The Rebuilding Continues: Marking Two Years Since the Haiti Earthquake (PHOTOS)

The people of Haiti have suffered enormously in the aftermath of the earthquake in 2010. At the same time, their creativity, faith, hope and joy continue to lead them into a more gracious future. Yet, we are all diminished by the reality of the situation in Haiti. Reconstruction has been painfully slow, funds promised by other nations have not yet been paid or paid in full, and many, many people still live in tents.

The Diocese of Haiti has been serving the people of Haiti with schools (with more than 250 of them back in operation a few short months after the earthquake), with medical facilities and the beginnings of spiritual and cultural healing. The partnership of Episcopal Relief & Development has helped to provide shelter, clean water and some employment. The Episcopal Church as a whole is partnering to help the Diocese of Haiti rebuild the cathedral complex in Port-au-Prince. Before the earthquake, that complex included not only the cathedral with its world famous murals (three have been conserved), but a music school and philharmonic orchestral, a vocational school, a convent, and diocesan offices. Partnerships have helped to provide necessary infrastructure for strategizing and planning the redevelopment work.

The Episcopal Church as a whole has had its heart expanded in the support and partnership with our sisters and brothers in Haiti. I encourage you to continue your prayers, your active partnership in fundraising, and the solidarity that comes from learning about the situation and caring about the future. We all begin to experience more abundant life in caring for our neighbors. I give thanks for the treasure that is Haiti, and urge the faithful accompaniment of the whole Episcopal Church with Haiti!

 

Comments

[berkshireboy]

02:21 PM on 01/13/2012

My Jewish grandmother sang in the choir at the Episcopal church because she liked the music and the closest synagogue was 20 miles away. So a group of Episcopal "ladies" approached her because they they formed a Committee along with the pastor to help her come to terms with how it must feel to be "Jewish and inadequate with all these WASPS" (their words). Needless to say my grandmother was revolted. My grandfather said served her right for going with those big snobs. Glad to see the Episcopal church is in rapid membership decline. Can't happen fast enough.

[joe cat]

01:06 AM on 01/15/2012

sorry that was your family's experience. My (perhaps more recent) experience has been that most Episcopal clergy and laity I have known are open to and participate in interfaith dialogue and efforts that build bridges w/ other faith traditions.

[berkshireboy]

11:49 AM on 01/16/2012

It doesn't matter. The Episcopal Church is pretty much a dying organization and is losing members at a very rapid pace . Good riddance to them

[chipot1e]

09:37 PM on 01/12/2012

Episcopal Relief and Development's Website:

http://www.er-d.org/HaitiFAQs

[chipot1e]

09:39 PM on 01/12/2012

Since the January 2010 earthquake, Episcopal Relief & Development has been working in partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti and its relief and development arm, CEDDISEC (Centre Diocesain de Développement et de Secours) on humanitarian work. In the early phase of this crisis, we worked with the Diocese of Haiti and the Diocese of the Dominican Republic, as well as IMA World Health, an organization providing medical assistance in and around Port-au-Prince. In Haiti, we supported the diocese’s provision of food, health care, water, shelter, sanitation and other emergency supplies to more than 60,000 survivors in eight localities around Haiti.

As part of our ongoing recovery efforts, our support is assisting an additional 40,000 people with short-term employment, provisional homes and community and household sanitation systems. Our staff will continue to work closely with the diocese and CEDDISEC on the long-term humanitarian response to this disaster. Visit www.er-d.org/Haiti for more information about our humanitarian response to the earthquake in Haiti. You can also see where we work on the Haiti aid map on InterAction's website.

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

05:52 PM on 01/12/2012

A million people living in tents and what are they spending their money on? A cathedral. What could be more useless?

[chipot1e]

09:35 PM on 01/12/2012

To be fair, the cathedral was (and continues to be) a cultural center housing a vocational school, a music school, and many other social services. It is also a spiritual center for the largest Episcopal Diocese in the world.

Episcopal Relief and Development has spent spent millions of money to provide shelter, food, water and sanitation, transportation support, agricultural endeavors, and microcredit operations.

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

12:12 AM on 01/13/2012

It really doesn't matter in the long run. Having completely deforested their half of the island, and lost virtually all of their topsoil to erosion, nothing can save Haiti from starvation. Before the earthquake struck there was an article on how there were warehouses full of food on the docks, all of it spoiled and rotting because no one could get organized enough to hand it out.

Haiti was the poorest and worse run nation on earth before the earthquake. I shudder to think of what it must be like now. Good luck.

[enfant terrible]

05:49 PM on 01/12/2012

where's Sean Penn?

[Elizabeth44]

10:23 PM on 01/15/2012

Last I heard he was stymied along with most of the other groups trying to get people housed by the totally inept Haitian government. They can't build new houses because there are no records of who owns the land.

