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>World Council of Churches - News

ECUMENICAL DELEGATION EXPRESSES SOLIDARITY TOWARDS HAITIANS

>For immediate release: 15 June 2010

In an effort to express solidarity and learn of the churches’  work in
providing support and relief to victims of the Haiti earthquake,  the Rev.
Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches
(WCC), is visiting Haiti accompanied by an ecumenical delegation  of six
church leaders from different parts of the world.

”I feel honoured to be here”, said Tveit. ”For  me, it is important to
see and listen to the Haitian people and to see how the churches  can
respond to their needs in a meaningful way.”

Aid and international solidarity have been flowing into Haiti since  the
earthquake in January.

”The presence of the ecumenical delegation here in Haiti  is one sign of
that solidarity,” observed Mr Sylvain Exantus, the president  of the
Haitian Protestant Federation.

>Local people involved

The ecumenical delegation began visiting some of the projects directed  by
ACT Alliance in the Port-au-Prince area on Monday 14 June.

”It is significant that the Haitians themselves are involved  in all
reconstruction work,” said Tveit after visiting the Norwegian  Church
Aid’s (NCA) project in the red zone area of Bel Air on the  outskirts of
Port-au-Prince. The red zone marks those regions that were most  severely
damaged by the earthquake.

Environmental activities, such as rain-water harvesting , bio-gas  digesters
and planting of trees, are some of the specialties of the NCA project.

”Since Bel Air is considered a red zone area, we have started  our green
roof projects to change this to a green area,” Bruno Nadalutti,
assistant manager of Viva Rio, the local partner of NCA, told the
delegation.

So far, Haitians have planted approximately 30 000 trees to address  the
concern of the deforestation of Haiti. They are hoping to plant  one
million trees next year.

”They are not just receivers of aid, but they have taken  the
responsibility on themselves. Even in a situation like this, they  continue
their lives,” pointed out Tveit.

Change will take some time

The delegation was able to see that even  five months after the  earthquake
much devestation remained. People living in the camps are still  under
plastic sheeting, vulnerable to rains and the upcoming hurricane  season.

”It will take a long time until we can see the change,”  said the Rev.
Bernice Powell Jackson, president of the World Council of Churches  from
North America and a member of the delegation.

She compared the situation with the devastation in New Orleans where
Hurricane Katrina hit five years ago.

”It looked like the damage was so bad that nothing could  be done. But
now, five years later, you can see the progress,” she said
encouragingly.

Haitian people themselves have not lost their hope as they try to  survive
in a variety of different ways.

”We met several people in the camps who try to earn their  living with
their small businesses so they can afford their food and school  fees for
the children,” said Mrs. Victoria Kamondji, a delegation  member and
vice-president of the French Protestant Federation.

The delegation visited the camps in Petion Ville together with
representatives of the ACT Alliance member Church World Service  and their
local partner Service Chretienne d’Haiti.  These organizations  work
together to support people with disabilities.

”Before the earthquake, there were approximately 800 000  people living
with disabilities. Now there might be a million,” Powell  Jackson said.
Solidarity from near and far
For the Haitians to be able to build their lives again after the
earthquake, they will need mental and spiritual healing as well  as
material aid. This healing is an area in which churches and church-relate d
organizations can assist.

The neighbouring Dominican Republic has shown extensive solidarity  towards
Haiti after the earthquake. It also provides one instance of the  many
Southern partners involved in the work in Haiti.

”It is important that churches and church-related organizations  provide
their input in this situation.  The projects carried out by ACT  Alliance
members, for example, are important,” said Tveit.

The ecumenical delegation continues its mission Tuesday 15 June  by visiting
church buildings of different denominations that were destroyed  in the
earthquake. They also will pray together with leaders of churches  in Haiti
and discuss with them what it means to be the church together in  Haiti
today.

(Maria Halava, from ACT Alliance, reported from Haiti)

WCC member churches in Haiti (Link:

http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=60aa69b759986ddbe303 )

Relief and development work by churches  in Haiti (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=4d05df9c0ffec1797618 )

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,  witness and 
service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship  of churches 
founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant,
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560  million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the  Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse  Tveit, from 
the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.