Patti Cunningham, of Portsmouth, and her adopted son, Jude, watch the devastation in Jude’s home country of Haiti unfold Friday on CNN. Jude was in Portsmouth for his adoptive father’s funeral when the massive earthquake hit.
posted January 17, 2010
Jude Isaac watched on CNN, along with the rest of the world, as his home in Haiti fell apart following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Port-au-Prince Tuesday. If he hadn’t been in Portsmouth for his adoptive father’s funeral, he too may have been buried by the quake that has already killed an estimated 50,000 people.
Jude, 21, was born in Haiti. His mother died when he was very young and his father couldn’t care for him. He was living on the streets, alone, when he was 8 years old, eating whatever he could catch or find.
“When I was on the streets, I started praying that I would find new parents,” Jude said.
He said God answered his prayers when Patti and Randy Cunningham, of Portsmouth, found him in 1997.
“My church group at the time, Christ Community Church — we were going on a short-term mission trip to build a church and I was asked to go on it. I talked my whole family into going,” Patti Cunningham said.
With her was her husband, and their children, Jared and Lindsey, along with a foreign exchange student living with them from Germany. The family was in Haiti from Dec. 26, 1997, until Jan. 3, 1998. They were so taken by the country, the family raised money and in July 1998, they went back and established duel residency between the U.S. and Haiti. While there, they helped start a medical clinic, feeding programs, and have created six churches — each with a primary school.
“Starvation is the second highest killer in Haiti right now; right behind waterborne diseases,” Patti said.
Since their first visit, Randy has spent more and more time in Haiti, with Jude, while Patti stayed in Portsmouth, visiting occasionally.
“(Randy) was afraid, because of the dangers. He had been shot at three times, and had been robbed at gunpoint once. So he was afraid for me to be there,” she said. “The crime rate has gone up. When we first went over there, there was never robberies or anything like that against Americans. Now there’s kidnapping and stuff like that, and it’s desperation.”
The Cunninghams didn’t know Jude was homeless, and he didn’t come to live with the family until he was 10 years old. The adoption process in Haiti is long and tedious. Patti said their paperwork had been destroyed or lost three times, and corruption slows the process even further. There are always people standing outside offices waiting to be bribed to go inside and push paperwork through the system — and sometimes they’ll just take the money and disappear, Jude said.
“Everybody there does what they need to do, because when other people are having different problems than you, you’re really not going to find anyone there to help you with your problems when they got their own problems to care about. Nothing ever changes, and if there is a change it probably gets worse,” he said.
The adoption took so long, in fact, that they still had not completed it by the time Jude was 16, and at that age, he was removed from the program.
Randy passed away in Haiti on Dec. 29, hours after returning from Portsmouth where he and Jude spent Christmas with their family. Jude was issued a six-month visa to visit the U.S. for his father’s funeral in Portsmouth, and he was with Patti when they heard news of the earthquake Tuesday evening.
“Someone called me and told me there was an earthquake, and I turned on CNN and ...,” Patti paused to fight back her tears. “It was just devastating. A lot of people had nothing before, but now they don’t even have hope because businesses are gone and that means jobs are gone. There’s already a shortage of food and water and it’s only going to get worse because the big water companies were in Port-au-Prince, so the water is going to be contaminated.”
Though he lived with Randy in Montrouis, about 90 minutes from Port-au-Prince where the quake hit, Jude said he and Randy probably would have been in town that day for their feeding programs. He said he’s glad he avoided the disaster, but still worries about friends left behind.
“They live more out on the coast, but sometimes they go into town to get stuff done, and I couldn’t get a hold of them to see if they’re OK. I haven’t been able to get through because all the phone companies are down and no electric,” he said. “I have a feeling that they’re fine because they live out on the coast, but the thought of not being able to get a hold of them and hear what is going on, or know that people are OK (scares me).”
Patti said the best thing anyone can do now is to donate to one of the many relief programs available. The American Red Cross has programs available, and more information about donations and private offers of assistance can also be found on the U.S. State Department’s Web site, at http://www.state.gov/p/wha/ci/ha/earthquake/index.htm.
“Today, our thoughts and prayers remain with everyone in Haiti, as well as the family and friends of Haitians here in the United States who may be in search of loved ones or grieving a loss,” Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said Friday. “We know that many Ohioans are looking for ways they can financially assist with the relief efforts in Haiti. We are encouraging Ohioans to donate what they can afford to help the families who are struggling and without essential needs as a result of this catastrophe. The compassion and charity of Ohioans can go a long way toward helping Haitians who may be left with next to nothing.”
Indeed, that compassion can go a long way; and every penny counts.
The average family income in Haiti is 3,200 Haitian dollars a year. That’s equal to only about 400 U.S. dollars, Patti said. Sending only $20 to Haitian relief programs is like sending 5 percent of the average income in Haiti. Sometimes we think $20 isn’t enough to make a difference, but imagine how much it might help you if, during a crisis, someone handed you 5-percent of your annual income.
Patti said she was happy to see such a global response to the disaster, but her biggest concern is that the hype will settle in a few months and assistance will dry up while Haiti still needs it. She remembers the way Haiti was quickly forgotten after one of the major hurricanes that have struck the area almost yearly.
“The (President Bill) Clinton Administration, they helped more than anybody I’ve ever seen. Haiti got a lot of help from the U.S., but it seems like the country doesn’t change,” Patti said.
Thursday, President Barack Obama committed $100 million toward Haitian relief efforts. The World Bank also issued $100 million, and Britain sent $10 million. Patti said she hopes the money can be used to help rebuild infrastructure for safer buildings, electricity and clean water.
“This is a turning point. That’s what we’re all praying for,” she said.
Click to read original article from the
Portsmouth Daily Times
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JMC Ministries Response
written by Miranda Caverley
This article was posted on January 17, 2010 and we just today were given a copy of the that days paper with this article in it by Martha Berell. She is a good friend and fellow ministry partner of Patti Cunningham . Martha gave us one of the few copies of the paper she had left and told us that the article was also posted online.
If you follow JMC Ministries you will know that we are close friends to the Cunningham family and Randy’s death really hit us hard. We are always sharing about Patti and Randy’s ministry that they not only do in Haiti but also Jamaica and Uganda. The devastation in Haiti really hit us hard because just 7 days before the earthquake hit their soon Jude was able to come to the U.S for Randy’s funeral and like the article said Jude may have been injured or even killed in the quake had he not been able to the emergency VISA to come to the U.S.
To learn more about Patti and Randy’s ministry visit Kingdom Builders International Myspace pager at
http://www.myspace.com/kingdom_builders_intl
To the entire Cunningham Family you are in our thoughts and prayers. We thank you for the work you do to reach out to those in need in Haiti, Jamaica and Uganda
