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PRESBYTERIAN DISASTER ASSISTANCE
Update 2/12/2010
Grounds for service
PC(USA)-related nursing school
in Haiti provides care to
homeless on its campus, damaged
hospital receives funds from PDA
by
Bethany Furkin
Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE —
In the weeks since Haiti’s Jan.
12 earthquake, the Presbyterian
Church (USA) and its partners
have mobilized to help, both on
the ground in Haiti and from the
United States.
Through its partnerships with
Church World Service and
ACT International,
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
was able to help ship baby kits
and hygiene kits to Haiti the
day after the earthquake, said
PDA Coordinator Randy Ackley.
As of Feb. 2, PDA has collected
about $2 million in donations
for Haiti relief and recovery.
So far, $409,000 has been sent —
$209,000 for the kits and
$200,000 for a Leogane hospital
that was damaged in the
earthquake.
View a slideshow from PDA on the
Web site.
Hôpital Sainte Croix (Holy Cross
Hospital) is a ministry of the
Episcopal Diocese of Haiti,
which has had a long partnership
with the PC(USA). The hospital
itself is damaged but still
standing. Other hospital
buildings, like the guest
house/administrative block and
an apartment building, were
destroyed.
Another PC(USA)-related medical
facility in Leogane was
relatively unharmed by the
earthquake and is now providing
emergency care to victims.
The Faculty of Nursing Science
of the Episcopal University of
Haiti (FSIL) is a nursing school
supported through a partnership
of the PC(USA), the Medical
Benevolence Foundation and the
Episcopal Diocese of Haiti.
People who were displaced by the
earthquake have set up makeshift
tents on the school ground.
Providing care are six Haitian
doctors, student nurses and
volunteers as well as
international aid organizations
from Switzerland and Japan.
FSIL is the only baccalaureate
nursing program in Haiti and
graduated its first class in
January 2009. About 100 students
attend the school and live in a
dorm on campus.
Information furnished by
International Health Ministries.
http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2010/10133.htm
Prayer for Haiti
From
the Presbyterian USA website Jan 13,
2010
We
pray for Haiti
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As the eyes of the world turn to
Haiti, let us join our hearts in
prayer:
God of compassion
Please watch over the people of
Haiti,
And weave out of these terrible
happenings
wonders of goodness and grace.
Surround those who have been
affected by tragedy
With a sense of your present love,
And hold them in faith.
Though they are lost in grief,
May they find you and be comforted;
Guide us as a church
To find ways of providing assistance
that heals wounds and provides hope
Help us to remember that when one of
your children suffer
We all suffer
Through Jesus Christ who was dead,
but lives
and rules this world with you. Amen.
(Adapted from Book of Common
Worship)
— Bruce Reyes-Chow, Gradye Parsons
and Linda Valentine
The
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is
responding to this earthquake
through Presbyterian Disaster
Assistance and its partners.
Presbyterian World Mission is
gathering information on the safety
and status of our mission personnel
and ecumenical partners in the area.
For updates on the earthquake and
the church’s response, please
continue to visit PDA. Initial
reports indicate a large number of
casualties and widespread damage
especially in the capital city of
Port-au-Prince.
You,
too, can be part of God’s answer to
prayer for those affected by this
disaster. Information on the
situation and prayers and worship
resources will soon be available.
Funds from One Great Hour of Sharing
are already helping with the initial
response. You can give to the
ongoing relief through PDA account
number DR000064. |
