News
Chile Earthquake
The earthquake in Chile (27 February 2010) reminds us of how vulnerable our world is to disasters and emergencies.
As people around the world are trying to contact loved ones who are in Chile, let’s pray that they know God’s peace and freedom from fear. We remember in our prayers the rescue teams and emergency services as they carry out their critical work over the next days.
Tearfund has a long history of working in Latin America and, although we no longer fund work in Chile, we retain good links with churches and organisations based there.
Let’s pray for the government and for the local services in Chile who will be responding to this emergency. And take time to pray too for our brothers and sisters in the church in Chile and in neighbouring countries, as they seek to demonstrate the love of Christ in word and deed. Pray for God’s grace and power as they respond to this emergency.
Jennie Evans, Tearfund’s Head of Latin America & Caribbean region, spoke to Tearfund staff in Colombia on the day of Chile’s earthquake: ‘Our friends and colleagues have been praying continuously since the moment they heard about the earthquake, and they asked that we join with them in prayer at this time.’
As we remember those in Haiti who are also experiencing the effects of earthquake on a larger scale, let’s make the most of One Voice – our week of prayer and reflection on global poverty and justice – to call out to God with one voice as his church around the world.
- Posted: 1 Mar 10
- More about:
Chile
Haiti: More than €100,000 raised
Generous Irish supporters have raised more than €100,000 for Haiti earthquake survivors. Some people have held fundraising concerts, others have gone on a sponsored fast and many people have helped raise awareness through their churches and schools. Because of this financial support thousands of families who had not received any aid in Haiti’s earthquake shattered capital are now receiving help from Tearfund staff and partners. More details of their work can be found here. Tearfund in the UK have raised more than €2 million which will address the immediate needs of the people and the longer term reconstruction.
Coping with loss
Getting a handle on the psychological pain caused by the disaster is not so easy but increasingly it is becoming evident. Virtually all survivors can testify to knowing a family member, friend or neighbour who died in the 12 January quake and are therefore carrying the pain of their loss. Add to that turbulent mix the awful hardship in the aftermath of the tremors – no food, water, shelter or medical help, plus lawlessness – and you have the conditions for lasting mental scarring.
A Haitian pastor’s story
One local pastor who has been in touch with Tearfund’s team responding in Haiti summed it up as follows:
‘I can tell you life is very difficult for us nowadays,’ he said. ‘It is really hard to talk and think about the night of 12 January, 2010. It was 4:50pm when this long night began with a strange phenomenon that no one understands.’ The pastor said, ‘Since 12 January, we sleep and live right in the street, without a tent. Right now, my wife and daughter have colds and my daughter has diarrhoea due to bad water. In spite of all, we can claim God is good all the time.’
Long term development
With more than €2 million raised by Tearfund supporters for Haiti, we’re currently responding to the immediate physical needs of thousands of Haitians. We’re also looking to the long term and are drawing up plans to rebuild lives, a process that will be measured in years rather than months. Standing alongside local churches, we’ll be there to help survivors come to terms with earthquake’s psychological, emotional and spiritual legacies.
‘We want to build back better‘ says Reuben Coulter, Chief Executive of Tearfund Ireland ‘There is a real danger if reconstruction is rushed that it will be done badly. If we plan well now and help support our Haitian partners to get back on their feet then we will see sustainable transformation.’
Most of the immediate needs have been met but there is still a need to finance the reconstruction. Donate now online here or by credit card by contacting Christine in our office – 01 497 5285 or enquiries@tearfund.ie or post a cheque to; Tearfund Ireland, Ulysses House, 22-24 Foley Street, Dublin
- Posted: 5 Feb 10
- More about:
Haiti, More about: Emergencies
Churches feed the hungry in Haiti
Hot meals comprising rice, beans and porridge are being served to 1,400 vulnerable people daily by World Relief (Tearfund partner) staff alongside volunteers from local congregations. World Relief, which has been working in the Caribbean country for 15 years, is using its close links with local congregations to mobilise manpower for the relief effort. They are planning to launch more feeding centres, including two in the badly affected areas of Leogan and Jacmel, which have received little emergency aid. World Relief staff are also working to boost desperately needed water supplies by drilling bore holes and installing water pumps.
Injured
Meanwhile World Relief medical staff continue to provide treatment to the injured at its 300-bed hospital in Port-au-Prince. It’s one of the few centres able to treat people and has three operating theatres working around the clock.
