February 2011

Returning from a recent trip to Haiti, I reflect on both the Haitian resilience and the uphill battle that lies ahead. A year after the devastating earthquake that shattered so many lives and shook this already troubled country, it still is hard to look at the rubble, collapsed buildings and tent camps. The images of an area so totally and horrifically destroyed are difficult to see and describe, even a year later. 

As my aircraft approached Port Au Prince I felt a sudden sadness. My last trip to Haiti was before the earthquake, and I didn’t know if I was prepared for the devastation and the impact on people’s lives. As we filed into the immigration hall, however, a cheery Haitian band was playing. The Haitian spirit is alive and well, though the subsequent drive through town to the CBM office showed the first taste of the grimness of the situation.  

The earthquake itself killed about 230,000 people, left about 300,000 with disabling conditions and displaced millions. It decimated government agencies and services.  Then the cholera epidemic struck, which has killed more than 3,000 people and, more recently, the government elections were disputed and political riots erupted. It’s just one thing after another. 

I wonder when the Haitians will ever get a break. They’ve experienced much despair and destruction. The government, local and international organizations are trying hard to make progress, and CBM is supporting an incredible array of work. 

Despite the tragedies they have encountered, the Haitians are wonderful people with great spirits. There are thousands of local people working hard under stressful situations with little resources to do what they can to put their country back together and to help their fellow citizens. The local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), many of which were destroyed and had to rebuild themselves after the quake, have continued to provide services for children and adults with disabilities. 

The CBM-country coordinating office is doing a fantastic job providing support to partners on the ground and helping Haitians make great strides under difficult situations. CBM’s office in Haiti is staffed with an excellent team of individuals. It is, as always, a pleasure to meet the competent and caring people that make up our expatriate and local staff in our different offices around the world.   

Following the initial emergency response phase, CBM and its partners formulated a strategic plan for moving from the relief stage to development and working to make sure that plans and projects will lead toward good redevelopment in Haiti, specifically for people with disabilities. CBM’s focus turned to five core areas:  health care, inclusive education and child protection, advocacy and accessibility, Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) and disaster preparedness. 

Out of the rubble, Haiti can become a better place than it was before the quake. We are helping that happen by working closely with numerous Haitian Disabled People Organizations (DPOs) and the State Secretariat for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities on an advocacy project to advise and ensure that rebuilding efforts are accessible to people with disabilities. For example, while in Haiti I attended an education workshop that brought together government officials, special education and regular education agencies, the Disabled People’s Federation, and other partners to map out a viable plan to ensure that children with disabilities go to school. 

CBM also is working directly with our partners to ensure that the needs of children and adults with disabilities are met through medical services, rehabilitation services, education and child friendly spaces in slums and tent camps. A year later, more than 1 million Haitians remain displaced as a result of the earthquake. 

Life was difficult in Haiti before the earthquake and it is more difficult now…many children lost one or both of their parents, people with disabilities are neglected then are often forgotten about, tens of thousands of people injured during the earthquake face a long road to recovery, and many have become disabled due to the lack of proper healthcare following their injuries. 

Returning to the United States from my recent trip to Haiti, I am still troubled by all that remains to be done. Millions are still displaced; more than 90 percent of the rubble still needs to be cleared, and basic services still need to be restored.  However, I am hopeful at the progress that has been made. I am hopeful of the  commitment of so many people and organizations to transform Haiti into an inclusive society--where all people have equal rights and are empowered to improve the lives of their families and communities, including people with disabilities.  

Together with our Haitian partners we are working hard. Your support and partnership is critical to the ongoing progress in Haiti and in other troubled areas around the world. 

CBM is committed to Haiti for the long-term. We have been in Haiti for more than 30 years, and we will be there for the years to come to support persons with disabilities, making sure their needs are met and ensuring their voices are heard in decision making about Haiti’s future. 

 By: Karen Heinicke-Mostch, Director of International Programs for CBM-US

October 2010

Countdown to 10 Million Now Seeing, Hoping, and Dreaming

By Ron Nabors, CEO, CBM-US  

As I write to you this month, I’d like to ask that you join with us as we prepare to celebrate a remarkable milestone: the performance of the 10 millionth CBM-supported cataract surgery! Made possible by the generous ongoing support of CBM donors, this is an unprecedented accomplishment by any other organization in the world.

