Mercy Trucks launches new ministry in Haiti

As we all know, on January 12, 2010 the island nation of Haiti was struck with a catastrophic earthquake with a magnitude 7.0. Its epicenter was approximately 25 km (16 miles) west of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. The International Red Cross estimated that about three million people were affected by the quake; Haitian President Rene Preval stated on the 27th of January that "nearly 170,000″ bodies had been counted. The New York Times reported on January 28 that 20,000 commercial buildings and 225,000 residences had collapsed or were severely damaged. The human suffering will continue for longer than anyone is willing to guess. 


Within days following the disaster, calls were made for specific needs to aid the immediate rescue efforts as well as the continuing needs that will face this devastated nation. YWAM, which has been operating in St. Marc, Haiti, since 1991, began communications with Mercy Trucks about launching a long-term presence in Haiti. It was agreed that Mercy Trucks would provide a vehicle and much needed medical supplies and equipment allowing YWAM Haiti to facilitate medical teams not only during this critical time, but long after rescue teams and emergency responders have returned to their respective nations and the Haitian earthquake has faded from the front pages.

Beginning immediately, a Mercy Trucks team in Hexham, England began sorting and preparing supplies and equipment. Meanwhile 3,500 miles away in Lebanon, Pennsylvania final preparations were being made on a converted ambulance that is designed for maximum flexibility in service. Within days, two pallets of specifically needed medical supplies were being shipped to London for a flight to Pennsylvania. Roy Dixon, the founder and director of Mercy Trucks, decided to oversee the transportation to Haiti and launching of the ministry. On January 29, 2010 Roy arrived in the US where he was met by Jeff Colker, Director of Mercy Trucks Americas. The 28-foot ambulance was packed with the supplies and Roy left on the 20-hour drive to South Florida where the vehicle was loaded onto a ship for the final journey to Haiti.
 

After arriving safely in Haiti and getting the truck out of customs tax free, Roy reports "There are some terrible injuries here and many of the people are getting infections because they have not had their bandage changed since the day they were put on immediately after the earthquake. I believe that wound care and infection control will be our main focus over the next couple of weeks." He was encouraged by the level of commitment among the workers, saying "There is a great team here and these supplies and the ambulance will be a real blessing."

More information on Mercy Trucks can be found at www.MercyTrucks.org

Thank-you to www.marinereachministries.com for much of the information in this article.
For more news and updates you can also see: http://ywamhaitioutreach.wordpress.com/