Medical needs
But it desperately needs more medicines such as antibiotics and painkillers, according to Dr Hubert Morquette, World Relief’s country director for Haiti, who has been treating people himself.
Please give to Tearfund’s emergency appeal.
Prayer is also needed. Dr Morquette said, ‘Please continue to keep us in your prayers as our patients experience both physical and psychological trauma.’ Those who’ve escaped injury are also in dire need of aid support. A Tearfund team of disaster response experts has visited a camp run by another Tearfund partner in the district of Delmas, in Port-au-Prince, which is looking after 2,000 people, while another camp had 10,000 residents.
Crying out
As rescue efforts to recover people trapped in toppled buildings continue, there are small signs of normal everyday life restarting in Port-au-Prince. Jean Claude Cerin, Tearfund’s Country Representative for Haiti, said, ‘Marketplaces are selling basic goods and merchants are back on the streets. ‘Banks are planning to start opening again sometime this week as soon as they can put together a security system to protect them. ‘A few gas stations are reopening and one can observe long lines of vehicles waiting to fill up.’ There are also signs that the Haitian government is attempting to play a bigger role in the earthquake response effort, currently being led by the UN and the US. ‘Haitians are crying for some leadership wherever it comes from,’ said Jean Claude.
Please give today
Only €31 can provide a tarpaulin for shelter for a family and €55 can provide a family of with emergency household items,water containers and blankets.
Prayer resources
Download a powerpoint presentation here
Please share this with your church this Sunday
Keep checking our website as we will have updated information and video before the end of the week.
Donate now online here or by credit card by contacting Christine in our office – 01 497 5285 or enquiries@tearfund.ie or post a cheque to; Tearfund Ireland, Ulysses House, 22-24 Foley Street, Dublin 1
- Posted: 21 Jan 10
- More about: Haiti, More about: Emergencies
Medical relief in Haiti
Medical staff with a Tearfund partner in Haiti are working around the clock treating hundreds of people with earthquake-related injuries.
The King’s Hospital, run by World Relief, is one of the few places offering treatment in the capital Port-au-Prince after escaping the tremors with just a few cracks to the walls.
It’s been operating since last Tuesday’s quake killed between 50,000 and 200,000 people. Tearfund emergency response teams have been responding to the disaster. An emergency appeal is underway to allow us to increase the scale of our response. To give, click here.
Broken bones from falling masonry are among the main injuries doctors and nurses are dealing with.
Suffering
Dr Hubert Morquette, World Relief’s country director for Haiti, said, ‘We’ve treated hundreds of injuries as well as countless open and closed fractures. We work all day and late into the night as patients continue to flock to our facility. There’s a lot of suffering and we go above and beyond trying to save lives but at times they still succumb to their injuries. We thank God for the medical supplies we’ve received over the last couple of months which have enabled us to provide care to our numerous patients.’
Total despair
More medical staff are needed, particularly surgeons, and there’s also a shortage of antibiotics and pain-killers. Dr Morquette added, ‘Port-au-Prince is in total despair. The major governmental institutions have crumbled. It is a major catastrophe.’
World Relief has been working in Haiti for 15 years, partnering with local churches on health projects and micro-enterprise schemes. Tearfund is responding to the earthquake through such local partners and has also sent a disaster response team to Haiti.
Please give today
Only €31 can provide a tarpaulin for shelter for a family and €55 can provide a family of with emergency household items,water containers and blankets.
Donate now online here or by credit card by contacting Christine in our office – 01 497 5285 or enquiries@tearfund.ie or post a cheque to; Tearfund Ireland, Ulysses House, 22-24 Foley Street, Dublin 1
- Posted: 18 Jan 10
- More about: Haiti, More about: Emergencies
Haiti Earthquake Update
This email has just come in from Tearfund Country Representative Jean Claude (15th Jan)
Dear friends and colleagues,
I appreciate very much your support and all the prayers that are going up for us in Haiti. The disaster is very big indeed. We are used to hurricanes, not to earthquakes. Our last major earthquake happened in the North of Haiti in 1847, almost 200 years ago. So people have no reflex for this and are not trained on the right preservation moves. In general, the disaster is terrible because there are many buildings that collapsed at a peak time —4:45 pm— including Schools, Universities, Government buildings, the UN headquarters, hotels, supermarkets, hospitals, etc. Several important people from Government, the church and the business communities also died and we cannot count the dead among the general population.
