Hold the People of Haiti in Your Prayers

With the recent assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise, the violence and civil unrest only add to the chaos of food insecurity, political turmoil, and COVID outbreaks throughout the country. Jon Dutton has been in touch with our two connections in Petit Harpon, Sam and Pere Banna. He has spoken to Sam a couple of times this week but hasn’t been able to reach Pere Banna since shortly after the assassination. 

Sam was in the U.S. when it the events took place and flew to the Dominican Republic to be with his wife and daughter. As he plans to return to Petit Harpon next week, he said, “a lot of people are suffering and I need to be there with them, help them.”

In the United States, members of Outreach Haiti and other ministries are feeling helpless. We (Outreach Haiti) are continuing the food program throughout the Summer. We hope to hear back from Pere Banna soon. While Petit Harpon is a three-hour drive from the capitol, Port-au-Prince, where much of the unrest has taken place, Sam states that it is bad everywhere. He asks us to pray for them. We hope to hear more soon.

Below are updates from Ken Quigley, President of the Board of St Vincent’s Ministries also in Haiti.

By now you have likely heard the news of the tragic assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise. Well before the assassination, gang activity, kidnappings, and killings were on the rise. The violence threatens not only the individual safety of all Haitians, but also exacerbates food insecurity, limits access to fuel and other essential consumables. It threatens the progress of many of our Haitian partners who work with great resolve in the face of uncertainty, including the staff at St. Vincent’s. The daily suffering of Haitian citizens is unimaginable, and has worsened, particularly in the last three years. The U.S. media has reported little of the struggle until the assassination, and even now continues to struggle to accurately represent the reality on the ground.

Until this past May, COVID had only grazed Haiti's population, but in June the more contagious variants surged. The Episcopal Diocese lost the Rector and Vice-Rector of the Haiti Episcopal University (UNEPH) to COVID. The priest-director of Holy Trinity Music School and Orchestra, the Rev. David Cesar, died last month. Earlier this month, the Rev. Fritz LaFontant died. He had established the Episcopal mission in Cange, connected with Paul Farmer, and after telling him not to return to Haiti unless he'd gone to medical school, worked together with a strong team to create Partners in Health.

These are immense losses - to the Diocese and to the country. As of this writing there is still not a drop of any vaccine in Haiti: a country of 11.5 million people with scant medical infrastructure. Moreover, the political violence in Port-au-Prince in particular has recently led Doctors without Borders to temporarily suspend their work, all during this spike in COVID cases.

Please hold the people and the country of Haiti in your heart and your daily prayers. As God's children, we are one family. May our prayers and actions show forth that love.