January 12, 2012

ELGIN, IL – The Church of the Brethren this week is remembering the earthquake that devastated the Caribbean island nation in early 2010. Today, Jan. 12, is the second anniversary of the earthquake.

The powerful 7.0 earthquake hit at 4:53 p.m. on a weekday afternoon. Its epicenter was Léogâne, a town 15 miles from the capital city Port-au-Prince. It caused the deaths of as many as 200,000 and more people, with thousands more injured. There were numerous aftershocks, as well as the aftereffects of injuries, illness, homelessness, lack of sanitation, and other privations that caused yet more deaths. More than a million people in Port-au-Prince and surroundings areas were left without shelter. Rubble filled the streets. Tent cities and encampments sprang up. A cholera outbreak many months after the earthquake was linked to a continued widespread lack of shelter, sanitation facilities, and clean water. Two years later, many Haitians still struggle to regain homes and employment.

Since the earthquake the Church of the Brethren has been heavily involved in disaster response in Haiti. The collaborative response joins together efforts of Brethren Disaster Ministries and the Global Mission and Service program of the US church with Eglise des Freres Haitiens (the Church of the Brethren in Haiti).

At first, Brethren focused on immediate needs: food and water, medical care, temporary housing, and those suffering psychological trauma. Building of permanent homes for earthquake survivors then started, and longer term needs of Brethren congregations and their communities began to be addressed. The effort has included building a new Ministry Center and Guesthouse complex for Eglise des Freres Haitiens in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood Croix des Bouquets. Work groups from the US also have been traveling to Haiti to help out.

In these two years, the church's Emergency Disaster Fund has expended $1 million in grants for Haiti, supporting both Church of the Brethren and ecumenical disaster response. (See below for an overview of Brethren accomplishments in Haiti.)

Today a number of Haitian Brethren congregations are fasting and hold prayer meetings, said Pastor Ludovic St. Fleur of Miami, Fla., who has been a guiding force in establishing Eglise des Freres Haitiens. The Brethren in Croix des Bouquets, whose church building is located at the new Ministry Center complex, for example, are remembering the day by fasting from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., reports Ilexene Alphonse, who is managing the Ministry Center and Guesthouse. "They said they will spend the time thanking God for life," he reported by e-mail.

The Haitian Brethren prayer and fasting will "thank God for those who are alive, saved from that tragedy," said St. Fleur.

Haitian Brethren in the US who are commemorating the anniversary include members of Haitian First Church of New York. The church, located in Brooklyn, also houses the Haitian Family Resource Center that started up two years ago to aid Haitians who had lost loved ones or were otherwise affected by the earthquake. The center is continuing to offer services to the Haitian community in New York, Pastor Verel Montauban reported by telephone.

Haitian First Church is holding a prayer service this evening, 7-10 p.m. Visitors are welcome. During the service, pictures of the earthquake and damage will be shown on a large screen, as the church did for the one-year anniversary last January – but images like the removal of bodies won't be shown because they would be too disturbing for a congregation that had at least 50 relatives in Haiti affected by the earthquake, Montauban said. "Some of them are still in crisis," he added.

For IMA World Health the anniversary is a special occasion. The organization, which has its offices at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., is holding a "Happy Hour for Haiti" hosted by CEO and earthquake survivor Rick Santos. Santos and two IMA colleagues were in Port-au-Prince at the time of the earthquake and were trapped for days in the rubble of the Montana Hotel, before they were rescued without serious injury. The IMA gathering is 4:30-7 p.m. this evening at Hudson Restaurant and Lounge in Washington, D.C. A $10 suggested donation will support health and development programs in Haiti.

An overview of Brethren accomplishments in Haiti, 2010-2011:

This listing of work and achievements of the Brethren in Haiti 2010-2011 was compiled by Klebert Exceus, who has led the Brethren Disaster Ministries building projects there (translated from French with the help of Jeff Boshart). All disaster related relief and response programs were funded by Brethren Disaster Ministries via the Emergency Disaster Fund including support for strategic partnerships and much of the agricultural work, except where it is noted that the Global Food Crisis Fund supported the project. All of the church building was made possible through special donations from congregations and individuals to the Emerging Global Mission Fund.

