It is nearly two months since Haiti was devastated by an earthquake. The head of ACN’s Latin America section gives an update on the situation in Haiti.

By ACN Staff

On 14 August, Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake. The Caribbean nation was already unstable following the assassination of the president in July, on top of extremely high crime rates. Immediately following the earthquake, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) pledged a €500,000 emergency aid package to provide assistance to the Haitian Church in responding to the havoc caused by the earthquake.

Just short of two months on from the earthquake, the head of the Latin American section at ACN, Rafael D'Aqui, gave an update on the situation in Haiti in an interview with Maria Lozano. Rafeal described the current situation in Haiti:

“The situation after the earthquake remains difficult: in many regions, the people are sleeping outside or in tents, the priests are staying in the homes of parish members or in cars. There are shortages of water, electricity, food, clothing, medicine... A large part of the population is traumatised. Many church buildings and diocesan institutions have sustained partial damage or have even been completely destroyed. About 70 parishes have had to buy tents in order to be able to continue their work. Added to this are the uncertainty and violence that make it even more difficult to offer any effective assistance.”

Rafael explained that Haiti was already unstable before the earthquake. Criminal gangs controlled the streets. Things got even worse after the president was assassinated. There was also a water shortage and draught in the country, compounding the extreme poverty in rural parts of the country.

Rafael explained the aid that ACN offered to the local Church:

“As a first step, ACN asked the dioceses that are affected to take stock of the situation and the damage in order to be able to propose appropriate aid measures. It then approved an emergency aid budget for projects in Haiti. In the diocese of Jérémie, 134,400 dollars have already been granted for the distribution of emergency aid (tents, food, drinking water, medicine, etc.) among priests, religious and pastoral workers and their families in 16 parishes.”

Rafael further outlined that ACN is still in the emergency response phase. It is hoped that we can move on the second phase of the response, helping the Church to rebuild following the devastation of the earthquake. Rafael tells us about some of the difficulties faced working in Haiti:

“On the one hand, the precarious situation makes it impossible to travel to the country, which means that we cannot experience the situation first-hand. Our communication is limited to the internet or the telephone. On the other hand, it is a challenge to completely assess the damage to the buildings and quickly get these rebuilt in a short period of time. After all, this must be done in compliance with the guidelines for earthquake and cyclone safety. We also have to make sure that all the materials are available. Currently, due to local shortages, these are being brought in from other countries.”

Despite these challenges, Rafael is determined to keep up ACN’s work in Haiti. Please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers. If you are interested in supporting ACN’s work in Haiti, please visit our Haiti Appeal.