wfn.org | [ENS] Episcopal Diocese of Haiti caring for 23,000 quake survivors

[<mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

>Episcopal News Service
>January 24, 2010

Episcopal Diocese of Haiti caring for 23,000 quake survivors

>By Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti is caring for
close to 23,000 Haitians in at least 21 encampments around the
earthquake-devastated country.

The information came Jan. 23 in a letter from Bishop Jean Zaché
Duracin to Episcopal Relief & Development (http://www.er-d.org)
President Robert Radtke and posted here
(http://web.me.com/merelaurens/GoIntoTheWorld). In the letter, Duracin
said that the diocese and the organization are working "hand-in-hand,"
telling Radtke he has "complete confidence in you and your agency."

"Please tell our partners, the people of the Episcopal Church, the
people of the United States and indeed the people of the world that we
in Haiti are immensely grateful for their prayers, their support and
their generosity," Duracin wrote. "This is a desperate time in Haiti;
we have lost so much. But we still have the most important asset, the
people of God, and we are working continuously to take care of them."

The Haitian diocese suffered greatly with the quake. A number of the
diocese's 254 schools, ranging from preschools to a university and a
seminary, were destroyed or heavily damaged, including the Holy
Trinity complex of primary, music and trade schools adjacent to the
demolished diocesan Cathédrale Sainte Trinité (Holy Trinity  Cathedral)
in Port-au-Prince.

A portion of the St. Vincent School for Handicapped Children, also in
the Haitian capital, collapsed, killing between six and 10 students
and staff. Many of the students are living at the camp while
arrangements are being made for them to be housed elsewhere.

More than 100 of the diocese's churches have been damaged or
destroyed, Duracin has said.

Full story: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_118753_ENG_HTM.htm

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is ENS national correspondent and
editor of Episcopal News Monthly.