The small Caribbean country of Haiti is a strong focus of a church congregation in Sauble Beach.
Sauble Christian Fellowship has been sending a group of volunteers to the extremely poor country for five years to help with building, medical assistance, and delivering aid.
They do their work at the Mission of Hope, a facility that operates an orphanage, church, medical clinic, and educational programs.
Pastor Dave Oppertshauser said on Soundingboard on 98 the Beach recently that 49 people from the church and local community went to Haiti this past January.
He says it takes a lot of logistics and planning to get ready for the annual trip each January to make sure everyone involved is properly prepared.
Oppertshauser says as North Americans, it’s easy for us to only deal with severe poverty and disease from a distance but it’s a whole different ball game to arrive in another country and see people hurting from a lack of food, housing, and education.
Oppertshauser says on their last trip, they took, along with building supplies, a shipment of hand-made mats that volunteers had crafted from used milk bags.
He says they can be used by people who would normally have to sleep on bare ground or concrete and says they are easy to clean and provide some padding.
Oppertshauser says three years ago, the Sauble group helped build the mission’s medical clinic. He says without it, many Haitians would not have access to any form of health care.
Doctors, nurses, and dental assistants have been part of the mission trip in the past.
Oppertshauser says they’re preparing to head to Haiti again in January 2010 and are always ready to welcome more people who want to get involved.
Sauble Christian Fellowship’s involvement with the Mission of Hope started out as a partnership with a church in Niagara Falls that was looking for more involvement with its work in Haiti.