Together with our CBM partners around the world, we’re keeping a close watch as we move ever closer to the 10 millionth surgery. In fact, the more than 675,000 surgeries we performed last year  combined with those we’ve performed already in 2010 have put us right on track to reach 10 million by the end of October.

Since the first CBM-supported cataract surgery in Afghanistan in 1966, we have become a leader in the global fight to end preventable blindness. What’s even more amazing is that this fight, which helps millions of people around the world who are blind from cataracts, begins with as little as $35—the average cost of a cataract surgery for an adult in the developing world. Surgery for children with cataracts may cost as much as $200 due to general anesthesia needs. Yet the impact this surgery has is truly priceless.

Each year, more than a million people will go blind as the result of cataracts. For people who are already living in extreme poverty, cataracts drastically affect their quality of life. Now, these people who are on the edge of survival, face the loss of education, the ability to support themselves, and lack of acceptance within their communities. What’s more, their life expectancy drops substantially.

Bahati, a little boy in Tanzania, could have been just another statistic if not for CBM’s help.

His mother, Evelyn, first noticed that he had a problem when he began spending much of his time in the shade. Whenever Bahati went out into the sunlight, he had difficulty seeing. It was only when he started attending school, however, that Evelyn learned the terrible truth: Bahati was almost completely blind.

Often, he would return home from school covered in cuts from thorn bushes because he couldn’t see well enough to walk by himself. Soon, he was forced to quit school entirely. To make matters worse, Bahati couldn’t see well enough to help his family in the fields either. Once, he even threatened their meager livelihood when he cut the good maize, having mistaken it for weeds.

Thankfully, Evelyn heard about a small health station close to her village. The clinic referred Bahati to the CBM-supported Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT) hospital in Dar es Salaam. CCBRT arranged for Bahati and his mother to travel to the hospital where he would have sight-restoring cataract surgery.

Today, Bahati’s life has been completely transformed. Evelyn tells us, “Bahati is behaving much differently now. He’s much happier playing. Now, he can go back to school and can help out in the fields.”

CBM-supported surgery freed Bahati from a lifetime of hardship and provided him with the opportunity to achieve an education. This is one vitally important step in helping Bahati, his village, and his country break the poverty/disability cycle. Poverty and disability are intrinsic in the developing world. People with disabilities and their families are more likely to live in extreme poverty. Likewise, people who live in poverty are much more likely to become disabled.

That’s why I’d like you to know that your gift does more than restore vision. It actually restores lives and helps to break the devastating cycle of disability and poverty.

On behalf of Bahati, the almost 10 million people who’ve received sight-restoring cataract surgery, and the millions more whose lives have been changed for the better as a result, I’d like to ask you to Join CBM  (www.cbmus.org)in counting down to this remarkable milestone and in the fight against preventable blindness.

In the developing world, more than

half the children who go blind will

die within two years.

- World Health Organization.

  

                            

 

September 2010

Brian Hatchell, CBM’s Emergency Communications Coordinator, recently spent time in Pakistan in the wake of last month’s devastating monsoon floods. Here is an account of his travels.

As I sit in the comfort of my own home, all I can think about are the people in Pakistan who lost theirs. I met so many people on my trip: young, old, male, female, rich, poor. And they all have one thing in common—they lost everything to the floods.

Mother Nature doesn’t discriminate. But neither does the spirit of survival.

Everyone I met, from the four-year-old boy who lost his father, to the 50-year-old man who lost his saw mill, to the widow who doesn’t know where she will live once the waters recede. All they want is a chance. A chance to return home, a chance to rebuild their lives, a chance to regain their independence.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the size of a disaster affecting more than 20 million people. But when you look at it as one family at a time, it seems more manageable. You feel like you are actually making a difference in the lives of survivors.

In one particularly hard-hit area in a village north-east of Peshawar, we visited a mother/child health clinic run by the Diocese of Peshawar, one of the eight dioceses of the Church of Pakistan and one of CBM’s local partners. Though the clinic was very basic, the health care being provided was truly life saving. The doctors see about 30 to 40 patients a day, and most of them have skin disease, tuberculosis, diarrhea, gastro-intestinal illnesses and even some cases of cholera and malnutrition. The staff working in the clinic were truly dedicated. Many of them had lost their homes in the flood, but continued to come to work to help those less fortunate.

