Earthquake 2021

Earthquake Update

August 16, 2021

Hello Friends,

Like all of you, I remain shocked by the string of catastrophes in Haiti, it is almost unbelievable the ongoing and recurring disasters that face this country. What we know so far is this:

I have had text conversations with Dr. Octave, Fr. Lamarre and Julio Geffrard, each of them are fine and all indicate there is little to no damage in Boucan-Carré, the earthquake was far enough south.
We had a short discussion with the Bishop of Hinche, Bishop Jean. He is also fine.
You might have heard that Cardinal Chibly was injured but escaped serious injury, his home collapsed, we believe the picture top left was his home. According the Bishop there were 2-3 fatalities as a result of the building collapse but the Cardinal is fine.
For those that may have come to the banquet in 2019, the Cardinal was a VIP that evening.
(3) ‪#‎prayforhaiti – Explore | Facebook

As an organization, we are in close contact with Fr David on plans to support this disaster, we are unsure what that looks like specifically at this point but information we are trying to gather include:
• Please pray for Haiti, first and foremost
• Which local parish’s in our diocese might have twin parish in this region of Haiti and how can we support them.
• We would expect a special collection this coming weekend to either Haiti Outreach or Catholic Relief Services so stay tuned on that this coming weekend.
• The Bishop explained that Caritas Haiti is the primary channel for bringing in the support to this area of Haiti. – Caritas – Ending poverty, promoting justice and restoring dignity
• On the news I am seeing Samaritans Purse have already brought in a jet full of supplies
• We would love to seek volunteers for a medical support mission but security in this area is unclear, this was also reinforced from the Bishop that this area is a strong Gang area.
• Unfortunately many of you in the group have experience with the 2010 Earthquake and might recall the devastation, not just from the earthquake but from the after effects of not having strong medical support. We hope we can support and do something to support the after effects as well.
• We are attempting to get a Donate to Haiti Relief button put on our website today should any of our followers desire to support. All donations will be directed specially to Haiti relief from the Earthquake once we figure out the smart way to do that.

Will keep you advised as we learn more.

Matt Webster
812-216-8797

(Image credits ABC News, AP, People.com, Times of Israel)