Watch Tower Humanitarian Aid in Haiti

by betterdaze 6 Replies latest social current

  • betterdaze
    betterdaze

    Top story at jw-media.org:

    Witnesses' relief efforts in Haiti continue

    In the two weeks following the devastating earthquake that paralyzed the small island nation of Haiti, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been maintaining the intensity of their efforts to render assistance.

    Here is a truck.


    Here they are unloading a truck.



    Can anyone confirm if the boxes on the truck bed are literature shipments? (Not the blue packages, the cardboard boxes.)

    Thanks.

    ~Sue

  • betterdaze
  • Lady Lee
    Lady Lee

    Not sure where you got the photos from because the link didn't show them but here is the story from the link: I'll highlight the important parts in red

    For Immediate Release
    January 28, 2010
    (Russian)

    Witnesses’ relief efforts in Haiti continue

    NEW YORK—In the two weeks following the devastating earthquake that paralyzed the small island nation of Haiti, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been maintaining the intensity of their efforts to render assistance.

    Victims were still reeling from the magnitude 7.0 quake that occurred on January 12 when they were further traumatized by a powerful aftershock with a magnitude of 6.1 that struck a village west of Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, January 20. That evening, a group of 12 Witness volunteers from France—including four general practitioners, two surgeons, four nurses, and a midwife—arrived at the Haiti branch office via the Dominican Republic to join the relief effort. Another group of 12 French-speaking Witnesses from Guadeloupe also arrived, adding eight nurses and four other medical professionals. These groups brought 5,000 pounds of medicine and equipment, enabling them to begin assisting victims immediately.

    The Witnesses’ branch office in the Dominican Republic continues to send truck shipments of food and medicine. Every two days, 30,000 pounds of supplies are provided in caravans of three or four trucks. As of January 25, the Dominican Republic branch has sent 70 tons of food and medical equipment to Haiti. Another 15 tons (including a shipment of tents) were sent in the early morning hours of January 26. All the volunteers are focusing on the still urgent need to care for the wounded.

    Jehovah’s Witnesses in Haiti are comforted and strengthened by the loving concern shown by their fellow worshippers around the world. The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses is coordinating these international relief efforts from the Witnesses’ world headquarters in Brooklyn.

    Media contact: J. R. Brown, telephone: (718) 560-5600

    Last updated 28 January 2010 19:28:22

    -------------------- end of quote

    since when does the WTS have access to all these professionals?

    and from what it says in the last paragraph aid is being given out only to JWs. Not a surpriose there

    Interestingly 2 weeks before they posted this on the JWmedia site

    For Immediate Release
    January 14, 2010

    Earthquake in Haiti

    NEW YORK—Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide are expressing deep concern for the victims of the devastating earthquake that took place in Haiti on January 12, 2010. Many Witnesses have made particular inquiry about the welfare of their 16,000 fellow worshippers in Haiti after learning of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck about 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince.

    Although direct communication to Haiti remains problematic at this time, preliminary reports are starting to be received at the Witnesses’ world headquarters in Brooklyn. The branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Haiti at Santo, near Port-au-Prince, reports no injuries among their personnel and no major structural damage to their buildings. Additionally, communication was established with Witness missionaries, and no injuries are reported among the missionaries or the traveling elders among Jehovah’s Witnesses who were visiting congregations in the affected areas. Sadly, preliminary reports confirm that 52 Witnesses lost their lives in the earthquake; that number is expected to rise as more reports are received.

    Witnesses around the world are offering their assistance. The Witnesses’ relief efforts are currently being coordinated from their world headquarters in Brooklyn with the assistance of the branch office in the Dominican Republic, providing practical help and spiritual comfort for the victims. More detailed information will be provided as it becomes available.

    Jehovah’s Witnesses have been actively promoting Bible education in Haiti for over 80 years.

    Contact: J. R. Brown, telephone: (718) 560-5600

    Last updated 21 January 2010 20:10:30 GMT

    -------------------- end of quote

    the dates on these are important. Two days after the earthquake they can only get "preliminary reports" Reports concern WT property, personnel and JWs only. No mention of anyone else like neighbors is given. And what "practical help" means I have no idea but I think we all know what "spiritual comfort" means

    Then they posted that info (in the first section of this post) saying that in the two weeks after the earthquake they were bringing in all this aid. Huh? Didn't they say that they only had "preliminary reports"? Just how are they getting things in? Roads are a mess. Airports are closed. Even ships were having a hard time getting into the country.

    For me. nevermind what is in the boxes. I want to know what they are smuggling in inside those blue packages. I think it looks suspiciously like magazines.

  • nugget
    nugget

    If they are sending in aid it is no more than they should be doing. I sincerely hope that the reports of aid are true since to use suffering of others for self agrandisement would be revolting. It probably says more about the generosity of individual witnesses than love of GB.