I met one woman, Laviza, is who 35 years old and married with 6 children between the ages of 6 and 20. She is blind in one eye. When the floods came in the early hours of the morning, she awoke to the sounds of screaming. When she and her husband jumped out of bed, there was already water on the floor of their house. Because she could not see well in the darkness, she could do little to help. Terrified, she could only depend upon her husband to take their children to safety.

The next morning, the family traveled to a Diocese relief camp where they were given life-saving supplies of food, water, shelter and medical care. Yet after a month, the family desperately wanted to return home. What they saw when they returned was devastating. All of their belongings had washed away, the foundation had shifted, and all of the walls had large cracks. However, the family decided to stay there. “It is our home, where else could we go?” Laviza said. With no money to rent a house or repair the damages, Laviza and her family literally had nowhere else to turn. Despite having lost everything, Laviza told us that she feels incredibly blessed. No one in the family was injured, and the Diocese has been a tremendous help. They’ve been given basic clothing, household items, and cooking supplies. The Diocese hopes to help them repair their house or rebuild if they can raise the funds needed.

In our travels throughout Pakistan, everywhere you looked was water. Under this water were some of the best crop lands in all of Pakistan. In its wake, the water spared no one, rich or poor. Natural disasters devastate everyone.

By nature, all of us are grateful for assistance when we need it, but the basic human instinct is to make one’s way in this world. The residents of Pakistan are no different. Their will to survive and start over is strong.

When I arrived in Pakistan and saw the magnitude of the floods, I honestly thought, “How will Pakistan ever recover from this?” But the more people I met, the more stories of hope and courage I heard. The country, and its people, will recover, rebuild, and be better for it.

If you’d like to help, please give now.

 

 

 

 

 

Some officials in Pakistan say that the economy has been so badly damaged they worry even micro-enterprise projects won’t be able to help as no one has any money to purchase goods. For now, they may have to go back to the barter system while people try to get back on their feet and reintroduce money at a later date.

 

September 2010

Brian Hatchell, CBM’s Emergency Communications Coordinator, recently spent time in Pakistan in the wake of last month’s devastating monsoon floods. Here is an account of his travels.

As I sit in the comfort of my own home, all I can think about are the people in Pakistan who lost theirs. I met so many people on my trip: young, old, male, female, rich, poor. And they all have one thing in common—they lost everything to the floods.

Mother Nature doesn’t discriminate. But neither does the spirit of survival.

Everyone I met, from the four-year-old boy who lost his father, to the 50-year-old man who lost his saw mill, to the widow who doesn’t know where she will live once the waters recede. All they want is a chance. A chance to return home, a chance to rebuild their lives, a chance to regain their independence.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the size of a disaster affecting more than 20 million people. But when you look at it as one family at a time, it seems more manageable. You feel like you are actually making a difference in the lives of survivors.

In one particularly hard-hit area in a village north-east of Peshawar, we visited a mother/child health clinic run by the Diocese of Peshawar, one of the eight dioceses of the Church of Pakistan and one of CBM’s local partners. Though the clinic was very basic, the health care being provided was truly life saving. The doctors see about 30 to 40 patients a day, and most of them have skin disease, tuberculosis, diarrhea, gastro-intestinal illnesses and even some cases of cholera and malnutrition. The staff working in the clinic were truly dedicated. Many of them had lost their homes in the flood, but continued to come to work to help those less fortunate.

I met one woman, Laviza, is who 35 years old and married with 6 children between the ages of 6 and 20. She is blind in one eye. When the floods came in the early hours of the morning, she awoke to the sounds of screaming. When she and her husband jumped out of bed, there was already water on the floor of their house. Because she could not see well in the darkness, she could do little to help. Terrified, she could only depend upon her husband to take their children to safety.

