Dear Haiti Friends,
Sad to say, the situation in Mirebalais has not improved. The residents of Mirebalais, Trianon, Saut d’eau, Ville Bonheur, and other nearby communities are not able to return to their homes. Pere Kesner Gracia and Pere Alphonse report that they have been able to find some people who were missing and some families have been reunited, but the situation is still unstable. It is also still unclear how many people were killed in the takeover of this area. The public health situation is dire, as the gangs in order to instill fear do not permit family members to retrieve the bodies of persons they have killed, but leave them in the streets to decay.
Pere Gracia and Pere Alphonse shared the attached spreadsheet from the first week which shows the local Episcopal Churches housing, feeding, and responsible for about 10,000 refugees in the immediate area and in Cap Haitien and other farther-away places, using their own and other facilities and private homes. (Imagine even the biggest churches you have ever belonged to taking in and trying to organize, house, and feed 10,000 refugees!) Pere Gracia reports that some of these have now been taken in by family members farther away but new refugees continue to arrive after camping along trails, so the total number is still fairly accurate. In places like Cange, Thomonde, Hinche, and Lascahobas, they are offering shelter and assistance even though there is much fear that they will be the next targets. Many refugees are still in the remote mountains, some unhoused, some sheltering with family or friends. The Catholic Church is another major provider of shelter, with a big church in the city of Hinche, and other churches, individuals, and communities are also helping with the many, many more families seeking shelter. No outside aid organizations are present at last report.
Pere Gracia and Pere Alphonse send their deepest thanks to those who have sent assistance. I attached the Partnership protocols for sending funds to a previous newsletter and am attaching them again. Please note that one of the most important instructions is to send an email when funds are sent. The bank does not notify the diocese of incoming deposits, and even if they did, Pere Gracia would have no way of knowing from whom it came and for whom it is intended. (My own church’s wires come from “The Wardens and Vestrymen of” which is the beginning of the official name from incorporation in 1911, and the bank form’s limited character allowance cuts it off right there.) You may add Pere Alphonse to the list for notification: jjalphonse54@yahoo.com.
Individuals are welcome to use these protocols, but note that your funds sent directly are not tax deductible. The Diocese of Haiti is a Haitian non-profit, not a U.S. non-profit, even though it is part of the Episcopal Church. You may contribute a tax-deductible gift to a U.S. church or school partner’s Haiti Fund if you wish. Partners who are supporting the emergency relief efforts, if you are willing to accept donations for your Haiti Fund, could you kindly let me know and I will share your information. My own church is doing so, and I am happy to share that information if you are interested. A few people from outside our church have already contributed in that way. Note that as with other charitable contributions, donors cannot direct the specific use of the funds — “This is for the so-and-so family.” You would be supporting a Haiti Partnership whose leaders have assured you that they are sending funds for relief efforts.
Excerpts from two of Pere Gracia’s communications:
…As for us, the priests and deacons of the Plateau, we work hand in hand to offer moral and material support to the displaced, according to our means. Together, we have been able to locate refugees through telephone calls and field visits, in order to assess their situation directly.
In the same spirit of solidarity, we have organized to welcome displaced children from Mirebalais, Saut d’Eau and Trianon into our schools. The aim is to ensure that they do not lose the school year, regardless of their religious affiliation.
However, despite all these efforts, the needs remain crying and urgent. That’s why I warmly welcome your gesture of assistance, which represents a real breath of life for children and their families, desperate refugees elsewhere.
…At the same time, I’d like to humbly ask you if it would be possible for you to once again knock on the door of our partners’ generous hearts, in order to solicit, even if it is little they can offer, an additional contribution to relieve these survivors.
In thanking you again for your support, I assure you of our prayers and our commitment to continue this work in the service of our brothers and sisters in distress.
They surely do show us an example of sacrificial giving.
Yours,
Serena
Serena Evans Beeks
Canon Serena Evans Beeks, D.Min.
US Coordinator, Haiti Episcopal School Partnerships
National Association of Episcopal Schools