Local people raise £13k for Haiti

The magnificent sum was raised following an appeal by Drop Inn Ministries, based at Castlecroft, in the wake of the devastating earthquake which struck the poverty-stricken region last month.

However, the shocking desperation still felt by many in Haiti was starkly demonstrated in a letter sent from a pastor in the country to a local pastor.

Edwina Chambers of Drop Inn Ministries showed the Times a copy of the email in which the Haitian pastor says many are "ready to die because the death will be an end to our suffering".

The message - sent to Armagh man Pastor Ronnie Dawson who is due to visit the area - reads:

"Our school is collapsed, the church is damaged and the whole church family is homeless.

"For us in Haiti, hope is over, we are ready to die because the death will be the end of our suffering and for us Christians death is a gain."

Edwina said: "These people really are in dire straits, it's awful.

"Ballymoney people have raised thousands of pounds to help and we thank everyone who has donated."

As of last week an estimated three million people were affected by the quake; the Haitian Government reports that between 217,000 and 230,000 people had been identified as dead, an estimated 300,000 injured, and an estimated 1,000,000 homeless.

The death toll is expected to rise. They also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged.

The earthquake caused major damage to Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other settlements in the region. Many notable landmark buildings were significantly damaged or destroyed, including the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main jail.

Many countries responded to appeals for humanitarian aid, pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel. Communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks had been damaged by the earthquake, which hampered rescue and aid efforts; confusion over who was in charge, air traffic congestion, and problems with prioritisation of flights further complicated early relief work. Port-au-Prince's morgues were quickly overwhelmed; tens of thousands of bodies were buried in mass graves. As rescues tailed off, supplies, medical care and sanitation became priorities. Delays in aid distribution led to angry appeals from aid workers and survivors, and some looting and sporadic violence were observed.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and is ranked 149th of 182 countries on the Human Development Index.

By 14 January, a thousand bodies had been placed on the streets and pavements. Government crews manned trucks to collect thousands more, burying them in mass graves.

In the heat and humidity, corpses buried in rubble began to decompose and smell. Mati Goldstein, head of the Israeli ZAKA International Rescue Unit delegation to Haiti, described the situation as "Shabbat from hell. Everywhere, the acrid smell of bodies hangs in the air. It’s just like the stories we are told of the Holocaust – thousands of bodies everywhere. You have to understand that the situation is true madness, and the more time passes, there are more and more bodies, in numbers that cannot be grasped. It is beyond comprehension."

For information on what you can do to help contact Edwina at Drop Inn Ministries.