The next morning, the family traveled to a Diocese relief camp where they were given life-saving supplies of food, water, shelter and medical care. Yet after a month, the family desperately wanted to return home. What they saw when they returned was devastating. All of their belongings had washed away, the foundation had shifted, and all of the walls had large cracks. However, the family decided to stay there. “It is our home, where else could we go?” Laviza said. With no money to rent a house or repair the damages, Laviza and her family literally had nowhere else to turn. Despite having lost everything, Laviza told us that she feels incredibly blessed. No one in the family was injured, and the Diocese has been a tremendous help. They’ve been given basic clothing, household items, and cooking supplies. The Diocese hopes to help them repair their house or rebuild if they can raise the funds needed.

In our travels throughout Pakistan, everywhere you looked was water. Under this water were some of the best crop lands in all of Pakistan. In its wake, the water spared no one, rich or poor. Natural disasters devastate everyone.

By nature, all of us are grateful for assistance when we need it, but the basic human instinct is to make one’s way in this world. The residents of Pakistan are no different. Their will to survive and start over is strong.

When I arrived in Pakistan and saw the magnitude of the floods, I honestly thought, “How will Pakistan ever recover from this?” But the more people I met, the more stories of hope and courage I heard. The country, and its people, will recover, rebuild, and be better for it.

If you’d like to help, please give now. 

 

 

 

Some officials in Pakistan say that the economy has been so badly damaged they worry even micro-enterprise projects won’t be able to help as no one has any money to purchase goods. For now, they may have to go back to the barter system while people try to get back on their feet and reintroduce money at a later date.

 

July 2010

Every year, CBM compiles a comprehensive report of achievements from the previous 12 months. This year, as I read through this lengthy document, I could not help but be immensely proud of our work. In light of last year’s recession and financial uncertainty, we were challenged with the seemingly insurmountable task of providing critical services to more than 23.7 million people—a substantial increase from 2008. Yet despite the bad economic times facing our country last year, which resulted in lower income for CBM, we did not have to make the difficult decision to stop funding critical projects in the developing world. This was truly an amazing accomplishment—an accomplishment made possible through the ongoing generous support of investors like you, coupled with a short-term reduction in some of our own key infrastructure expenses, such as not filling open staff positions. Among our many successes in 2009 are:

· +920,000 eye operations were performed.

· +380,000 people received Vitamin A tablets.

· +1.1 million eyeglasses were dispensed.

· +165,000 people were enrolled in empowerment activities including self-help groups

· +64,000 children were enrolled in education programs.

· +675,000 people have had their sight restored through a cataract operation.

· +480,000 received medical treatment for hearing problems.

· +17,000 hearing aids were distributed.

· +96,000 people received support through CBM’s Community Mental Health programs.

· +66,000 people benefited from vocational training and employment programs.

· +2,600 doctors and more than 3,100 nurses/assistants received critical medical training.

· +16,000 teachers learned how to fully include children with disabilities in the classroom.

When we look at these statistics, we must not forget that behind these numbers are real people—men, women, and children who desperately need our help. Children like Hans.

Tucked deep inside the vast slums of northern Lima, Peru, amid endless rows of ramshackle houses, filth and trash, Hans lives with his family. Born with Cerebral Palsy, or CP, a group of chronic conditions affecting body movement, muscle coordination, and often mental capacity, Hans spent most of his days in isolation, lying in a simple plastic tub watching.

Having a child with a disability makes life for families already existing in extreme conditions of poverty even more difficult. With few resources, Hans’ parents did not know what to do to help him. The harsh truth is that people living with disabilities in the poorest countries of the world have little access to rehabilitation and other services. In fact, 98 percent of children with disabilities in the developing world do not attend school. The mortality rate for these children under the age of 5—like Hans—is as high as 80 percent.

Yet in just a short amount of time, Hans’ life has completely transformed. One of CBM’s Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) workers found him and began at-home physical therapy sessions. She enrolled him in a local preschool, and with the assistance of a special chair provided by CBM, Hans now sits upright at the table with the other school children. This child, who could once do little more than lie on the floor, now is considered the brightest in his class.

Hans is one of the more than 23 million people with disabilities annually whose lives have been changed for the better thanks to the generous gifts of CBM supporters. I’d like to ask you to take a few moments to review what we accomplished this year (LINK). Here, you’ll find other inspiring stories and view real evidence of the monumental impact your investment with CBM can make.

