Update from Haiti

Jean Claude Cerin, Tearfund coordinator in Haiti, sends this news and prayer requests…

Dear friends and colleagues,

I appreciate very much your support and all the prayers that are going up for us in Haiti. The disaster is very big indeed. We are used to hurricanes, not to earthquakes. Our last major earthquake happened in the North of Haiti in 1847, almost 200 years ago. So people have no reflex for this and are not trained on the right preservation moves. In general, the disaster is terrible because there are many buildings that collapsed at a peak time --4:45 pm-- including Schools, Universities, Government buildings, the UN headquarters, hotels, supermarkets, hospitals, etc. Several important people from Government, the church and the business communities also died and we cannot count the dead among the general population.

The current situation is very critical. There is no organized relief assistance from the Government who seems to be paralyzed. Even the UN forces are very slow to react as they have had a lot of losses among themselves, including the head of the MINUSTAH and his assistant. Movement is quite difficult because there is no fuel being sold, no city power, no internal communication. Hospitals that were not destroyed have closed their doors because they are overwhelmed and the wounded population is remaining without care. There is a general feeling of fear across the population as people are scared of a rebound. Also there are many damaged buildings that could collapse any time soon. The bodies of dead people are accumulating and people don’t know how to dispose of them. So they just throw them on the streets expecting the Government to get rid of them. But this is not happening quickly and this may create a catastrophic situation and health hazard.

I have not had much information from our partners yet because internal communication has been completely disrupted. As soon as communication is restored among the networks, I will get in touch with them and start having an assessment.

As for us, both our house and my office have been severely damaged by the earthquake. The houses of my 2 co-workers (my Admin and my Driver) have been destroyed as well. Fortunately, we have no loss of lives so far. I would appreciate you praying for my driver’s brother’s family. They have 4 children who were under rubbish after the earthquake. Two have been recued and they are still searching for the other two.

Prayer requests - Please pray for:

• Wisdom for the authorities who seem to be overwhelmed and taken totally unprepared for this.
• A swift response from the Government and from the international community to address this critical situation
• The suffering population of Haiti, for comfort for so many who are burying their deaths
• Adequate care for those who are suffering from wounds
• Tearfund partners as they deal with their own deaths and losses and are planning their response to this catastrophe among their membership
• The church of Haiti to be able to give a response of love, care and hope to this population that is going on the streets as sheep without shepherds
• Tearfund Haiti as we: give thanks for God’s miraculously saving our lives, as we deal with our own losses and as we assess the needs in order to respond through our partners

With every blessing,

Jean Claude Cerin
Représentant National - Haïti
Tearfund UK  
14 January 2010

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