Ministry Seeks to Help Amputees
Lement Zefi stops his vehicle along the busy, exhaust-clogged streets of Port-au-Prince every time he spots an amputee.
The director of the Ministry for Christian Development hops out, notebook in hand, hails and then talks to the amputee, asking if he or she lost the foot, leg, arm or hand in the earthquake that hit Haiti on Jan. 12. Almost always, the person says “yes.”
Often, in the days following the quake, doctors would amputate mangled limbs as the only way to address the injury in stress-filled circumstances. That left some 200,000 people in need of a prostheses or other type of aid.
On the side of the road, Zefi quickly explains that he hopes to start a clinic that will help amputees get fitted a prostheses. He puts their name and contact information in a notebook and highlights it in yellow. He tells them that he will get in touch with them as soon as his dream becomes a reality.
As he drives away, Zefi gazes out the window, watching them hobble along or try to carry groceries or other items with one good arm or hand. He knows that society here is often unkind to amputees, shunning them, as if there were something broken in their very soul.
Those who were injured in the earthquake are becoming forgotten people. They appear all over Port-au-Prince, some on crutches, some on canes, many simply getting along the best they can without the help of any type of medical device.
In his role as director of the Haitian-based community development program associated with Christian Reformed World Missions, Zefi is trying to find doctors, physical therapists and psychologists willing to join the cause. So far, he hasn’t made much headway.
“I envision a three-fold project,” says Zefi. “We fit them with the prostheses. Then we teach them how to use it. Finally, we would educate society that amputees are normal human beings and should become productive members of society.”
Education could involve radio. Doctors, physical therapists, psychologists and others would answer questions on the program. “There are thousands of amputees who can use this service,” says Zefi. “A program like this fits in with our philosophy of developing individuals and communities. I see this as filling a need. We hope and pray that God provides.”
Already a few groups are doing this type of work in Port-au-Prince. His organization, the Ministry for Christian Development (MDK), provides practical and theological training to pastors, deacons, and church leaders for the benefit of the churches and communities they serve. MDK also works on community development and at distributing simple Bible study and discipleship materials in the Creole language. “I think that God is calling us to get involved in an amputee program,” says Zefi.
MDK was formed from three programs that had formerly been run by Christian Reformed World Missions. When it made the shift to functioning as its own agency, they asked CRWRC to come alongside them to offer advice and support, especially in the areas of diaconal training, AIDS prevention, and community development
Meanwhile, down the hall from Zefi’s office, the Christian Reformed Church of Haiti is working to establish a denomination where members are rooted in God’s Word and able to provide an effective witness under trying circumstances. It also seeks to be an indigenous church that is not so dependent on foreign missions for leadership and financial resources like many other churches in Haiti.
Recently, MDK has been working with deacons of churches and others who live atop a mountain near Port-au-Prince, trying to encourage deacons to work with the people to develop businesses such as a community store, a cooperative, or a company that plants trees that will be tended and allowed to grow and not cut down for charcoal.
“We take part in a participative form of development,” says Brenor Teliac, coordinator of the work with the community and churches atop the mountain. “We have been working here for a long time and are committed to long-term development of the people and community.”
He says some organizations that came following the earthquake have been handing out food, clothes and other materials, necessary in the short term but a type of aid that can hurt in the long run.
“We are working with a group of people who only see today, not a month or a year from now,” says Teliac. “We have been trying to break the cycle in which Haitians are waiting for others to donate items to them. We want to promote a participatory form of development instead of hand-outs.”
Teliac says he hopes that MDK can expand its ministry to address the needs of post-earthquake amputees. “This is starting slowly, but we hope and pray that we will be able to do this for the people, since fitting them with a prosthesis will lead to them becoming more self-sufficient.”