 

 

 May 2010

Special Guest Blog from Loretta Dodgen, Chairman of the Board, CBM. In February, Dodgen traveled to CBM project sites in Peru with CBM-US CEO Ron Nabors.

Before I traveled to Peru this past February, I had a heart for CBM and our vital work with the most vulnerable group of people in the world. However, it wasn’t until I visited these projects in person that I truly grasped the profound impact CBM—through donor investments—makes on lives and the breadth of the services we provide. My experience wasn’t just about people with disabilities, however, it was about CBM workers – people who have given their lives to provide support and encouragement to those who are less fortunate. Seeing their commitment and dedication was a life-altering experience for me. I was overwhelmed.

In the slums of Lima, Peru, where hundreds of thousands of families live in crushing poverty, CBM ministers to those with disabilities. In an area without running water, life is unimaginably difficult. Yet for families who have disabled children, life is more than difficult—it’s heartbreaking. Our first stop in Lima was to the home of Maria Jesus. Her father works hard to earn about $46 a week and spends almost 10 percent of his earnings on purchasing safe drinking water for the family. To make their already difficult existence even harder, their young daughter, Maria Jesus, suffers from cerebral palsy low vision, and epilepsy. With barely enough resources to provide food and shelter, Maria Jesus’ parents desperately wanted to help her, but did not know how. They feared Maria Jesus would spend her days in darkness and isolation, refusing physical touch.

However, thanks to intervention from CBM Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) workers, Maria Jesus’ life has been completely transformed. These amazing workers have provided therapy and sensory stimulation for the little girl who now loves to be held and is learning and thriving. What’s more, Maria Jesus’ parents also have found support. Her mother attends a local support group for mothers of children with disabilities and feels more confident in caring for her daughter as a result. I felt so blessed to have spent time with this family. To see this type of transformation first hand was a true testament of CBM’s life-changing work.

In addition to helping the individual, our CBR workers and international staff make an even greater impact by helping to change entire communities. Working hand in hand with local Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs) as well as local governments, they ensure the full inclusion of people with disabilities into communities and societies. I’m both inspired and proud of the incredible dedication of our CBR workers who often travel miles away from home to serve people with disabilities living in remote communities. At times, they work in situations where their own lives are at risk, yet they go to work every day, and they go joyfully. That’s powerful work that brings about powerful change.

Now, as I lead CBM’s Board of Directors, I have taken some of the resilience and determination that I witnessed in Peru and am using it to help enhance awareness of this important organization so that we can continue to reach those who are most in need. It’s not an easy task. In fact, it’s one that requires a significant amount of determination and prayer. We as Americans are bombarded by images of suffering both within our own country and overseas. I know that these are all important causes. Yet when I’m asked why I choose to spend my time working with an organization that focuses its resources overseas, my answer is simple: in the United States, even the poorest can find access to services needed. But for people with disabilities living in the poorest countries of the world, help is nonexistent. They literally have nowhere else to turn. We have a responsibility as Christians and as citizens of the world not to ignore them. Please join in my quest to help.

April 2010

Each year on the second Sunday in May, we celebrate Mother’s Day. Already retail stores are stocked with hundred of greeting cards and not-so-subtle reminders of gift ideas for Mom. But behind the cards and flowers lie the real reason we celebrate this special day—the deep abiding love of our mothers.

Around the world, mothers work tirelessly to protect and care for their families. They are the ones who often go hungry so others can eat. They sacrifice physical comfort and even their own hopes and dreams just to provide the best possible lives for their children.

Sadly, however, there are millions of mothers around the world who struggle daily just to keep their children alive. Despite their incredible sacrifices, they remain trapped within the oppressive confines of poverty. Mothers of children with disabilities have an even more difficult time. Lack of access to education, proper nutrition, adequate medical care, and rehabilitation leaves them with nowhere to turn. Without outside intervention, not even their love is enough to save their children.

I’d like to share the story of Menia with you. She is a dedicated mother who loves her little girl, Esther, very much. When Esther was just a baby, Menia noticed that other children Esther’s age were standing, but her daughter remained limp and lifeless. As the other babies began to toddle, Esther remained immobile, staring up and off into the distance. Menia desperately hoped that Esther would improve, but she wasn’t sure how to help her.

