Salvation Army Workers in Haiti Celebrate Miracle of Man Who Survived Under Rubble for 28 Days

Salvation Army medical staff in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, have played a part in the miraculous survival of 28-year-old Evan Ocinia, who was pulled from the rubble on Monday 8 February – 28 days after the earthquake brought devastation to the region.

Evan was taken to the Salvation Army clinic at its compound in the Delmas 2 area of Port-au-Prince after being pulled from the rubble in the nearby Lionshead marketplace. Two men were digging through the rubble when Evan called out to them. The men who found Evan knew The Salvation Army had a ‘hospital’ nearby.

 Evan was extremely dehydrated and had skin wounds but he did not appear to have any critical wounds or broken bones. He was able to hold his head up on his own and take sips of water from the doctor who accompanied Salvation Army personnel transporting him to the University of Miami field hospital which is located next to the airport in Port-au-Prince.

 The Salvation Army has taken responsibility for the care of 20,000 people living in temporary shelter near its Port-au-Prince compound. Its medical clinic continues to treat more than 250 people a day on-site, with several transfers daily to the university field hospital.

 Eight babies have been delivered at the clinic since the earthquake. The fifth baby – yet to be named – arrived at 8 am, before the clinic opened, and so was delivered outdoors, in the courtyard. The baby girl and her mother Louester – a resident of the camp under the supervision of The Salvation Army – are doing well. Read more

Service Celebrates Accomplishments of Children

Two Sundays ago, youth at The Salvation Army in Bloomington were recognized. In pews filled with family, friends and fellow Salvationists, the students came forward one by one to receive their deep blue sashes. Not only do these look great but they will hold a growing number of badges.

The badges are awarded through two systems: the Adventure Corps for the boys and the Sunbeam Program for the girls. The youth spend up to a month going through lessons on a particular topic and for their participation and ability to know the lessons the youth accumulate badges that eventually fill their sashes.

These aren’t new program either! Since the 1920s, the Sunbeam and Girl Guard programs have reached out to area youth to provide fun, safe activities focused on Christ. The Adventure Corps emerged in the 1980s in the United States for boys. The main point of all of these groups is to promote strong character growth in children.

If you’d like to learn more about either of these programs please contact Lt. Catherine Fitzgerald who oversees the progress of the children.

Salvation Army is On the Ground in Haiti; Supplies are readied both at the epicenter and here in the United States

Alexandria, VA (January 15, 2010) – An initial Salvation Army assessment team is on the ground in Haiti and en route to the capital city of Port Au Prince. Once there, the team will liaison with Salvation Army personnel already on site in Haiti, where the Army has had a presence since 1950. As with all such relief efforts, The Salvation Army’s initial focus will be to assess the immediate needs of the people affected by the earthquake, then utilize its resources to mobilize and ship food, water and other critical necessities to where they are most needed.

On the homefront, hundreds of volunteers will work through the weekend to prepare and package one million ready-to-eat meals at the El Dorado Convention Center in El Dorado, Kansas to support Salvation Army relief efforts in Haiti. The meals – which consist of rice, soy protein, freeze-dried vegetable and vitamins and can be cooked in boiling water – come courtesy of Numana Inc. (http://www.numanainc.com/). The million meals will total more than 150,000 pounds once boxed. No time-table has been set for the delivery of the meals, but The Salvation Army is currently coordinating with other agencies to get these supplies where they are needed. An additional 250,000 meals, also prepared by Numana Inc., are currently awaiting shipment from Des Moines, Iowa.

“We saw a devastating earthquake strike Haiti this week,” said Lt. Col. Dan Starrett, Executive Director of The Salvation Army World Services Office. “Now, donor generosity is striking back.”
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More Children Helped This Year

 We’d like to share with you three things about our Christmas efforts.

First, quite a few folks came to The Salvation Army for assistance, about 720 families to be exact. We were the most excited though, because we helped more children this year, about 7% more than last year. The best thing is, each one of those children recieved about eight items; that’s a lot of donated toys! But we couldn’t have done it alone.

Secondly, we are indebted to the army of families, youth groups, church groups, women’s auxiliaries and individuals who came together to make this a successful endeavor. Of course, the ultimate praise goes to the Lord who is responsible for the success of our plans (Proverbs 16:3).

Lastly, for you who are jazzed about pics, want to relive the experience, or couldn’t be there to volunteer check out our Flickr page.

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