2010

Distributions:

• seed distribution in 20 areas of the country

• support (through the Global Food Crisis Fund) for an agricultural program in Bombadopolis distributing goats

• water filters in more than 15 areas of the country to combat cholera

• distributions of food in Port-au-Prince during six months following the earthquake for around 300 families

• household kits to more than 500 beneficiaries across the country

• distributed cases of canned chicken in more than 12 areas of the country after the earthquake, approximately 5,000 cases

Built:

• built temporary homes for around 50 families, a temporary village constructed on a plot of land

• a community cistern and a water retention pond on the island of La Tortue (Tortuga) with support from the Global Food Crisis Fund

• a security wall around land purchased for a Ministry Center

Supported:

• the Paul Lochard School in the Delmas neighborhood of Port-au-Prince for one year by paying teachers, providing food, and temporary classrooms

• three other schools in Haiti: Ecole Evangelique de la Nouvelle Alliance de St. Louis du Nord, Ecole des Freres de La Tortue aux Plaines, and Ecole des Freres de Grand Bois Cornillon

• mobile health clinics in six locations after the earthquake (now continuing in more than five areas of the country)

Purchased:

• a Nissan Frontier pick up truck for transportation, etc.

• land in Croix des Bouquets for a Ministry Center, guesthouse, and church offices

2011

Built:

• 50 homes, 45 square meters, following anti-seismic standards

• guesthouse built on the Ministry Center land to receive volunteers

• 5 churches (supported through the Emerging Global Mission Fund): Eglise des Freres de Gonaives, Eglise des Freres de Saut d'eau, Eglise des Freres de La Feriere, Eglise des Frères de Pignon, Eglise des Freres de Morne Boulage

• 5 church shelters (supported through the Emerging Global Mission Fund): La Premiere Eglise des Frères de Delmas, Eglise des Frères de Tom Gateau, Eglise des Frères de Marin, Eglise des Freres de Croix des Bouquets, Eglise des Freres de Canaan

• currently around 23 churches or preaching points in the country of Haiti

Supported:

• financing for a micro-loan program for those families who could not find land upon which to build a permanent home, and paid rent for one year for those families

• supported other agricultural programs in 12 areas of the country

• created 500 jobs through all of these activities

• provided civic, social, and Christian education for over 500 children in Port au Prince (through Vacation Bible School)

• supported other organizations working in Haiti (including IMA World Health and Church World Service)

• sent groups of mission volunteers to work in the country

Additional information provided by Brethren Disaster Ministries:

Strategic partnerships have provided relief work in areas where Brethren Disaster Ministries does not have the proper expertise or capacity, but are areas considered critical for this response.

Health services partner IMA World Health: As a member communion of IMA World Health, Brethren Disaster Ministries supporting ACCorD (Areas for Cooperation and Coordination of Development), a program demonstrating how faith-based organizations can co-manage health and development programming to improve service delivery, utilization, and community health in Haiti. Project objectives focus on strengthening health interventions through: 1. Maternal, newborn, and child health: antenatal care visits, assisted deliveries, immunizations and growth monitoring; 2. Addressing malnutrition: nutrition demonstration center and therapeutic food distribution; 3. Community development: constructing latrines and wells.

Emotional and spiritual care partner STAR Haiti: Also called Twomatizasyon ak Wozo, STAR Haiti is a program of Eastern Mennonite University. "Of all the many things that have come to Haiti following the earthquake, STAR is the best of all of them," stated Freny Elie, a Church of the Brethren pastor and teacher, after attending Advanced STAR training in February 2011. The program provides knowledge and skills for Haitian church and community leaders to assist them in dealing with the effects of trauma in their congregations and communities. Two Brethren leaders participate on the advisory council and as STAR trainers. Brethren leaders train others and the information is shared throughout the church and the local communities. This process is replicated in other participating churches and communities.

Ecumenical response partner Church World Service (CWS): Partnering with CWS supports a large-scale ecumenical response, expanding the response beyond what Church of the Brethren resources allow. CWS provides: 1. Material and aid for two camps of internally displaced people; 2. Reconstruction of permanent housing; 3. Repairing of institutional centers; 4. Support for agricultural sustainability; 5. Programs addressing the needs (education, nutrition, counseling) of vulnerable children; 6. Support for economic recovery within Haiti through empowering and supporting people with disabilities and implementing disaster risk reduction strategies.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 123,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

Newsline: Church of the Brethren New Service