God’s teaching us to listen to Him in His silences too. What does that take? Stop talking and pay attention. Love Him by spending time with Him, learning His habits, His mannerisms. Words are unnecessary when love speaks volumes.

Tomorrow we head to church with the kids. Afterward, John is taking us to the other side of Port Au Prince where the worst damage from the earthquake took place. Pray for our team as we come face-to-face with the devastation. Pray we can look on in silence and allow God to speak. Continue praying for the people here in Haiti, they need it more than ever.

It’s really amazing the amount of sweat one person can produce. Add that to what we’ve learned since being here. Don’t worry, there’s enough deodorant to go around. Hopefully.

Sunday, May 30, 2010 ~ 9:56 pm
Overwhelming. To say the least. Joy, brokenness, peace, helplessness, hope… From the smiling faces of the children at the orphanage to the sight of complete destruction in the heart of Port-au-Prince, today brought with it a rollercoaster of emotions.

We were greeted this morning once again by joyful faces at the orphanage. The kids were already gathered around tables in their Sunday best when we arrived. It was such a privilege to gather with them and worship through songs. A couple of people from our team shared with the kids and we listened as the pastor shared from Exodus 2. Today was Mother’s Day in Haiti so the message was focused on the importance of a mother’s role in our lives.

We then made a trek to Port-au-Prince where words cannot even begin to describe the things we saw nor the things we felt. Rubble from houses pancaked on top of each other as our minds raced and we sought to put ourselves in their shoes. We couldn’t help but think about the minutes following the 35 second earthquake that changed the lives of so many people. We can’t imagine the chaos and shock that rung throughout the streets. We stopped to take in a view that was just a small picture of the destruction that had taken place. There was a woman there who told us that the pile of rocks we were standing on used to form her home. She lost everyone in her family, including her husband and children, in those 35 seconds. She was lost and lonely, but she was living. We also went and saw The Palace (our version of The White House) and saw many “tent cites” as we drove through the debris filled streets.

We made our way back to the orphanage and had the incredible opportunity to walk with the children to the beach. Within seconds most of the children were stripped down…completely… and had adventured into the water. Many of us will be sore tomorrow after enduring the tugs of 6 or 7 children at one time hanging onto us for dear life as we went out into the water, but it proved to be completely worth it.

The Lord has already taught us so much on the trip. We have gained sensitivity to the simple form of worship through love. We have gained sensitivity to what our heart is truly focused on. Most of all, we have gained sensitivity to the love of Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for us as we expend as much energy as we can for the sake of showing the love that has been poured out to us. As we go tomorrow to see the sight of the future orphanage, pray for the vision that the Lord has laid on the heart of John Miller and One Vision International.

Most of us came on this trip expecting to “bring” God to them, but oh how quickly we realized that He was already here in their midst.

Monday, May 31, 2010 ~ 9:47 pm
The first stop of the day was visiting the property where One Vision will soon start constructing their new orphanage, complete with a school and team housing to freely house future mission trip attendees. It was such a shock from the culture we had previously seen. We had gone through Port Au Prince and seen shacks stacked on top of each other and seen the tiny houses on the side of the road around the hotel, but the property showed us a different side. Houses were made of sticks and mud. There was no privacy for these people from the outside world because you could see into the one-roomed huts. But we were welcomed with the smiling faces of kids running to us as soon as we stepped out of the bus. While we as Americans can look on these people and wonder how people can live day-to-day in these conditions, all we could see on their faces was joy. After touring the property, we split up into groups to pray over the site of the future orphanage. It was truly amazing to see what would be in store for the kids and how big of a difference it would make to have an area to run and play in. Not only that, but the new facility will have a school the kids can attend, free of charge, so that they will have opportunities to find work and reach others for Christ after they leave the orphanage. After we had prayed over the property, we were about to go out to individually pray over the site when a group of kids came running in their school uniforms to us. But they weren’t running to us because they were happy to get out of school. They had all just been kicked out of school because they couldn’t afford the $6 to attend anymore. It will make such a huge difference when these kids have a chance to attend school and not have to worry about the cost.