[pigsnose]

05:20 PM on 01/12/2012

A waste of time and money!

[TYRANNASAURUS]

05:09 PM on 01/12/2012

Two Years Since Haiti Earthquake, A Cathedral Rebuilds.......

LET EM' EAT CAKE.

[berkshireboy]

03:29 PM on 01/12/2012

I was a cradle Episcopalian but like my siblings i stopped going. There was so much hate in the Episcopal church that every week i came home from church i had knots in my stomach. The conservatives hated the liberals and the liberals told the conservatives that they were not Christians and why didn't they just leave. Well the Episcopal church just closed my old parish. It is no wonder that there are only about half the number of Episcopalians than there were a few decades ago. I hope things go better in Haiti than the implosion that has happened to the US Episcopal church

[Michele Bennington]

07:56 PM on 01/12/2012

Don't worry all the haters joined my church

[Elizabeth44]

10:23 PM on 01/15/2012

I am sorry.

[william 123]

03:08 PM on 01/12/2012

This reminds me of a poem a wrote a few years ago:

SAVING HAITI

You wretched inheritors of half a lowly land...
How dare you try to join God's chose children...
Your sins...your religion...your regal beauty...
cannot overcome the resentment..the uppity
arrogance...many children of the Conquistadors..
bear against you...Yet still they love you...
are drawn to you,,,want to save you...and your
precious children...It is like the laconic jail guard...
who falls in love with his charge...but cannot
safely set him free...Haiti!...you should curse...
the Olmecs...for such a meager...skimpy dowry...
You should curse again...the Great Liberator..
L'Overture...for setting such a high...tall bar...
none of your pathetic leaders...have met since...
Sing at...and continue to curse...the sibling bully...
living above you...meddling and feigning love...
We..the conflicted children of the Conquistadors...
must do all we can to save Haiti...and then mercifully..gratefully ....let Haiti save us!....

[Soft Robot]

02:06 PM on 01/12/2012

Those are recent photos. Case closed.

[Dragosurfer]

10:35 AM on 01/12/2012

They don't need empty and totally useless prayers and proselytizing; they need money in the form of investment to enable them to repair their infrastructure.

[MirrorMonkey]

03:24 PM on 01/12/2012

How much of yours are you sending them?

[Dragosurfer]

05:47 PM on 01/12/2012

Like that has anything at all to do with this issue or my comment.

[Paros]

10:05 AM on 01/12/2012

Thank you for your time dedicated to the installation of Bishop Kee Sloan. It was wonderful to have you back in Birmingham.

[MIKEinNYC]

08:23 AM on 01/12/2012

A cat crawls out of the rubble and people are thanking god. Thousands of people die, how come god doesn't get the blame?

[edgraham]

09:41 AM on 01/12/2012

Two possible answers: there is a God, or there is no God.

If there is, shame on him.

If not, why are the people of Haiti praying for help.

It seems like a simple question that people are afraid to ask, but if there is a God, why does he act like a sociopath?

[pigsnose]

05:22 PM on 01/12/2012

ergo there is no god!

[Paros]

10:10 AM on 01/12/2012

You question is an age old one.
If you do not believe in God you will not look for an understanding.
If you do there have been answers to this question penned for millennia.
As a non-believer you would not find merit in them.
But if you want to understand how people of faith respond then you
can look into any of the many works in the branch of theology
known as theodicy.

[heardmeright]

08:16 AM on 01/12/2012

I continue to pray for the brave people of Haiti as they rebuild their country and lives. A lot of meaningful ministry has been taking place there in recent years as well.

[heardmeright]

09:20 AM on 01/12/2012

How come unthankful people never acknowledge the patience and goodness of God? It is because of his mercy that we are not consumed. A person with a high view of themselves and a low view of God always is quick to come to the conclusion that God is to be blamed for all tragedy.

[Dragosurfer]

12:02 PM on 01/12/2012

Why do you assume that your god exist? Is it just a gut feeling you have? Is it just because you were raised to believe in god and never given a choice in the matter?

[Dragosurfer]

10:30 AM on 01/12/2012

Praying is the act of doing nothing while pretending to do something to make yourself feel good about doing nothing. Putting a single penny in an envelope and mailing it to Haiti would be more helpful than praying.

[heardmeright]

01:39 PM on 01/12/2012

Your opinion is very predictable: God doesn't exist, and all who honor him are wasting their time and money. Anybody who believes in God and loves him must have been brainwashed. I see all that coming a long way off. But I see in nature the imprint of God's creation. Order, beauty, etc. all testify to his grace and power. Prayer for my own needs and that of others (like your salvation) is not "nothing", but the response of a heart that rejoices over grace received. None of this you have personal knowledge of, and so you will mock and challenge as long as given the opportunity.