South Carolina Baptists continue to give generously of their time, talents and money to aid earthquake victims in Haiti.
Ed West, a physician from Summerville, was a member of the first team of South Carolina Baptist medical volunteers in Haiti.To date, more than $250,000 in donations has been received through South Carolina Disaster Relief (SCDR), the first-response arm of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Also, trained teams of SCDR volunteers – three medical teams, a crisis intervention team and a building assessment team – have completed stints in some of the hardest-hit areas of Haiti. A fourth medical team was scheduled to fly into Port-au-Prince on Feb. 28.
In addition, scores of churches across South Carolina are collecting designated food items and packing them in 5-gallon buckets for delivery to Haiti. Cliff Satterwhite, director of the SCBC’s Disaster Relief group, hopes South Carolina Baptists will pack at least 5,000 of the “Buckets of Hope.” (For detailed instructions, visit namb.net and click on the “Buckets of Hope” image.)
As of Feb. 22, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers, including those from South Carolina, had worked nearly 1,200 volunteer days. Medical units from a dozen states have seen nearly 8,500 Haitian patients, dispensed 16,900 medicines and distributed 24 tons of rice (204,000 servings).
Although medical teams no longer are seeing as many earthquake trauma injuries and the number of amputations has dropped sharply, teams continue to treat seven-week-old crush wounds as well as infections.
Unsanitary conditions, stress, jammed traffic, and housing and security issues continue to plague the Haitian people as well as the scores of volunteers who have arrived in the country to help them.
SBC teams reported more than 9,200 ministry contacts, resulting in 222 professions of faith. South Carolina teams reported 181 professions of faith.
Between Feb. 1 and March 31, more than 200 Southern Baptist volunteers from 16 state conventions and Baptist missions entities will have gone or are scheduled to go to Haiti for medical work, chaplaincy, building inspection/assessment, water purification and well-drilling.
Satterwhite said he hopes conditions on the ground will improve enough by summer so that churches can send mission teams, although he cautioned that security and safety of volunteers continues to be a concern.
For those interested in volunteering in Haiti under the auspices of SCDR, a training event open to all will be held March 5-6 at Anderson University’s athletic campus (formerly Anderson County Fairgrounds). To register, visit scbaptist.org/dr or call 800-723-7242 (ext. 3400). The cost for new registrants is $25. Those who complete the training will receive the necessary credentials and photo ID to serve with SCDR in Haiti and other disaster settings.
South Carolina Disaster Relief has more than 6,900 trained volunteers and is supported by 124 units. South Carolina has served in many disasters since its inception in 1989, most notably the 9/11 attack in New York City and the Hurricane Katrina response.
– With reporting from Baptist Press.