After VBS we took the kids to the beach for the second time. While some of us lathered up with some high SPF, the kids were busy stripping down to their birthday suits. The laughter that we experienced was truly amazing and filled our hearts with joy. Just the laughter alone was enough to make the entire trip worth the sweat and sickness. We can’t understand Creole, but laughter is universal. Not being able to clearly communicate with children about Jesus has been frustrating; however, we are learning that showing these kids they are loved IS showing them Jesus.

Tomorrow, the plans are to visit a Haitian school and spend some time, probably being taught by the children. And we are looking forward to going to the beach with the orphanage kids again.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010 ~ 7:49 am
Humbling, eye-opening, life changing. These are only a few of the words that our team has been dwelling on throughout today and this evening. Right now, it is raining or more like down pouring. Our team’s thoughts are immediately drawn to the kids in the open air orphanage who must be scared of the thunder and lightening. Even more so, however, we remember the tent cities we passed yesterday in Port-au-Prince or the families in the stick and mud huts outside of the One Vision property. These people don’t have any shelter or way to be relieved form the storm or running water and we realize that many of them are not getting the peaceful night’s sleep that we are.

This morning, we started the day by visiting a primary school just past the orphanage. As we pulled in, it was evident that the 412 kids attending this school had a very different school experience than any of us did.  Their school “building” was an open pavilion area with a thatched roof and no walls. The Kindergarten and First Grade classes were separated by hanging tarps where around 40 kids sat on the ground in a small dirt area. The other 4 grades were under the roof divided by age and all were without books, pencils, and any materials. We were able to share bible stories with them and gathered to sing a few songs before we left.

The team returned to the smiling joyous faces of the children at the orphanage. The afternoon was full of more VBS activities and another exciting trip to the beach. While we began the week focused on the kids, yesterday and today several of our team members have been reaching out to the workers as well. We have helped with piles and piles of laundry, served lunch, change dirty sweaty clothes, and watched the ladies cook a meal for 80 kids over coal ovens. It is amazing the endurance and love these workers show through their service and their joyfulness has been so encouraging to us and what our walk with Christ should be. 

As we begin transitioning into thinking about our time after we leave here, its getting really hard for us to envision leaving these orphans and this nation we have grown attached to. We all have picked up on bits of the kids’ individual personalities and God has just allowed us some incredible avenues for communicating His love and ours. To think that tomorrow is our last day with them could be heartbreaking, but we all know this is just the beginning of our role in the lives of these orphans. We are all shedding our own pride and seeking how we can continue to be vessels in sharing the message of God with the people of Haiti. Please pray for us, the orphanage, and One Vision as we do so.

Thursday, June 03, 2010 ~ 6:34 am
We started the day by going to the orphanage for one last time. We had a chance to share the rest of our Vacation Bible Studies stories which included Jesus’ death and resurrection. We also gave the kids a chance to respond to the gospel at the end and the amount of information they have about Christ is overwhelming.

Some of us also had the opportunity to help the women at the orphanage cook lunch. These women were so happy and the work they do is so hard. Everything is cooked over charcoal in huge pots. The whole time we were working these women kept offering to serve us and offering us chairs to sit in while we worked. The ladies were always more concerned with our comfort rather than their own. These ladies do this everyday for these children, EVERYDAY, no vacation, no holidays, no weekends and their joy was infectious. It is apparent that there is a joy that carries them through the day. 
It was so convicting to be around people that pour so much into their work that is far harder and more uncomfortable than we will deal with. Even though we wanted to bless these ladies by lightening their load, they blessed us by their attitude and spirit of joy.

We wanted to take the kids to the beach to close out our final day here. What made this day different was that many of us wanted to take the time to just watch the kids have fun and really try to soak in what little time we had left with them. Once again the kids displayed a real happiness and laughter despite many of them knowing that after today we would be leaving. God truly blessed our team by allowing us to go to the beach several times this week. Nearly getting drowned by kids who could not swim, having salt water shoved down our throats, and just sharing this experience with them, made the mile walk to the beach with 74 kids worth every exhausting minute. Their smiles made it worth it all. 

