The Episcopal Church of Haiti

(Before the January 12 earthquake)

·The Episcopal Church of Haiti was established in 1861.

·The Diocese of Haiti, led by Bishop Jean Zache Duracin, is one of the Episcopal Church’s 12 overseas dioceses. It is the largest diocese in the Episcopal Church.

·The diocese serves between 100,000 and 120,000 people in 169 congregations.

·There are 37 active clergy, most of whom serve multiple congregations in urban and rural areas.Four missionaries are assigned to work in the Diocese of Haiti.

·Education has always been a priority.Haitian Episcopalians serve more than 80,000 children in 254 diocesan educational institutions, from preschool to college.

·The diocese sponsors Haiti’s only philharmonic orchestra and nurtures Haitian art.The Cathedral houses the Holy Trinity School of Music and the HaitianArt Museum.

·The diocese provides the only school in Haiti for disabled children (170 students). and the only baccalaureate-degree nursing school in the country.

·St. CroixHospital provides community health services for the Leogane region southwest of the capital.It is the location of the only baccalaureate-degree nursing school in Haiti.

·Two vocational training institutes supply Haiti with auto mechanics, computer technicians and business managers.

·The church, with support from Episcopal Relief and Development, has a strong infrastructure in place and runs its programs largely on volunteers.In addition to the clergy, there are some 25 development officers and over 100 licensed lay leaders.These people work with congregations in setting up schools and hospitals/clinics, agricultural projects, environmental projects (re-forestation, soil-conservation, alternative energy sources), micro-lending programs to foster entrepreneurship, social justice issues, and other services.

·In Haiti, the church doesn’t just raise money for social services; it is the primary provider of those social services.

The Episcopal Church of Haiti

(After the January 12 earthquake)

·More than 100 of the diocese’s 169 churches and preaching stations have been damaged or destroyed.

·Other destroyed or heavily damaged buildings include Holy Trinity Cathedral (where only one wall is left standing and all the murals but one were destroyed) and its surrounding buildings, including schools and a convent, the bishop’s home and the diocesan offices, and at least four of the diocese’s 254 schools, including one of the diocese’s institutions of higher learning.People are currently camped out near the cathedral ruins.

·Bishop Duracin, the 37 clergy, and the three nuns from the Sisters of Saint Margaret in residence in Port-au-Prince all survived.The Bishop’s wife, Marie Edithe, suffered a severe leg injury when the home collapsed and is being treated.At this point, it is unknown how many Episcopal Church members were killed or injured.

·Bishop Duracin rejected offers to evacuate him from Port-au-Prince, choosing instead to care for more than 3000 other homeless victims of the quake in a tent city on the rocky playing field near College Saint Pierre downtown. He is working to coordinate relief services and trying to provide the tent city with basic supplies such as food, water, medical care and shelter. Bishop Duracin has said, “We have to mourn.We have to suffer.But we have to get up because life has to continue.”

·Nursing school dean Hilda Alcindor in Leogane has reported that she and the nursing students have treated (as of Jan. 18) over 5000 people since the quake and are, not surprisingly, experiencing a shortage of medical supplies.A tent city has sprung up in the open fields around the school.

·Four people were reportedly killed by the earthquake during an Episcopal Church service in Trouin, just outside Leogane, where 90 percent of the buildings were destroyed.

Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD)

(Before the January 12 earthquake)

·ERD is currently partnering with the Diocese of Haiti on two major programs:the Bishop Tharp Business and Technology Institute (BTI) in Les Cayes, which opened in 2005 to provide a two-year university-level program in key business management skills with a particular emphasis on business administration, language and computer skills; and the Haitian Development Initiative, which assists local communities in identifying needs and implementing small development projects.

·97% of BTI graduates remain in the local area instead of emigrating out to the capital.

·ERD also partners with Comprehensive Development Project (CODEP) to work on improving the food supply and sanitation systems in the Cormier watershed in the mountainous areas of southern Haiti.

·The sum of these programs provides micro-finance and support for small business, such as bread baking and rabbit and goat farming; reforestation projects; training in home gardening and improved and expanding farming techniques; school canteens; basic sanitation projects; and new cisterns to provide families with a safe supply of water.

Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD)

(After the January 12 earthquake)

·ERD disbursed emergency funding on January 13 to help meet immediate needs such as food, water and shelter.

·ERD is standing ready to support the Diocese of Haiti with post-earthquake recovery and rebuilding efforts.It plans to be there for the long haul as the work of rebuilding lives, diocesan institutions and the fabric of the nation will take years.

·ERD staff members are on the ground in Dominican Republic to assist the Episcopal Diocese of the Dominican Republic in its response to wounded Haitians who have been able to cross the border.

·ERD is working with Bishop Duracin and its Haitian partners, especially a network of community development agents it has trained over the last few years, to connect need with resources.

·ERD has said that, at this point in the relief effort, monetary donations are the best way for most individuals to partner with Haitians.Independent volunteer travel to Haiti is being discouraged for the foreseeable future.

Information compiled by Lynn Wood, Social Ministries Team chair
January 2010