Newsline: Brethren mark 2nd anniversary of Haiti earthquake

[CoBNews <CoBNews@brethren.org>]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service, News Director Cheryl Brumbau 
gh-Cayford, 800-323-8039 ext. 260, cobnews@brethren.org

Church of the Brethren marks second anniversary of Haiti's earthquake

(Jan. 12, 2012) Elgin, IL -- The Church of the Brethren this week is rememb 
ering the earthquake that devastated the Caribbean island nation in early 2 
010. 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 ep 
icenter was Léogâne, a town 15 miles from the capital city Port-au-Prin ce. It 
caused the deaths of as many as 200,000 and more people, with thousa nds more 
injured. There were numerous aftershocks, as well as the aftereffe cts of 
injuries, illness, homelessness, lack of sanitation, and other priva tions that 
caused yet more deaths. More than a million people in Port-au-Pr ince and 
surroundings areas were left without shelter. Rubble filled the st reets. Tent 
cities and encampments sprang up. A cholera outbreak many month s after the 
earthquake was linked to a continued widespread lack of shelter , sanitation 
facilities, and clean water. Two years later, many Haitians st ill struggle to 
regain homes and employment.

Since the earthquake the Church of the Brethren has been heavily involved i n 
disaster response in Haiti. The collaborative response joins together eff orts 
of Brethren Disaster Ministries and the Global Mission and Service pro gram of 
the US church with Eglise des Freres Haitiens (the Church of the Br ethren 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 need s 
of Brethren congregations and their communities began to be addressed. Th e 
effort has included building a new Ministry Center and Guesthouse complex  for 
Eglise des Freres Haitiens in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood Croix de s 
Bouquets. Work groups from the US also have been traveling to Haiti to he lp 
out.

In these two years, the church's Emergency Disaster Fund has expended $1 mi 
llion in grants for Haiti, supporting both Church of the Brethren and ecume 
nical disaster response. (See below for an overview of Brethren accomplishm 
ents in Haiti.)

Today a number of Haitian Brethren congregations are fasting and hold praye r 
meetings, said Pastor Ludovic St. Fleur of Miami, Fla., who has been a gu iding 
force in establishing Eglise des Freres Haitiens. The Brethren in Cro ix des 
Bouquets, whose church building is located at the new Ministry Cente r complex, 
for example, are remembering the day by fasting from 8 a.m. to 1 2 p.m., 
reports Ilexene Alphonse, who is managing the Ministry Center and G uesthouse. 
"They said they will spend the time thanking God for life," he r eported by 
e-mail.

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

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

Haitian First Church is holding a prayer service this evening, 7-10 p.m. Vi 
sitors are welcome. During the service, pictures of the earthquake and dama ge 
will be shown on a large screen, as the church did for the one-year anni 
versary 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 5 0 
relatives in Haiti affected by the earthquake, Montauban said. "Some of t hem 
are still in crisis," he added.

For IMA World Health the anniversary is a special occasion. The organizatio n, 
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 t ime of 
the earthquake and were trapped for days in the rubble of the Montan a 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 wa s 
compiled by Klebert Exceus, who has led the Brethren Disaster Ministries  
building projects there (translated from French with the help of Jeff Bosha 
rt). All disaster related relief and response programs were funded by Breth ren 
Disaster Ministries via the Emergency Disaster Fund including support f or 
strategic partnerships and much of the agricultural work, except where i t is 
noted that the Global Food Crisis Fund supported the project. All of t he 
church building was made possible through special donations from congreg ations 
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 progra m 
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 constr 
ucted on a plot of land
-- a community cistern and a water retention pond on the island of La Tortu e 
(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 continu ing 
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 Bo ulage
-- 5 church shelters (supported through the Emerging Global Mission Fund):  La 
Premiere Eglise des Frères de Delmas, Eglise des Frères de Tom Gatea u, Eglise 
des Frères de Marin, Eglise des Freres de Croix des Bouquets, E glise 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 Heal th 
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 Di 
saster Ministries does not have the proper expertise or capacity, but are a 
reas considered critical for this response.

Health services partner IMA World Health: As a member communion of IMA Worl d 
Health, Brethren Disaster Ministries supporting ACCorD (Areas for Coopera tion 
and Coordination of Development), a program demonstrating how faith-ba sed 
organizations can co-manage health and development programming to impro ve 
service delivery, utilization, and community health in Haiti. Project ob 
jectives focus on strengthening health interventions through: 1. Maternal,  
newborn, and child health: antenatal care visits, assisted deliveries, immu 
nizations and growth monitoring; 2. Addressing malnutrition: nutrition demo 
nstration center and therapeutic food distribution; 3. Community developmen t: 
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 t he 
many things that have come to Haiti following the earthquake, STAR is th e 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 p rogram 
provides knowledge and skills for Haitian church and community leade rs to 
assist them in dealing with the effects of trauma in their congregati ons and 
communities. Two Brethren leaders participate on the advisory counc il 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 perm anent 
housing; 3. Repairing of institutional centers; 4. Support for agricu ltural 
sustainability; 5. Programs addressing the needs (education, nutriti on, 
counseling) of vulnerable children; 6. Support for  economic recovery w ithin 
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 continu ing 
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 t 
raditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrated it s 
300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 123,000 members across the Unit ed 
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria,  
Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

># # #

>For more information contact:

>Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
>Director of News Services
>Church of the Brethren
>1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
>800-323-8039 ext. 260
>cobnews@brethren.org