Providence in Haiti Two Years After Quake

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By Michael J. Metts on February 23, 2012 in Departments, LLM March 2012, Magazine, [World]

Versión en Español → Spanish

Workers erect the first building at Haiti Providence University. (Photo by Linda Adams.)

by Michael J. Metts

Jan. 12 marked the two-year anniversary of the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti.

“In these two years, there have been a lot of things accomplished,” said Jean Marc Zamor, a Haitian church leader. “We thank God, and we thank the international community, which has stepped up and helped.”

International support remains important.

“When you drive down the street, you still see massive tent cities,” said Linda Adams, director of International Child Care Ministries (ICCM), citing recent estimates that between 500,000 and 900,000 people continue to reside in tents.

The Haitian people still have many reasons to be hopeful.

“I don’t see any of the lostness I saw in that first year,” said Bishop David Roller, who visited Haiti Jan. 13–15. “People are living with purpose.”

January marked another reason to believe in a bright future for Haiti. The new Haiti Providence University began classes, offering degrees in education, business, nursing and theology to its first class of nearly 60 students.

Zamor, who holds two master’s degrees and is pursuing a doctorate, serves as rector of the Christian university he co-founded.

“We have to train our students to be servant leaders,” Zamor said. “If we can do that, we will be salt and light to this
nation and not only to this nation, but to the nations of the world.”

The university has one multipurpose building and four areas of study. In the coming years, Zamor hopes to greatly expand the campus, open new areas of study, become more involved in research and grow the student body.

Adams is proud to announce a partnership between ICCM and the university, which will provide scholarships to selected students from ICCM schools to pursue a college degree in education. Scholarship recipients will teach at an ICCM school in Haiti for four years following graduation.

For an in-depth article, photos and videos, visit bit.ly/fmhaiti.