Relief efforts for Haiti are coming in many forms, including audio Bibles, donated satellite communications and station fundraisers.
Audio Bible company Faith Comes By Hearing is providing portable, solar-powered audio Bibles to local pastors so people can hear the Bible in Haitian Creole, according to ministry spokesman Jon Wilke. Faith Comes By Hearing is hoping to send a total of 3,000 Proclaimer audio Bibles to Haiti in the hands of disaster relief teams, church teams and ministries.
The Proclaimer contains a microchip that stores scriptures in a certain language. The battery will play for 15 hours and can be recharged. The unit has a built-in generator and solar panel to charge the battery.
Separately, Broadcast Warehouse said it is offering significant discounts on FM transmission equipment destined for Haiti. The broadcast equipment seller says it has begun shipping FM transmitters and other FM transmission equipment to help get radio back on the air in the hurricane-ravaged portions of Haiti.
The National Association of Broadcasters has declared Feb. 1 “Broadcasters for Haiti Day,” as we’re reported, and asked its members to dedicate the day to raise support for Haiti. Christian broadcasters have postponed fundraiser plans for “Global Food Day,” which they’d expected to note on Feb. 10, and will instead focus on Haiti on Feb. 1 as well. Compassion International, a non-profit group dedicated to rescuing children from poverty, built a Web site that includes radio resources including scripts, spots, fact sheets, liners and Web banners.
Satellite communications provider Vizada Networks and SES World Skies have donated satellite and service capacity to the World Health Organization VSAT site in Port au Prince. The companies say satellite communications are playing a crucial role in supporting emergency relief efforts on Haiti as the country’s cellular and terrestrial telecommunication networks have collapsed.