Brusewitz helps out with the people of Haiti

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti makes up the western one-third of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean. The eastern two-thirds of the island is the Dominican Republic.

In January of 2010 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti and then again a 6.1 earthquake killing hundreds of thousands of people. In October of that same year a cholera epidemic hit and in November hurricane Tomas hit. The country had not recovered and again in October of 2016 Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti with catastrophic flooding and killing more people and leaving many thousand homeless.

Aid to Haiti is vital for many purposes, including economic development, disaster relief, and providing public goods, such as education and healthcare, where the government cannot.

Reginald Durandisse with the Ministére d’Assistance aux Démunis (MAD) in Haiti, Creole or French which translates “Ministry which assists the destitute.” Reginald is the director of the group of young men who have their motto as  ‘They Deserve Better Ministry’ for people in their country.

Billions of dollars have been dispensed towards humanitarian aid and reconstruction/development efforts in Haiti. Most of this was disbursed through contracts and grants to bidding U.S. development agencies. Reginald stated that benefits are not given to local organizations to enable hiring local organizations to help with the  aid projects. He said that poor accountability and lack of getting together with local groups by international organizations have hindered the effectiveness of aid dollars, and Haiti’s development. Most of the money that MAD uses comes from donations from churches and other organizations.

That is how Virginia (Ginger) Brusewitz of Gonvick became involved. She heard about the MAD group and flew down to Haiti in September of 2015 to see for herself what this ministry, “They Deserve Better Ministry,” was doing. They took her to orphanages, hospitals, handicapped schools, prisons, and elderly homes.  She went back to Haiti again in December 2015 and delivered over 1300 toys to the children of Haiti.

Ginger has gone back three times and each time she has three suitcases full of items that she has picked up at garage sales and other donations. Reginald Durandisse with “They Deserve Better Ministry” was in Gonvick for a visit and to talk with groups about their ministry in Haiti. The two of them were busy getting items that were much needed in his home country for him to take back.

Help for people of Haiti has been done with area organizations. The Gonvick Lions Club sent a couple hundred pairs of eye glasses with Lance Bergstrom MD in 2016. Pastor Jim Galloway and his wife Pat and son David were among several who went down for mission trips.

Ginger saw for herself what Reginald Durandisse has been doing.  Donations can be made to a fund at the First State Bank in Clearbrook.