"A Mission and Personal Commitment"

The catastrophic earthquakes that devastated Haiti this year have affected an estimated three million people with approximately 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings collapsed or severely damaged. Many humanitarian groups and missionaries responded to appeals for aid, pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel. Brian Carmack, Controller for Xerox Audio Visual Solutions and Board Member of Global Missionary Outreach (GMO), heeded the call and organized a mission to respond to the needs of the ravaged Haitian people. 

GMO is dedicated to helping Missionaries in the field by offering support in any way that is necessary to fulfill the mission. Brian and team of 11 members, including his 14 year old daughter, Katie, 12 year old son, Brian Jr., two engineers, two well drillers, two nurses, and three business owners formed the GMO Disaster Relief Team 2010. The 9 day mission during April took them to the central plateau region of Haiti visiting the mountain villages of Kange and La Pi La.

The first visit was to Kange where the objective was to drill a well to provide a cleaner and more accessible source of fresh water to the village.  Before the well was completed, the nearest water supply was approximately a mile away.  Each day, water had to be carried from that source to supply the villagers for bathing, washing clothes and dishes, cooking and drinking. Because it is an extremely valuable resource, each day’s supply would be used over and over until eventually consumed.  The well will now supply the people a cleaner water, a healthier lifestyle and eliminate the need for transport.  

While the well was being dug, some team members began repair on a building that was damaged by the quake.  The building is vital to the community and is used as a church and school.  Brian was instrumental in leading the team that constructed it in 2007.

After saying goodbye to the villagers of Kange, the team then moved on to La Pi La.  In 1998, Brian led a mission to this village to erect a medical clinic for the community.  Joyce Wall, a nurse and GMO member has lived in La Pi La for 30 years, and has run the clinic since its inception in 1998.  On the 2010 mission, the GMO Disaster Relief Team assisted Joyce in the clinic providing much needed medical attention to the suffering villagers. In all, the team treated 450 villagers in three days.

The efforts of the GMO Disaster Relief Team 2010 made a tremendous impact on the lives of the villagers they visited.  The team provided food, clothes, medical supplies, attention, care and understanding to a people that will never realize what it is like to eat every day, or what it is like to drink the water that a person has not bathed in.  The local Pastor, San Bloe, invited the team into his one room home for lunch and fed them rice, beans and cabbage; enough to feed his family for an entire month. “We set out to make a difference in the lives of some Haitian people,” said Brian, “but truthfully, after spending 9 days with them, the Haitians made a greater difference in our lives than we could have made in theirs.”

Brian has dedicated his life to supporting missionaries in the field, and his work has enriched the lives of thousands of impoverished people around the world.  His teams have provided aid to others like him trying to do the right thing.  “I know too many missionaries that are trying to reach people under impossible circumstances with little or no resources and no help,” said Brian. “We try to pick up some of their burden and help them reach more people.”

Global Imaging Systems and Xerox Audio Visual Solutions are proud to have a person like Brian with the compassion and consideration for others serving on our team.