Without a doubt the most difficult part of this entire trip was our final goodbye to the kids, workers, and translators. Not many of us expected to get so deeply attached to the kids. Tears filled the eyes of our team, the kids, and the workers as we said our goodbyes. None of us predicted to react so deeply to this farewell.  Many of us expected to love on these kids, pour into their lives, and then leave unattached to them. Instead we got to know them as separate children of God. We learned individual traits, personalities, characteristics of these kids that made us know they were not orphans but children that needed to be loved; not as a group but for the tremendous kids they are.

Many of our goodbyes were filled with tears and hugs not only from us but from the kids and the workers. They wanted to know when we would be back. All we could tell them is we loved them and God would care for them better than we could. Many of us are already talking about coming back to pour into these kids lives again. We know even if we can not make another trip down to Haiti that through the work of God and One Vision we will one day see many of them in heaven.

Tonight, our group discussed what we were going to take back to America from this trip. We discussed how important it was to seek and know God’s personal vision for our lives. Whether it is coming back to Haiti to visit the orphans again or going into college or our careers with a heart for the widows & orphans, we will attempt to find God’s vision for our lives and live it out. The generations of tomorrow are depending on our following through with the plans God is breathing into us today.

Thursday, June 03, 2010 ~ 6:42 am
Well, we’re up early this morning packing all of our things and preparing to depart Haiti. Some of us are ready to get back to the States to take a warm/clean shower with no running dirty water. Some of us are ready to get back home to drink a huge Diet Coke (water has been the drink of choice all week). But all of us are not ready to leave behind the kids we’ve grown so attached to.

Every day this week, a new side of God’s love was displayed. Whether it through the kids loving us, us loving them, or our group loving/serving the workers, new ways to love were learned this week. God’s love is endless and wider than we can imagine. If we didn’t know this before, we know it now. And if some of us knew this before, we’re more grateful to be reminded and refreshed on this unending love God has for His world.

We arrive in Miami at 3:00pm this afternoon. We depart for Knoxville around 8:10pm. Hopefully during this waiting, we can get some personal testimonies of the week posted from our group. I know we all have a lot to say. 

To everyone who has prayed for this trip, given support to an individual on this trip, or anything else, we thank you. God has truly used this trip for His glory and His kingdom.

First off, I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of prayers and support for the team in Haiti this past week. The devastation in Port-au-Prince (PAP) is enough to make you speechless. Scenes of totally destroyed buildings are everywhere – including the capital building, financial ministry, large cathedrals, a flattened pediatric hospital, and even Francisco and Cecile’s house. Tent cities are popping up around PAP with little to no sanitation, food and water. Over 200,000 have exited the capital city and even more have lost their lives.

This had to be one of the most memorable trips One Vision has ever led. The team of 11 men left Knoxville last week to bring medical assistance to the wounded and bring aid to our kids at the orphanage. Every day, we held various clinics seeing patients who were injured in the earthquake. For many, we were the first to assist them after two weeks of suffering with open wounds and broken bones. One of the first patients we saw was a little girl whose thumb was almost totally severed by a block. Many patients limped into the clinic with open and infected cuts on their legs, feet, arms and heads. The doctors and other men did their best to help as much as possible.

On Wednesday, we held a clinic at the One Vision property where an 11 year old boy was waiting on us. His femur was clearly broken and the best option we had was to take him to a hospital in PAP. The room he was placed in was full of people who had amputated limbs, a few clearly in pain as the “nurses” were changing dressings. At the hospital, we were told that they would try to get the surgery our boy needs as soon as possible, but the problem was there are no implants to be found. As of Jan 31st, I’m still waiting on the supplies to make this happen.

Over the week, we saw several hundred patients, but January 27th will be one day that will be hard for me to forget. We arrived at a small clinic to the north of PAP, and it wasn’t hard to see where to begin. The room was full of open wounds, burns, and one very pregnant lady. Dr. Noel found Dr. Steve Hall and said “that one’s yours!” Steve led her into another room where the lady delivered a beautiful little girl in about 15 minutes. Needless to say, this was the highlight for the day!

Just as Dr. Savell was wrapping the newborn with a pink blanket his daughter made for a child in Haiti, I heard someone shout “emergency, emergency!” Carried in was a little girl about 8-9 years old, who had been hit by a car. We placed her in a 12 x 12′ room with no lights and Dr. Andy Smith began working on her immediately.