Already, Menia was under a great deal of stress. Like other mothers of children with disabilities, Menia’s husband left her when Esther was born. As a single mother of three, she struggled to provide food and shelter. Now, with Esther’s condition, she found herself trapped in a seemingly impossible situation. No matter how much she loved her daughter, it just didn’t seem to be enough.

Thankfully, Menia found guidance through a local CBM worker in her community. Esther was diagnosed with severe “floppy” cerebral palsy and referred to a physical therapist named Wongani. She worked daily with Esther on a variety of physical exercises designed to strengthen her muscles and taught Menia how to perform these same exercises, empowering her to take care of her daughter on her own. CBM also provided a special chair for Esther, allowing her to sit upright and arranged for her to receive a wheelchair.

But that’s not all. Menia was enrolled in a support group for other mothers of children with disabilities. Here, she was not alone. She found encouragement and no longer felt the heavy confines of sadness and helplessness.

When your love joins with these mothers’ love, you help to accomplish the extraordinary. You are investing in CBM’s programs to support women and mothers of children with disabilities. Through education, rehabilitation, micro-credit opportunities, and medical intervention, you literally free them from the burden of poverty, shame, and despair.

As we celebrate Mother’s Day this year, I’d like to encourage you to reflect upon your own mother, grandmother, or other special woman in your life who has given of herself to make your life better and say a special prayer of thanksgiving for her love. And, if you’re led, I’d like to encourage you to give a gift in honor or in memory of her. Your loving partnership will empower people with disabilities worldwide.

“And now these three remain:

Faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.”

-1 Corinthians 13:13

March 2010

550 million people in the developing world live with disabilities. Of this figure, 50 percent of these disabilities are preventable and directly linked to poverty.

In my travels to CBM projects around the world, I’ve met the individuals—children, women, and men— behind these statistics. Children with disability due to lack of access to proper vitamins, nutrition and healthcare. Women with horrific physical disabilities because of inadequate maternal healthcare. Elderly folks abandoned by family, blind as the result of cataracts, a condition easily treatable through surgery. Yet with barely enough money for food to eat, there is no room for this type of luxury.

The link between poverty and disability creates a cycle that is extremely difficult to break. People who are poor are more likely to become disabled because of lack of access to healthcare, unsafe working conditions, and improper hygiene and sanitation. In turn, those who are disabled are more likely to be poor because of limited access to healthcare, education, and gainful employment.

This link is so strong that the World Bank estimates that one in six people living on less than $1 a day has a disability. We also know that people who live on less than $1 a day are never far from starvation.

If you can imagine, the situation for women and girls with disabilities is even worse. Of the billion people in the world who live on $1 or less a day, 900 million of them are women and girls. They are the most vulnerable group and are more likely to be illiterate and less likely to have jobs. Women and girls with disabilities are also at much greater risk of becoming victims of physical and sexual abuse.

For Marita, in Nigeria, having a disability almost robbed her of her dreams. She contracted polio as a toddler, and the disease left her leg damaged, virtually useless. As a young girl with disability, she was not able to go to school. With no education, she had few opportunities to earn a living. But she was bright, energetic, and had strong will to “be somebody.” Everything changed for Marita when she received a loan from CBM to purchase a knitting machine. Marita began making clothing for people in her community, and her business soon began to take off allowing her to repay her loan in full. Now, Marita has so much business that she’s recently hired an apprentice, 18-year-old Christiana who is profoundly deaf. Not only has Marita found confidence and independence through CBM’s programs, she has reached out to other women with disabilities, providing them with the opportunity for new lives as well. She says,

“I am so very grateful. If you are disabled, and have no-one to help you, then you can only pray to God. Your help makes us feel strong, so we are no longer disabled.”

I wanted to share Marita’s story with you because it illustrates the connection between poverty and disability. However, her story also shows us the extraordinary impact that CBM’s outreach programs have on lives. When people who have been marginalized are given the opportunity to earn a livelihood, that impact goes far beyond basic poverty alleviation. Women with disabilities gain greater equality in the household and community. People with disabilities are called by their names not by their disabilities. And, because they are contributing to the overall prosperity of their communities, the stigma and prejudicial attitudes that have marginalized people with disabilities begin to disappear.

