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Desperation Haiti
, 1/21/2010
[News] The following news letter was something I prepared following my phone conversation with Fr. Gio and sent to Walter Miller, His Work in Progress, in Philadelphia, whom Linda and I have helped on mission trips to Bosnia the past 4 years and are doing again this year. He posted it on the HWIP website. We have had contact with Fr. Gio over the past couple of years.
If any of you are interested assisting the orphanage anyway you can now, or later with boots on the ground, which I am planning on doing, let me know or contact them directly. Fr. Gio (Giordano Belanich) is Croatian and has been parish priest at St John's Church in Fairview, NJ the past 20-25 years. He first started his relief services for the Catholic/Christian people during the Bosnian war and since it ended, and now has orphanage compounds in Africa, Central America, Haiti and South America. A dynamic priest and gentle heart.
Friends and Family,
How to begin. I just got off the phone with Fr. Gio, a priest who runs Croatian Relief for the Bosnian war refugees but also runs an orphanage compound in Port au Prince, Haiti. His orphanage was destroyed as were the other orphanages in his area run by other priests so the children are sleeping in the compound. That day they fed 1200 people but they were running out of food.
I cannot describe the situation there nor does the news cover it the way it is. Let me start by saying they need medical assistance so if you know of any medical colleagues who want to help, Fr. Gio can get them into the country safely and to his compound. If you have not been in touch, they are doing amputations with no pain killers or at best Motrin. In the past day they have buried 39 children at his compound and another of his colleague priests buried 100 children the day before at his compound.
He had funds to buy three 40' containers of rice to feed the people around his compound. One container made it into Haiti but was hyjacked by a machetee wielding mob who seized the container. The other two containers are held at the Dominican Republic border and we are trying to get it freed up so it can enter Haiti.
The purpose of Walter Miller' (His Work In Progress) and my call to Fr. Gio was to find out how we could help him now, 6 months from now and in the long term. Of course, the immediate need is medical assistance and food. He informed us the UN has been pulling back many of medical staff from the outlying areas of the capital to where he does not know, leaving many people in need of medical assistance.
In the long term, he would like to start a training school starting with 50 older orphans (13 years of age and older) to give them a chance at life. Because of the many smaller orphans, once orphans reach the age of 12 or 13 years they leave the orphanage and end back on the streets to die or become hoodlums preying on people. He wants to give them a chance at training for a skill. We agreed to help achieve that goal. But for now it is survival.
Again, should you know any colleagues who would like to assist medically or if any one would like to donate funds for them to buy food let me know. The most direct way to respond is to contact Fr. Gio's sister, Darija, in New Jersey. She helps coordinate Croatian Relief activities. The telephone number is 1-201-945-4891. His mail address is Fr. Gio c/o Croatian Relief, PO Box 355, Fairview, NJ 07022.
Unlike many of the charitable organizations or non-government organizations trying to get funds, this organization is doing this for one reason and one reason only, to ease suffering. The funds are not used for administrative expenses. No other agenda is involved. If you should have questions re. Croatian Relief Services I suggest you visit their web site. It is very informative of who they are and who they serve; primarily children orphanages.
Please contact me with any questions you may have and if I can not answer them I will get the answers from Fr. Gio. Thank you and have a blessed day.
Gary
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