That same night, when Dr. Smoak and I had gone out to the truck to get more medicine, a tap-tap arrived crowded with screaming Haitians. We quickly realized that a young man being transported in the tap-tap had a compound fractured right leg, a serious head wound and was unresponsive. He died right there on us. We broke the news to gathering Haitians, clearly family members of the young man.

As we made our way back to the makeshift ER room, I stumbled over a woman lying on the floor alone. I was putting on fresh gloves to check on her when Cecile stopped me and said “she’s dead.” The room was too crowded to perform medical procedures, so I asked Hugh, Bryan and Paul to help me carry her outside. There was nothing more that we could do.

Returning quickly, we grabbed flashlights (even our cell phones) for light as the doctors continued working on the little girl and a man that night. While we were all working, another young man dropped to the floor. Many Haitians were praying for us to save his already lifeless body. As Paul and I carried him out, we were met with screams and wailing from relatives. Again, there was nothing more that we could do.

We loaded the remaining two patients into the back of One Vision’s truck and drove them along the dusty road to the hospital in Saint Marc. I am confident that without the help everyone gave, these two would also have lost their lives. I want to personally thank every one of the team members for everything they did to help.

Many of you have anxiously been waiting word on the One Vision kids. To be honest, when we first arrived at the orphanage, I was floored at the sight in front of me. The temporary location where the 124 children used to live, eat, and go to church was basically flat on the ground. Total destruction. Nearby, you see our precious children waiting patiently for us on the salvaged benches under blue and white tarps. As I was led through the destruction, Dr. Noel showed me where one of our girls was trapped as the blocks fell in and around her. One of the men from the house next door, came over and risked his life as he crawled under the broken blocks to save Katlyn.

After learning this, I couldn’t help but remember that this is the second time in two years these particular orphans have almost lost their lives to a devastating disaster. First, in September of 2008, when their home was flooded and they had to flee to the mountains to escape drowning. Now, January 2010, to a 7.0 earthquake.

On the second day of our trip, we went directly to the orphanage first thing in the morning. All of the kids had prepared a very special ceremony for One Vision for  in their words, “saving our lives.” Even though we had many patients waiting on us in the next town, we were stayed for three hours of the children thanking us through prayers, songs, food and even dancing. It was very humbling.

We were able to get about 15-20 Coleman tents for the children to live in for the time being. Right now they are all safe and as healthy as can be expected under the conditions and circumstances. Food and shelter are the main concerns at this moment. This Tuesday afternoon, they will be moved to a much better location about 45 mins away. It was not damaged by the earthquake, and the children will thrive there.

We are working on food now. Because food is more scarce, it is also more expensive. We are praying that the proper help comes soon. In addition, while the doctors were checking out the kids, they found one boy with malaria, and another girl who has malaria and typhoid. Please pray for these two as we are in the process of treating them both right now.

As we are working on moving the kids to another temporary place, we really need get to work on building the final orphanage. We will be re-examining the building plans we have now and make a decision very soon. I hope to be able to break ground late in February because the need is ever more urgent. We are going to be posting updates online. Right now, financial help is the biggest need.

We plan on totally changing the lives of these children, and continue to take medical teams to the area. I know many of you have personally given generously, and I pray that you continue to do so.

–John Miller

We’re thankful our first team arrived safely traveling through the Dominican Republic to Haiti on Monday. They were able to set up medical clinics and check on the children.

As teams in the field provide information, we’ll repost our needed supplies list. Here’s the most recent list of needed supplies from the doctors who are there now:

• Children’s vitamins
• 4×4 Square gauze
• Chux disposable underpads
• Tylenol
• Wound care supplies
• Scalpels
• Tourniquets
• Lindane lotion
• Kwell shampoo
• Portable stretcher
• Children’s Suspension
• Scissors

Drop-off locations for supplies are:

Sevier Heights, contact Jo Ann at 865-251-1657

Christian Academy of Knoxville, contact Regina Helton at 865-919-1635

Providence Church, contact Ellen at 865-691-3000

We couldn’t do it without you!
Thank you to all who have given both financially and through material donations, including a very special thank you to Christian Academy of Knoxville students! We still need your support in addressing the overwhelming need in Haiti, keep it up!

