February 7, 2012

CHICAGO – The commitment between members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the people of Haiti was celebrated Feb. 2 at a groundbreaking ceremony in the nation's Gressier municipality, where a new resettlement village is planned for 2012.

A project of The Lutheran World Federation, the village will provide housing for 1,200 people in Gressier displaced by an earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010.

The ELCA is funding the project with $3.5 million through ELCA Disaster Response and is further engaged with the Lutheran Church of Haiti in responding to the needs of earthquake survivors. The ELCA is the only U.S. Lutheran church in The Lutheran World Federation, a global communion representing more than 70 million Christians worldwide.

The village will include the construction of 200 solar-powered homes with indoor plumbing, a "green" sanitation system and community space that includes a children's playground and multipurpose community center.

Women-headed households and people living with disabilities will be among the village residents. They will lead an association to manage the village's common assets and allow for the ongoing participation of all involved in the project.

"We are a church that is deeply rooted in God's mission to restore community and address the brokenness in our world," said the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director of the ELCA's global mission work who, along with other ELCA leaders, attended the groundbreaking.

"Through The Lutheran World Federation and the ministries of our companion church, the Egliese Lutherienne D'Haiti (Lutheran Church of Haiti), members of the ELCA have been walking with the people of Haiti in addressing the economic marginalization that has prevented large sectors of the Haitian society to reach its full potential," he said.

Gressier is west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The 2010 earthquake nearly reduced the capital city to rubble. As in Port-au- Prince, a majority of the 63,000 inhabitants of Gressier continue to live in tents since the earthquake, according to The Lutheran World Federation.

More than 58,000 square meters of land in Gressier was donated by the government through the municipality's mayor. The contribution was validated by Haiti's Ministry of Finance and the State Domain. Land ownership rights are registered for development and will be transferred to village residents.

According to ELCA leaders, the construction project is more than building homes.

"It is a sign of hope," said Malpica Padilla at the groundbreaking.

While the project "is an attempt to offer a new start for families who lost their homes in the earthquake," he said, it "is not isolated from other work being done by the Lutheran Church of Haiti."

"Just a short distance from this place, the (Lutheran church) has a vocational training center. Here we are not engaged in brick and mortar construction, but (we are) engaging the minds and spirit of Haitians through education to lay the foundation for the rebuilding of this nation, using sustainable and durable solutions, and building on the human potential through empowering people," said Malpica Padilla, adding that the devastating effects of poverty and economic stagnation "can rob people of their hope for a brighter future."

Other expected results of the housing project include employing local construction workers, providing construction experience for students at the vocation training center, opportunities for micro- enterprising, training community members in managing assets and building a community-based, disaster risk reduction team.

The village project also serves as a model for relief, rehabilitation and development work in other parts of Haiti, in an effort to promote "a dignified life" for community residents.

"Before many people were suffering in Gressier," said Jean Merilus St-Urbain at the groundbreaking. "But today this new project can let us say that 200 families among the vulnerable can have hope." Merilus St.Urbain is a beneficiary of the housing project.

Lutherans continue their work to reduce cholera infection

Since the earthquake, the Lutheran Church of Haiti also has been active in responding to an outbreak of cholera in Gressier and neighboring Sapotille.

Cholera is an infectious, contagious disease transmitted through contamination of food or water. Symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain can lead to dehydration and acute renal failure that is fatal without treatment. The outbreak has resulted in more than 5,000 deaths, according to the Lutheran Church of Haiti.

ELCA Disaster Response has invested more than $1 million worth of work with the Lutheran Church of Haiti to contain the outbreak, care for patients and support two temporary health posts in Sapotille and Gressier. The response strategy between the ELCA and the Lutheran Church of Haiti further addresses access to clean water and basic sanitation services for about 17,000 families in both municipalities.

ELCA News Service