One year after the earthquake people join together in religious meetings across the country. Photo: ACT/Paul Jeffrey

This morning I woke and took fifteen minutes to think about the last year, its successes and challenges, moments to remember both good and bad, and the hopefulness found through it all.  I think it is important that we all see ourselves as participants in this effort.  Through the sharing of our gifted resources, taking moments in silence to pray in solidarity with those who continue to struggle in Haiti, sharing information and stories to one another to continue to build awareness on the issues facing Haiti, contributing your skills and expertise through volunteerism; all these contributions manifests a community participating in the renewal of hope and livelihoods in Haiti.

I can not put into words the overwhelming feeling of frustration and pain felt when conditions don’t seem to improve.  While relief efforts were quick to respond to emergency needs, recovery efforts have been slow to start; housing is still a daily struggle for hundreds of thousands of families that are still displaced and living in camps. Yet, Haitian colleagues, who have themselves suffered loss, are dedicated to the work they do for their fellow citizens and continue to persevere with rebuilding efforts.

I see hopefulness in changes seen.  Children have returned to school, signaling the strengthening of Haiti’s next generation of leadership and workers.  People are back to work, earning a wage to provide for their families and beginning the work of rebuilding their own lives.

So, on this anniversary day, I want to extend gratitude for all the gifts that have been shared and challenge you to continue to find ways to contribute to the rebuilding of Haiti.  Years of work remains ahead of us as Haiti continues to recover from the earthquake and addresses conditions of poverty.

I also invite each of you to hold a minute of silence to honor the victims of the 2010 earthquake at 4:34 pm (Haitian time), exactly one year from when the earthquake struck.

God’s Peace,

Megan

The ACT Alliance has published a consolidated fact sheet on Haiti, providing statistical information on the earthquake in 2010.  The ELCA is a member of the global ACT Alliance which brings together over 100 actors in humanitarian aid and development.  The one statistic that is still under dispute is the loss of lives; sources report between 230,000 and 250,000.

7.0……………… strength of January 12 2010 earthquake on Richter scale

230 000……….. people lost their lives – at least

1.5 million…….. people with no permanent home today

1.3 million…….. people living in makeshift camps today

2 million……….. people living in the most affected area of Port au Prince

250,000……….. homes destroyed in capital

30,000…………. commercial buildings destroyed in capital

90………………. percentage of buildings in the city of Léogâne that were destroyed

1,100………….. camps built over the past year, 54 of which have been home to 5,000 people or more

500…………….. camps in Port au Prince today

15,000………… primary schools severely damaged or destroyed

1,500………….. secondary schools severely damaged or destroyed

20 million m3.. quantity of rubble and debris remaining in Port au Prince: enough to fill a solid line of shipping containers stretching from London to Beirut

1……………….. approved dumping site for rubble in the country (at Varreux in Port-au-Prince)

In northern Haiti, members of a community-based group began a feeding program for those displaced by the January 12 earthquake. In the southern coastal city of Jacmel, a group of disaster survivors banded together and moved onto the grounds of a local church. And in Port-au-Prince, a woman who gave birth to her infant son twelve days after the quake wondered what she would do next.

These were some of the Haitians CWS staffer Chris Herlinger met in January and February, immediately after the disaster. Durring a recent return to Haiti, Chris attempted to find these individuals. How are they doing? What are they doing? What are their plans for the future?  Here is an update, based on recent travels in Haiti.

Click here to read more.

Marie Lucie Osias (L), lives with her son (R), the lone earthquake survivor among her four children, in a makeshift shelter. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/LWR/ACT Alliance)

Click here to read the full article on shelter needs from the ACT Alliance.

People hold candles during a mass in the shadows of the ruins of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which was devastated in a January 12 earthquake. Paul Jeffrey ACT Alliance

It has been one month of suffering since the earthquake in Haiti. In Port-au-Prince and other parts of Haiti, individuals and families affected commemorated the tragedy this weekend. In churches and public spaces tens and tens of thousands gathered to share their grief, prayers and hope for days ahead.  ELCA Disaster Response, through the ACT Alliance, is supporting many of these families that gathered recently in hymn and prayer. 

I invite you to view a slide-show of this at: Prayers & Hymns in Haiti

Haitians, like this boy, scavenge amidst the rubble for something of value in the devastated center of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which was ravaged by a January 12 earthquake. Photo by Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance.

I want to share with you a letter received from Pastor Joseph Livenson Lauvanus, the President of the Lutheran Church in Haiti.  On January 20th, the ELCA formalized our relationship with the church in Haiti, showing greater solidarity and commitment to accompany this small church as it responds to the needs of its community in the wake of this national disaster. 

Pr. Lauvanus was in Florida when the earthquake happened but on January 29th, with the assistance of ELCA Disaster Response, he flew to the Dominican Republic, where he then traveled via a UN Humanitarian Relief Convoy back to Haiti.  He is currently staying on the LWF compound.

This letter describs his impressions after returning to his homeland after the disaster. Please keep Pr. Lauvanus in your prayers.

Dear friends,

I reach Haiti yesterday afternoon. It was time for me to finally see things for myself for me not to live in denial anymore. From the DR to the LWF I did not see much of what was going on. I just see a few demolished buildings. This morning I went to Port-au-Prince and from there to Carrefour, and it is the first time in my entire life I’ve seen so much destructions.   Read More…