Prayer Service for those in Haiti
Thursday evening, January 28th at 7:00 p.m. at Sevier Heights
This service is dedicated to pray for those in Haiti. Everyone can join – One Vision International friends, donors and trip participants are all welcomed to attend!

Adoption and Foster Care
Please note One Vision is NOT currently working to facilitate adoptions or to relocate our children to the states at this time. We will have additional updates on the relocation of the children in Haiti as our team accesses the situation. We will keep you updated on building plans after the first team returns.

Are you sponsoring a child?
Our letter writing initiative is underway! We would like to encourage all child sponsors to send a letter to their child. Letters should be limited to 2 paragraphs and include information about you, your family, your friends, pets, interest in Haiti, etc. Please feel free to include pictures of yourself and family to share with your child. We will translate each letter and present them to the children in an upcoming trip.

Mail letters to One Vision at PO Box 20608, Knoxville, TN  37940. Or email them to Ellen at ellen@onevisionintl.org.

I can’t thank you enough for the outpouring of calls and emails, supporting our efforts in Haiti. Funding and supplies are beginning to come in, and God is moving. Dr Noel, Cecile and Isi (Cecile’s father) spent yesterday with the kids singing and playing. That’s great news considering what they have been through and are still going through now.

As most of you know, in September (2008), these children were woken up in the middle of the night because their home was flooded due to a hurricane. They had to flee in the dark or risk drowning. Now, for the second time in two years, their home has been destroyed—this time by one of the worst earthquakes seen in this part of the world.  Today, once again, they are homeless.

We have set up a tarps on the ground and over their heads. Dr. Noel and Cecile have been scrambling to find accessories, food, water and medicines to keep them sustained. Food is both scarce and expensive. We are working to coordinate a food drop from the U.S. Military to our site. This will provide food for about a week for the kids and those in the immediate area. We are also working to relocate the kids. Repairs need to be done on two potential buildings before we can move them.

Please pray for the group that I will be leading down Jan 24th–30th. We will see patients and bring in medical supplies, food and water to those most in need.  Right now, most of the relief aid from other organizations is focusing on Port-au-Prince and has not been able to reach outside the city. That means our team will be treating patients that were badly injured when the earthquake first hit that haven’t seen any help.

I know most of you have been gathering supplies for us to take down—thank you. We need continue to focus on medical supplies and monetary donations. Clothing and shoes will need to wait a month or so before we can get them to Haiti. The next teams will be taking as many medical supplies as possible to be able to administer medical aid.

Please let me reiterate the need for financial assistance. Food, water, fuel, medical supplies are running scarce in Haiti and are also very expensive. You all have come through in a way that only God can explain, and we really appreciate your support! Please continue supporting our efforts in Haiti as we focus on our children and the surrounding community where we have been working for the past year. There are thousands of people in our area that still haven’t seen medical attention and are without basic necessities.

A great many of you have expressed an interest in going down to Haiti to help One Vision over the next year. We have set up a few tentative dates that people are signed up for. However, after a lot of prayer and thought, we feel the best way to go about assembling teams is to focus on immediate medical attention for now. Clean up and rebuilding will begin in the very near future, as well as orphanage work. Our plans are still to build a new place for our children as soon as possible.

As soon as I get back from this next trip, I will let everyone know what our next steps will be concerning volunteers. Again, we will need to focus on medical teams for right now. Teams will be limited in number and will probably fill up quickly. Please check our website often for further updates, and continue to pray for One Vision as we do whatever we can for those we love.

Thanks, John Miller

First of all, we want to express our gratitude for the calls and emails expressing an interest to find out how you can help our extended family in Haiti. As part of an update, we wanted to pass along a message directly from Dr. Francisco Noel, our Haitian director. You’ll note that the English is slightly broken, but we wanted to share with you his words:

“A disastrous earthquake has left many dead, or injured and homeless, included us and our kids (became homeless again, one of the kid was injured), for now all our family and the kids are safe, however the damages are important for a poor country like Haiti the reconstruction will be problematic and will of course require a lot of technical human resources in all aspects.

The school and the church has been damaged specially for the school which has been flattened, the specialist said there’s another possibilities to receive another shock like this which will complicate the situation finally the local where they are now is no more safe.