February 2010

In the days following last month’s devastating earthquake in Haiti, one could not help but be overwhelmed with sadness. Images of broken bodies, ruined homes, and shattered lives covered our television screens. I must admit that even though I am a man of faith, I couldn’t help but ask the question “why?” How could something this terrible happen to a country already plagued by suffering?

 You see, I believe that God’s love is a powerful, all-encompassing love. He performs miracles each and every day. And though the situation in Haiti is devastating, that’s exactly what He continues to do—perform miracles.

Unbelievable compassion and generosity has poured in from CBM friends around the world allowing us to serve those in critical need of help. CBM was in Haiti in the days right after the earthquake, providing for victims’ immediate needs. But our work didn’t end there. Now, over a month later, our work is really just beginning.

One group of people in particular need of help is children. In fact, experts estimate that 50% of those injured in the earthquake are children. Like me, I know you’ve seen the disturbing reports of the increasing problem of child trafficking Haiti. Amid the chaos in this country, children are more vulnerable than ever before.

The sad truth of the matter is that children with disabilities—both those with pre-existing disabilities and those with new disabilities as a result of the earthquake—are even more at risk. 

That’s why I’m so proud of the work CBM is doing in Haiti. With long-time partner in Haiti, Centre d’Education Specialise, and ChildFund, an organization with extensive experience in creating child-centered spaces during emergencies, CBM-US is leading a project to create 10 child daycare centers for vulnerable children. These centers will target 10 affected communities in the capital of Port-au-Prince and will enroll 1200 children with disabilities and injuries. Here, children will have a safe place to stay and will receive education, rehabilitation, and psychosocial support. 

These daycare centers are much-needed for children with disabilities, but they also provide an additional benefit to their mothers as well. Just the knowledge that their children are in a safe place is a true blessing for these mothers. Now, they are free to look for work, finding ways to earn livelihood and slowly piece their lives back together.

CBM will work closely with the Haiti Ministry of Health and other government agencies to assure the children’s whereabouts are known, keep their parents involved, and make sure the children don’t fall into the wrong hands. Through our medical assistance, counseling, coordination with appropriate government agencies, and rehabilitation we hope the children will be able to pursue rich, full lives.

I hope that you’ll continue to join with us in praying for all of those affected by this unimaginable tragedy. I also hope that you will follow our progress in the months ahead. There is much to do, but I know that through your continued partnership we can make a real difference for the people of Haiti.

October 2009

During my first World Sight Day celebration in our headquarters location of Greenville, we did something that has stayed with me over the years.

We blindfolded a group of students from Sara Collins Elementary. And then we served them lunch.

We could have gone easy on them and served finger foods. Instead, we gave them utensils and served tossed salad and lasagna from a local restaurant.

The point of the exercise was to share the experience of what it’s like for a child who is blind to do something as basic as eating lunch. Trying to maneuver the drink, find the dressing for your salad, figure out exactly what you’re eating from the smell and the taste rather than from glancing down at it.

In this case, the lucky group of students had teachers hovering nearby to help them. After about 10 minutes, we invited the kids to take off their red CBM blindfolds and finish their lunches as they typically would.

That’s when something unexpected happened. The girls and boys who had struggled to eat with their blindfolds told us they wanted to put them back on and finish their lunch.

I want to challenge you to try and eat one meal in darkness this month to commemorate World Sight Day. You will likely need a little help, but embrace the spirit of the challenge and see if you can do as well as some of our students did.

Blindness remains a worldwide health crisis in developing countries. Every five seconds someone in our world goes blind but 75% of blindness is treatable, curable or preventable.  For more than 100 years, CBM has committed resources to helping those who are blind, preventing blindness and reversing it. World Sight Day gives us an excuse to talk about the work that goes on every day—and to challenge our supporters to walk a mile in someone else’s reality, even if it’s just for one meal.

(Editor’s Note: If you take the CBM challenge, we want to hear about your experience having a meal blindfolded. Please email us at info@cbmus.org or call us at 864.295.0095)