Presbyterian Missions Agency The rainstorm and earthquake in early June threaten the already struggling Haitian people

Presbyterian Disaster Aid is responding with solidarity grants from Cindy Correll, World Mission | Special for the Presbyterian News Service

Marcdalene Abelard was at her home in the mountains above Leogán on Saturday, June 3, when her husband, Claudie, left to hunt for the family goat. It was raining and the wind had blown.

While she was waiting, she tried to calm her baby, who was only a few months old. Her two sons, ages 2 and 4, were afraid of the weather.

Heavy rain caused flash floods that swept through the mountain village.

Claudie never came back.

The June 3 weekend rainstorm left families across Haiti mourning their loved ones and fleeing their homes. On its face, the storm was not catastrophic except that it struck parts of Haiti that are highly vulnerable to drought and other effects of climate change.

During the month of June, storms and an earthquake hit Haiti.

“It is with a heavy heart that we bring to your attention that Haiti has just been hit by torrential rains this past weekend, which has caused some 50 deaths, 19 people missing, 13,400 homeless and more than 37,000 people affected,” Fondama said in a statement. June 6 Letter to Presbyterians for Disaster Assistance.

FONDAMA is the Solidarity Network of the Presbyterian Hunger Program in Haiti and a partner of the Presbyterian World Mission and Disaster Aid. He notes that even before the torrential rains, Haiti was facing an acute humanitarian crisis “fueled by gang violence, mismanagement and corruption”. Indeed, “with nearly half of its population in need of assistance, we can clearly say that the crisis (has taken on) an unprecedented dimension.”

As if the storm wasn’t enough to make the point, an earthquake struck the Lower Peninsula on June 4, killing more and leaving dozens homeless.

“We are here in Jeremy, recovering from the effects of heavy rain, a magnitude 5.2 earthquake and aftershocks,” the Grand’Anse Health and Development Association (GAHDA) quoted in a message to the PDA. Four people died when their homes collapsed on them. Some of the victims were flown by helicopter to Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, for trauma treatment. Many were injured or fractured. 484 families in the vicinity lost their homes. The situation in rural villages is variable, but the call for tarps to protect against rain and sun is great. Food is needed as well. We are now in hurricane season.”

Damage caused by the June 4th earthquake in Jeremy, Haiti. (image via KPGA)

Mission colleague Cindy Correll said the hurricane season would simply exacerbate the “current misery” in Haiti. The situation is “getting worse”.

Haiti is experiencing an active hurricane season and the effects of the El Niño weather pattern demonstrated by rainstorms in early June. Moreover, Haiti’s historical poverty has been greatly deepened by three years of political, economic, and security turmoil.

Gangs have multiplied since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021. Through violent kidnappings, murders, and rape of women and children, gangs control up to 80% of Port-au-Prince. In rural areas too, violence, fear of kidnapping and high inflation have crippled livelihoods.

If food is available, it is priced above the resources of the population. Difficulty finding or keeping a job.

Half of the population cannot feed their children.

Politically, while the international community has reacted to Haiti’s problems, the response has been limited.

“Our lives have been on hold for far too long,” said Fabienne Jean, FONDAMA coordinator.

The Haitian people have increasingly exhausted means, energy and hope.

“No one hears the cry of despair of the Haitian people,” Jean said. “This is hell.”

Marcdalene Abelard, shown here with her two eldest children, lost her husband Claudie when severe flooding occurred near their home in Beusejuu in the mountains above Leogane on June 3. (photo via FONDAMA)

The FONDAMA network, known by the Krèyol acronym for Hands Together Foundation in Haiti, is made up of community organizations across the country.

Three of those organizations — MULAC (United Hands Organization for the Liberation and Advancement of Society) in the northwest, KPGA (Peasants Working Together in Grand Anse) in Grand Anse, and ODEPOL (Organization for the Development of Peasants of Leogane) in the western section — felt the wrath of the storms.

The rainstorm severely damaged St. Croix Hospital in the neighboring city of Leogane. Floods destroyed most of the facility’s medical supplies. To the west, a temporary bridge has broken over a river entering Jeremy. Landslides blocked roads, killing gardens and livestock.

In the northwest near Port-de-Paix, another very vulnerable community, LaPointe, suffered significant damage.

Rose Edith Germain is the Community Organization Coordinator for FONDAMA. She said two children in La Pointe died in the floods. It said more than 1,500 families had lost gardens and more than 2,000 head of livestock had been lost. Several homes were destroyed and dozens of others severely damaged.

The earthquake killed three people, according to Nikosa Polimont, KPGA coordinator. Manishkar Jean, Jerry and Charles Jean-Baptiste were in the same house when the earthquake occurred.

PDA provides humanitarian assistance in Haiti through partners including FONDAMA, GAHDA, and APPUI AU DÉVELOPPEMENT LOCAL EN HAITI (Local Support and Development in Haiti, or ADLH). and agreed to grant solidarity to all three.

“We are providing emergency assistance to 200 of the most affected and destitute families,” ADLH wrote in the PDA grant application to benefit the people of Leogane. “This measure will consist of distributing food packages to these families while showing human presence, compassion and moral support. This will surely encourage and assist them in their resilience process.”

GAHDA will use its PDA funding to help feed people and cover other expenses. “We are in a good position to receive and share some food items in the affected areas as we have done since 2016,” the association told the PDA. “Rice and cooking oil are needed most often. We can buy some locally and distribute to families. Church leaders, with whom we have worked in the past, have also requested disaster assistance.”

FONDAMA plans to distribute food kits, soap, toothpaste, sanitary towels, and water purification tablets to people in affected areas and notes in the grant application that “the poorest families are always the most affected by these types of situations. They find themselves in a bind, and they don’t know where to turn.”

The network is also alerting communities to prepare for upcoming disasters this hurricane season.

All of the grantees said they were grateful for the assistance provided by the PDA.

Jean asks to pray for the people of Haiti, and to continue to accompany the Haitian people.

“I ask God to restore to the Haitian people their pride and courage, which will be necessary for them to bring the country out of this slump,” she said. “It is clear that no one other than the people of Haiti can do anything for this land.”

Cindy Corel is a mission colleague working in Haiti. PDA is a Department of Compassion, Peace, and Justice of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

To help PDA respond to these and other disasters in Haiti, go here.

Categories: Disaster Response, Global Mission, Tags: Cindy Coryell, Earthquake, Fundama, Haiti, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Storms, World Mission Tags: Cindy Coryell, Disaster Assistance, Earthquake, Haiti, Haitian People, Heavy Rain, Hurricane Season , Claudie’s Husband, June 3, June 4, Marcdaline Abelard, Co-worker, Mountains Above Leogane, People, Haitians, Photo Courtesy, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Solidarity Grants, Global Mission Ministries: World Mission, Disaster Assistance Presbyterian

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