SUPPORT HAITI

After a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit Haiti on August 14, 2021, its people need your help. To date, over 2,000 people have died with many still missing. More than 12,000 have been injured and close to 30,000 families rendered homeless. 

Canadian Jesuits International has joined a network of Jesuit international solidarity organizations and mission offices to launch a global fundraising effort to support the response and recovery efforts by Jesuits and Jesuit organizations in Haiti.

Funds will be used by local Jesuit partners, including Foi et Joie and Service Jésuite aux Migrants, to support the two regions most affected by the earthquake and tropical storm Grace - Sud and Grand'Anse. With a Foi et Joie school and a Jesuit parish in these regions, a Jesuit Bishop Rev. Gontrand Décoste in the affected diocese of Jérémie, and many Haitian Jesuits born and raised in this part of the country, the Jesuits know the area and its people well.

Response will take place in two phases: emergency relief and recovery. 

• During the emergency relief phase, partners will organize to distribute clothing, food, household goods and hygiene products to meet the most immediate basic needs of the population.
  

• In the recovery phase of this disaster, Jesuit organizations will implement mid-to-long-term strategies focused on the reconstruction of homes and schools, and helping people rebuild their lives.
  

Please support our Jesuit partners on the ground as they help the people of Haiti recover from the latest natural disaster to hit the country. Thank you for your generous donation.

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[below, a letter from Fr. Jean Denis Saint-Félix, Jesuit Superior in Haiti]

14 August 2021

Good evening everyone,

As you have heard, the southwestern part of Haiti (Sud, Grand’Anse, Les Nippes) has been hit this morning at 8:30 by a 7.2 magnitude quake, which was followed by a series of aftershocks, struck 8 km (5 miles) from the town of Petit Trou de Nippes, about 150 km west of the capital Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 km, the United States Geological Survey said. It was felt throughout the whole country. On the streets of Port-au-Prince, and elsewhere, the panic was everywhere.

Haiti's Civil Protection service said this afternoon that the preliminary death toll stood at 304 (Sud:160; Grand’Anse: 100; Nippes:42), with at least 1,800 injured and more people unaccounted for. Preliminary rescue operations by emergency teams and ordinary citizens had enabled many people to already be recovered from the debris.

Thousands of Homes,  almost all the churches and cathedrals  in all three dioceses, among them, that of bishop Joseph Gontrand Décoste, a Jesuit,  hotels,  schools, prisons, health centers in all these three departments had been either severely damaged or destroyed. Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who flew over the region to survey the damage, declared a month-long state of emergency.

Many Jesuits and collaborators are from this region. We were able to connect with families and friends. For now there are not any casualty reported among family members. However, many homes are affected or destroyed. In this Moment Fr. Coicou and Fr. Eddy are in Jérémie with Bishop Gontrand. All of them are doing well, but their account of the damages occurred is frightening.

The number one priority in this moment remains health care emergency services. There is no way that we are able to provide the care that people need in this moment due to the inexistence of medical infrastructure. Of course, in the weeks to come we will certainly face the problem of clean water and food.

One of the biggest question is the one that involves security. Access by road to the southern region, where the quake struck, has been restricted by gang control of key areas although the Prime Minister said police would accompany any convoys going to the south.

On our side, we are following closely the evolution of the situation. Doblas and Father Coicou who are in the South, and other partners, will help us  have more and more reliable information. From tomorrow evening we will begin to consider how we, as Jesuits, would like to respond to this humanitarian disaster.Knowing that likely to complicate relief efforts is the fact Haiti is now in the probable track of Tropical Storm Grace, which could bring heavy rains and winds early next week.Let us remain in solidarity with each other and always united in prayer,
Rev. Fr. Jean Denis SAINT-FÉLIX, SJ
Jesuit Superior in Haiti