  • Lady Lee
    Lady Lee

    oops I should have clicked on the link from the first announcement

    For Immediate Release
    January 18, 2010

    Witnesses’ relief efforts well under way for victims of earthquake in Haiti

    NEW YORK—Jehovah’s Witnesses are actively providing local and international assistance for victims of the massive earthquake that struck Haiti on the evening of January 12, 2010.

    In cooperation with local authorities and other relief agencies, the Witnesses organized to help meet the immediate needs of their fellow worshippers and other victims in Haiti and care for them. The Witnesses’ branch office in the Dominican Republic quickly sent six tons of food and medical supplies to the branch office in Haiti. These supplies were received the morning after the disaster. Witnesses at the Haiti branch office then prepared 700 bags with basic necessities. These bags, weighing 10 kilograms (just over 22 pounds) each and providing 2,800 meals, were transported to Kingdom Halls of Jehovah’s Witnesses that were designated as relief distribution centers. From the first shipment, three-day rations were distributed to 4,700 people. This was followed by twice-daily shipments of relief materials, including boxes of clothing.

    Arrangements were also made to send fellow Witnesses who are medical professionals from the Dominican Republic to Haiti to assist in rendering urgently needed care. An Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses remained intact after the quake and is now serving as a temporary clinic and medical center for the injured. Three different Kingdom Halls in the affected area are being used similarly, with local Haitian Witnesses who are doctors providing medical attention. At these makeshift facilities, efforts are made to stabilize the patients’ condition. However, if the injuries are so severe that the patient needs a procedure that would use equipment and/or medication beyond what the Witnesses have on hand, arrangements are made to transport such a critical care patient to nearby hospitals. Initially, 12 Witnesses were transported to a hospital in Jimaní, Dominican Republic, near the border with Haiti. Critical care patients are now being taken to a hospital farther away, in Barahona, Dominican Republic, approximately 50 miles from the border. The Witnesses’ assistance in caring for the medical needs of their fellow worshippersand others is proving to be valuable, since several hospitals in Haiti were destroyed by the quake and the remaining area hospitals are overwhelmed. Two teams of Jehovah’s Witnesses who are medical professionals from France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States volunteered to travel to Haiti and to work directly with the relief efforts that the branch offices in Haiti and the Dominican Republic are coordinating. These teams are expected to arrive by Tuesday, January 19.

    There are an estimated 10,000 of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the disaster area. Sadly, the latest reports from the Haiti branch office confirm that the death toll among the Witnesses now stands at 103, and that number is expected to rise as more reports are received. The Witnesses continue coordinating their international relief efforts from their world headquarters in Brooklyn. The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses is caring for these expenses by utilizing funds donated to the Witnesses’ worldwide work.

    Media contact: J. R. Brown, telephone: (718) 560-5600

    Last updated 21 January 2010 16:30:08

    --------------------- end of quote

    This is 6 days after the earthquake

    OK so they are working with other "worldly" agencies to provide assistance. Generally the only releif agencies would be things like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc. agencies where we have seen in the past that the WTS will use anyone to do what it wants to do which is generally promote their own agenda.

    They sent 6 tons of food the morning after? Get real. Like I said above - no roads, no airports and they have a border to deal with. And just where does the WTS get hold of 6 tons of food and medical supplies overnight when they could not have possibly known what was needed since communication was so difficult when 2 days after they said they only had preliminary reports.

    I'm a tad curious about the "others" they keep mentionning. Notice how they don't give any mention about them at all. My hunch is that they are non-JW family members of JWs with the odd neighbor thrown in for appearances sake. It's sad that I even think that way but history has shown that "others" usually means the "others" only get the magazines or preached to like they said after 9/11 where they were supposedly trudging through the rubble to preach to the workers who were there to actually save lives. That by the way was debunked by a poster here who was one of the workers and knew that no one was getting inside unless they were authorized due to safety issues so there was no way JWs were in there preaching.

  • betterdaze
    betterdaze

    They took the pictures down.

    ~Sue

  • OUTLAW
    OUTLAW

    Victims were still reeling from the magnitude 7.0 quake that occurred on January 12 when they were further traumatized by a powerful aftershock with a magnitude of 6.1 that struck a village west of Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, January 20. That evening, a group of 12 Witness volunteers from France—including four general practitioners, two surgeons, four nurses, and a midwife—arrived at the Haiti branch office via the Dominican Republic to join the relief effort. Another group of 12 French-speaking Witnesses from Guadeloupe also arrived, adding eight nurses and four other medical professionals. These groups brought 5,000 pounds of medicine and equipment, enabling them to begin assisting victims immediately.

    Non -Jehovah`s Witness`s..Or..Anyone needing Blood..

    Were left to Die..

    4,999 pounds of medicine and equipment have been returned to the WBT$..

    Awaiting the next Big Disaster..

    .................... ...OUTLAW

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