Haiti Plans Being Laid After UMVIM Coordinator Visit

Greg Forrester, Northeast Jurisdiction, Lorna Jost, North Central Jurisdiction and Paulette West, Southeast Jurisdiction returned this past Friday, March 5th from their site visit to Haiti. A plan for United Methodist Volunteer in Mission (UMVIM) team response to the earthquake devastation in Haiti has been designed in consultation with President Gesner Paul and other leaders of the Eglise Methodiste d'Haiti (EMH). Due to the earthquake and changes in EMH leadership, a new list of priority projects and needs have been identified by the church.

Final approval by GBGM and UMCOR is pending at this time.  A powerpoint presentation is available from Lorna Jost, UMVIM Coordinator for the North Central Jurisdiction (umvim-ncj@brookings.net ).
The Coordinators recommend the following:

• There will be a set price of $40/day/team member while in Haiti – covers food, water, lodging, (some will be rustic)- but these should be provided.
• The cost of airfare from Illinois is estimated at about $550. Totally a guess at this time.
• Interperters costs are about $30/day
• In-country transport depends on which project you are assigned. Vehicles will be provided but need to be paid for.  First Teams in will be at a disadvantage, new vehicles need to be purchased and few new ones in country.  Guest house has some older vehicles and will have to make do until new ones are purchased.
• Expenses are unpredictable so teams should have a 10% contingency fund - suggest $3000-$5000 in project funds /team
• The following airlines were observed flying folks in an out:of Haiti:
•  American from Ft. Lauderdale and Miami,
• Spirit Airlines from Ft. Lauderdale and another we saw called
• Insel Airlines from Ft. Lauderdale, headquartered in Curacao – flies one time per day into Haiti from Miami. Info here:

Spirit: NK951 Departing 9:45 a.m. Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) Arrving 11:45 a.m. Port-au-Prince (PAP)
Spirit NK 952 Departing PAP at 12:45 PM       Arriving FLL at 2:48 PM

Insel: Miami Departures all non-stop to PAP:
         Flts. # 907, #903 and 901  all leaving at 9:20a.m. and arriving at 9:20 a..m.
Insel: Port-au-Prince Departures all non-stop to Miami:
         Flt #s. 904 abd 908  departing 10:50 a.m. and arriving at 12:40 p.m.

Conversations with United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) have led to a formalized funded proposal for coordination of UMVIM teams to Haiti. The plan includes a US based calendaring office along with staffing in Haiti to assist in the site planning and hosting of teams. The positions of US-Haiti Coordinator, Haiti-Financial Hospitality Coordinator and Haiti-Volunteer Coordinator have been posted to the GBGM website or you can write Lorna Jost for copies. Pending approval of this proposal, we estimate some volunteers may be on the ground in Haiti by April 1st.


Teams are encouraged to form, raise funds and start considering when they would be ready to volunteer in Haiti. All UMVIM teams will be expected to work on prioritized projects as set by the EMH and are coordinated through the US-Haiti Coordinator with advisement to Annual Conference UMVIM coordinators.

Based on our observations and experience, teams serving in Haiti need to meet the following criteria:

• No more than 8-12 members/team.
• Team leader has prior experience in Haiti.
• Team leader has UMVIM team leader training
• Necessary immunizations are up to date (Cholera and tuberculosis may be needed soon - watch the CDC recommendations)
• Early Response Training is not necessary but would be helpful
• We suggest that team membership include skills/supplies for Vacation Bible School/education, medical, and construction/deconstruction components.
• Specialized teams for pastoral care will be needed soon to work with the pastors and lay pastors in Haiti.

We look forward to serving with you in building relationships with our Haitian sisters and brothers to work with them to bring healing to their country.

In Christ's name,

Greg Forrester, NEJ
Paulette West, SEJ
Lorna Jost, NCJ
Debbie Vest, SCJ
Heather Wilson, WJ