For now brother it will take us some money to relocate the kids and rebuild some infrastructures, and we think it would be the right time to start our building project. In the same brother we would like to think all the US families from Tennessee who supported the One Vision
International Project in Haiti which help feeding the kids and prepare the base for the long term part of the Program, we would like for them to continue pray for us because God hear them and actually we’re safe because of their Prayers.

Dear brother tell to everyone who help us and the other that God calls to join us that the kids and other families in the community where the property is need them now more than ever. The first needs are for the moment food, water, and medical care to improve and also relocate the kids
actually every kids sleep outside on a tarp, please brother try to help us we are in serious need.

We will keep you informed about the situation as it develops, this morning we will close and leave our house because it no safer and in the meantime we will stay with Mr. Isi and the kids as agreed as soon as we progress. God bless you brother and it was a blessing to have you in our life.”

- Cecile & Francisco Noel

The January 24th trip is now full. We are not able to accommodate anyone else on this trip, as all trip teams will be limited to 10 people. At this time, we are asking for men to step forward to go on these trips, and especially those with medical backgrounds, disaster relief training, and or any other skills that would prove beneficial during a time like this.

If you have emailed regarding an interest in going on an upcoming trip, please email info@onevisionintl.org to re-express your interest. We will create a waiting list and begin to schedule and fill future trips.

* Tentative dates for upcoming relief aid trips are:
* February 4th through 8th
* February 11th through 15th
* February 25th through March 1st
* March 11th through 15th
* March 18th through 22nd
* March 25th through 29th

Please note that travel to Haiti did NOT require any immunizations prior to the earthquake. We realized that travel regulations may have been adjusted since then and we recommend that you consult with the health department to learn more about suggested preventative treatment prior to spending time in Haiti.

If you are interested in donating items to send on upcoming trips, please limit the items to the list below at this time. Donations are being accepted at:

Providence Church, contact Ellen at 865-691-3000
Sevier Heights, contact Jo Ann at 865-251-1657
Christian Academy of Knoxville, contact Jan Kitelynn at 865-690-4721

Items needed:

* Ace wraps
* Gauze bandages 4×4 and 2×2
* Bandage rolls
* Medical tape
* Bandaids large and medium
* Health care masks
* Q-tips
* Germ-X wipes
* Antibiotic ointment
* Eye drops, saline only
* Ziplock baggies all sizes
* Sharpie pens
* Tylenol and Motrin (pills and chewables)
* Imodium tablets or capsules
* Individual servings of vitamin powder for water
* Individual servings of baby formula for bottles (no cans)

Items that CANNOT be accepted….bottles of liquid, alcohol, peroxide, etc.

If you would like to implement a private collection effort (at your place of work, school, church, etc.), please do so with the above list of accepted items. You will need to make arrangements to drop off all collected material to one of the above-mentioned collection sites. (Due to the fact that we will be leading relief trips to the area for the next several months, we will not be issuing a deadlline for donations, but please know that the need is immediate.)

If you are interested in sending a monetary donation, please mail to:

One Vision International
PO Box 20608
Knoxville, TN 37940

or utilize the donate online through networkforgood.org. Both options help One Vision, but mailed donations will be received more promptly.

First and foremost the children at the orphanage are ok overall. Pray for Francisco as he has not made contact with his family in Port-au-Prince.

I’ve been able to contact Francisco via blackberry messenger. He has a bad headache and both feet are badly sprained. Cecile is okay too, but very nervous about everything. The first thing Francisco said is that they are now homeless.

They were able to make it to the kids, but it took them five hours to get there. Most of the children are doing fine; however, the temporary orphanage was severely damaged and they can no longer live there. Dr. Noel said nothing is left and they are currently living under a tarp.

We are working on another option for shelter for the children, but we await a report on the condition of the new temporary location. We will update everyone as soon as possible on the status of relocating the children. In Port-au-Prince, Francisco said the roads are pretty bad and bodies are everywhere.

I’m working on getting together a team for a January 24th trip. I’ll need many things, including men willing to help and doctors willing to go down. The conditions will be rough. We need medical supplies and financial support immediately.

Please ask all you know to help. I will keep you posted as I find info.

Thanks, John Miller