Tice Huffman leaves today for Haiti and a world of uncertainty.
Huffman, 27, is a Kingsville Township resident who responded to the call for volunteers to help repair an orphanage in the northern part of the country, where earthquake damage was minimal. He will be working with Eternal Hope in Haiti, a Christian organization Huffman became acquainted with through a friend of a friend.
According to the group’s Web site (eternalhopeinhaiti.org), the organization provides medical care, education, meals and safe housing. The outreach is funded by private donations and has numerous short-term volunteer needs.
No stranger to short-term mission work, this will nevertheless be Huffman’s first trip to Haiti. With the devastating earthquake affecting every aspect of Haitian life, Huffman faces a lot of uncertainty once he gets there, including whether he
will have access to food and water.
“I’ll pretty much be living like the Haitians live,” said Huffman.
While the orphanage was not leveled as so many other buildings were in Haiti, it did receive some damage. With many parents dying in the earthquake, the orphanage needs to gear up to house youngsters from parts of the island that were harder hit.
“The idea is to expand so we can accommodate the extra kids coming in from as far away as Port-au-Prince,” Huffman said.
He just found out about the opportunity on Monday and has been busy making flight and other arrangements to get to the island. Huffman will fly from Cleveland to Atlanta today, take another flight to islands near Haiti, then fly from those islands to Cap Haitien on Friday. Airfare will cost him about $1,000 one way.
Huffman owns a tree service and is taking off time from that business to devote to the mission work.
“Business has been slower than molasses; there’s not much coming in,” said Huffman, explaining how he could shut it down. “I’m going to trust God to provide.”
He said his stay in Haiti could be as short as two weeks or as long as two months. He expects to do masonry and other construction work while there, and if the opportunity arises, to travel with other volunteers to help with relief efforts closer to the quake’s epicenter.
Huffman plans to take three duffel bags stuffed with clothes, personal needs and energy bars. He will take basic medical supplies, like antibiotic ointment, to assist the orphanage with those needs.
Most of all, he’ll carry hope and compassion.
“Hopefully, we can help with spreading the Gospel down there. That’s what it’s all about,” he said.
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