Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) will have built 1,982 houses by the end of November and 560 more are planned and should be built by March 2012.

"Southern Baptists should heartily celebrate what has been accomplished in Haiti," declared Jeff Palmer, executive director of Baptist Global Response, one of the key partners in the Rebuild Haiti alliance. "It is amazing what has happened in such a short period of time, but there are still thousands of people living in tents and much to be done."

"Rebuild Haiti" is a cooperative venture that also involves Haitian Baptists, the International Mission Board, the Florida Baptist Convention and SBDR. In the past 18 months, Southern Baptists have invested more than $4.5 million in assisting survivors of the earthquake of January 2010.

Besides building houses, the disaster response effort has included feeding programs, medical clinics, school assistance, beds for 2,200 orphans and prosthetics fabrication, as well as many other projects. Baptist volunteers from Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Dominica and Grenada have worked alongside U.S. and Haitian volunteers.

"The goal of the home construction campaign has not been just to build houses, but rather to build Haitians and their communities [...] As a result of community transformation, small businesses have been created to meet construction supply needs and transportation of those supplies. Small diners and shops have sprung up to provide daily necessities. The impact of Rebuild Haiti will be felt for generations to come" declared David Brown, who with his wife, Jo, directs BGR work in the Americas.

"We are, however, still entertaining volunteer teams who are interested in helping in Haiti, but we are asking them to diversify into other activities," Palmer added. "There are needs in the medical and healthcare areas, as well as for water wells. We are working on some poultry/farming projects with an orphanage to help them become self-sufficient."

HL/ HaitiLibre