DISASTER RELIEF UPDATE: 2021 EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI
NAZARENE COMPASSIONATE MINISTRIES
Your Impact: Emergency Relief for the People of Haiti On August 14, 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook the lower peninsula of Haiti, affecting an area with more than 1.5 million residents. In addition to destroying thousands of physical structures and destabilizing the infrastructure of three provinces, the quake directly impacted more than 800,000 people—340,000 of whom were children—and left 650,000 Haitians in need of emergency relief. With your help, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries was able to partner with leaders of Nazarene districts and churches in Haiti to organize a well-orchestrated distribution of relief. Nazarene leaders and volunteers from two districts in Haiti—the Grand’Anse and South districts—drew from recent experience organizing a 2016 hurricane response to mobilize compassionate relief following the 2021 earthquake. Each district created a plan for assembling food kits and established distribution sites for impacted people to receive food, tarps, and other essential items.
Each food kit contained enough food to feed a family of five for up to four days.
Relief in Les Cayes Church volunteers assembled 7,248 food kits for families in need.
44,874 people received food through the relief distribution.
More than 76 tons of rice and 19 tons of beans went to feed hungry people.
7,479 tarps went to homes damaged by the earthquake.
The Madame-Juliene Church of the Nazarene in Les Cayes was one of 15 Nazarene churches destroyed in the earthquake. The loss of their building left all 77 families who belong to the church with no structure for gathering; many members also suffered significant losses at home. Due to heavy damage to the community, Les Cayes served as one of the sites for assembling and distributing food kits. Because church leaders have built strong relationships in the community, local store owners allowed relief workers to use their stores as distribution sites. Many people in the community experienced the love of God through the relief program carried out in Les Cayes. Sister Manel Jeune, a member of the Madame-Juliene church, praised God and thanked church leaders for establishing a distribution center there. “We had lost everything and we did not have the means to overcome the situation,” Manel said. “Everyone in the community was touched by the distribution.” The pastor, Rev. Louis Seus Limoname, also celebrated the church’s impact on the community. “As a result of the distribution, we have had four people who have given their lives to Jesus,” Pastor Louis said. “They witnessed love inside the church.”
Learn more about disaster relief at ncm.org/emergencyrelief