The current situation is very critical. There is no organized relief assistance from the Government who seems to be paralyzed. Even the UN forces are very slow to react as they have had a lot of losses among themselves, including the head of the UN in Haiti and his assistant. Movement is quite difficult because there is no fuel being sold, no city power, no internal communication. Hospitals that were not destroyed have closed their doors because they are overwhelmed and the wounded population is remaining without care. There is a general feeling of fear across the population as people are scared of a rebound. Also there are many damaged buildings that could collapse any time soon. The bodies of dead people are accumulating and people don’t know how to dispose of them. So they just throw them on the streets expecting the Government to get rid of them. But this is not happening quickly and this may create a catastrophic situation and health hazard.
The needs are enormous and it is going to take months for the situation to return to normal. We are responding to the basic needs of the survivors by providing food, blankets and shelter. A more detailed assessment should begin in the next few days to help us plan the way forward.
As for us, both our house and my office have been severely damaged by the earthquake. The houses of my 2 co-workers (my Admin and my Driver) have been destroyed as well. Fortunately, we have no loss of lives so far. I would appreciate you praying for my driver’s brother’s family. They have 4 children who were under rubbish after the earthquake. Two have been rescued and they are still searching for the other two.
Please pray for:
• Wisdom for the authorities who seem to be overwhelmed and taken totally unprepared for this.
• A swift response from the Government and from the international community to address this critical situation
• The suffering population of Haiti, for comfort for so many who are burying their dead
• Tearfund partners as they deal with their own deaths and losses and are planning their response to this catastrophe among their membership
• The church of Haiti to be able to give a response of love, care and hope to the survivors
With every blessing,
Jean Claude Cerin
Immediate needs to that Tearfund partner’s are supplying are:
· access to clean water
· food aid and basic items
· shelter provision
· medical supplies and counselling support for the grieving and distressed
Please give today
Only €31 can provide a tarpaulin for shelter for a family and €55 can provide a family of with emergency household items,water containers and blankets.
Donate now online here or by credit card by contacting Christine in our office – 01 497 5285 or enquiries@tearfund.ie or post a cheque to; Tearfund Ireland, Ulysses House, 22-24 Foley Street, Dublin 1
- Posted: 15 Jan 10
- More about: Haiti, More about: Emergencies
Haiti Earthquake Appeal
Massive earthquake strikes Haiti on 12th January
Hundreds of people are missing feared dead after a quake measuring seven on the Richter Scale struck the Caribbean island yesterday.
Many buildings have been destroyed or badly damaged in the capital Port-au-Prince, including the presidential palace and the five-storey UN offices. As darkness fell last night, fear of after-shocks led many people to spend the evening sleeping out in the open.
Jean-Claude Cerin, Tearfund’s Country Representative for Haiti, who is based in Port-au-Prince is among thousands of people whose homes have been damaged or destroyed. Tearfund has been working with it’s partners to provide immediate relief to the injured and homeless.
Rescue efforts to dig people from the rubble of smashed homes, shops and offices are being hampered by blocked roads, power cuts, disrupted communications and a lack of equipment.
As Tearfund partners in Haiti assess emergency aid needs, Jennie Evans, Tearfund’s Head of Region for Latin America and the Caribbean said, ‘Although detailed information about the number of people needing help is proving hard to come by, it’s clear that we are facing a very serious disaster.
‘With so many buildings destroyed and so many people made homeless, the need for shelter and basic essentials such as food and water is extremely urgent.’
The UN has an 11,000-strong peacekeeping force in Haiti which is gathering information about the extent of the devastation.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, ‘My heart goes out to the people of Haiti after this devastating earthquake. At this time of tragedy, I am very concerned for the people of Haiti and also for the many United Nations staff who serve there.’
Immediate needs to that Tearfund partner’s are supplying are:
· access to clean water
· food aid and basic items
· shelter provision
· medical supplies and counselling support for the grieving and distressed
Please give today
Only €31 can provide a tarpaulin for shelter for a family and €55 can provide a family of with emergency household items,water containers and blankets.
Donate now online here or by credit card by contacting Christine in our office – 01 497 5285 or enquiries@tearfund.ie or post a cheque to; Tearfund Ireland, Ulysses House, 22-24 Foley Street, Dublin 1
- Posted: 13 Jan 10
- More about: Haiti, More about: Emergencies