Mission News

 

Haiti Earthquake Recovery

 

UMCOR executives Melissa Crutchfield and Sharad Aggarwal crossed the border from Dominican Republic into Haiti late in January to begin an official assessment of damages in Port-au-Prince, including unreached and underserved communities in outlying areas.

 

UMCOR is working with the Methodist Church in Haiti to provide immediate relief and conduct ongoing relief and recovery operations that include food distribution, access to clean drinking water, medical assistance, and the rebuilding of homes and schools.

 

“We lost quite a few churches and schools that are important to the Methodist Church,” Rev. Gesner Paul, president of the Methodist Church of Haiti, told United Methodist News Service.

 

The Methodist Church also is continuing its search for missing church members who still may be trapped under the rubble. The quake killed as many as 200,000 people and left some 1.5 million homeless, according to news reports.

 

After two strong aftershocks struck Haiti, thousands of people sought refuge on the grounds of Adventist University.   UMCOR’s partner, GlobalMedic, trained Haitian volunteer teams to operate a large-scale water purification unit. Which now is providing clean water to more than 26,000 people at the university.

 

An additional four water purification units have been installed at Adventist Hospital and are supplying clean drinking water to 2,000 people per day, including patients, patients’ families, and hospital staff.

 

First United Methodist has donated $2,846 to UMCOR for Haiti Recovery. Thank you from the Mission Committee for your generosity.

 

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