LES CAYES, Haiti – Missouri Baptists are responding after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake killed greater than 2,000 individuals in Haiti, Aug. 14, leaving roughly 30,000 households homeless.
Tropical Storm Grace hit the nation solely two days after the earthquake, making it tough for provides and help to succeed in survivors and intensifying wants within the area.
Missouri Baptist Catastrophe Reduction (DR) is sending funds to help a Haitian medical workforce organized by Alpha Omega Ministry (ALOM), a ministry born out of a 2010 earthquake that devastated the island nation. Initially, Missouri DR is sending $5,000, “however we hope the generosity of Missouri Baptists will improve this quantity,” state DR Director Gaylon Moss instructed The Pathway. (To provide, go to https://mobaptist.org/disaster-relief-donation.)
Moss added that ALOM has “help from many organizations, together with one I used to be working with on the time (of the 2010 earthquake), Baptists on Mission.” He mentioned that their medical workforce has the benefit – as native Haitians – of understanding Creole, the native language, by coronary heart. Missouri DR “could help extra companions and initiatives (sooner or later) as we study extra about response” within the area, Moss added.
The medical workforce, which might be primarily based in Les Cayes, Haiti, contains three medical doctors, two nurses, and a psychological well being skilled.
The function of psychological well being professionals is critical within the aftermath of this earthquake, mentioned Caitlin Beauplan, a member of Harmony Baptist Church, Jefferson Metropolis, and Southwest Baptist College alumnus, who moved to Haiti a number of years in the past to serve with Hope Group Undertaking.
Beauplan and her household felt the earthquake at their house within the northern coastal metropolis of Gonaives, although they didn’t see any injury of their area. However she mentioned individuals all through the nation had been in shock after the earthquake struck.
“From an emotional standpoint, many are struggling. Throughout the nation, many individuals are triggered by reminiscences of the 2010 earthquake and the devastation it precipitated,” Beauplan mentioned. An estimated 250,000 individuals had been killed throughout the 2010 quake, which has been referred to as the nation’s most devastating pure catastrophe.
“Pray for peace throughout Haiti,” Beauplan added. “This little island nation has confronted a lot over time, and the final three years particularly – political unrest and instability, presidential assassination, pure disasters and extra.”