Editors Note: This is a blog by Katie DeWerff, former Ellinwood resident, who is working as an administator at Project Pepla in Haiti. It was posted on Saturday after cyclone Tomas. Her blog can be found at www.projectpepla.blogspot.com.

HAITI — What a week! Many people came to our committee with heavy hearts asking what they should do about the approaching cyclone. We tried to speak but nothing would come out of our mouths.

What do you tell someone that was: Already living in an impoverished nation the past umpteen years; and got displaced from their home, family, workplace and life. What could you say? I told them to pray? I told them Kembe Fem Pa Lage. (Hold firm don’t let go). But that lump in my throat was from thoughts of why do they have to keep holding on? Why do they have to hold firm? Haven’t they held on enough?`

We need to trust that something good comes out of everything, God’s plan. We need to know that we are working as hard as we can, and have to be encouraged by little items of success. We need the Haitian people to know that they can trust us and come to us at any time. Not for handouts though, for encouragement, education and empowerment.

Yesterday during the cyclone, I purchased many big sacks of water for people in the camp.

Thanks to some donors off of the blog, we were able to do this. The people were very encouraged that we were trying to help them in a weak time.

The cyclone caused a great amount of mud in the camp, no tents came down in the process. It is over and for the most part it was not as powerful as it could have been.

On a side note we are starting our courses Monday at the stadium. History is first. We are still looking for teachers for this, each course pays $150 to a teacher. We will have 60 adult students the first course then plan to add the next course.