Devastating Earthquake Hits Haiti

A 7.0 earthquake has hit the poorest country in the western hemisphere taking a toll on a country that is just recovering from the four hurricanes that devastated the western coast of Haiti in September 2009.

We have been able to talk to Kevin shortly after the earthquake. He was en route from Titanyen to Port au Prince and stated there were many collapsed houses along the road. He had heard of one house it Titanyen collapsing killing the occupant. We were unable to make contact with any of our other staff through the night but was able to reach our director Jean Fils-Aime this morning. He told us his house had collapsed but his family including his son Djovany are alright. Jean had talked to Guilluame at our orphanage in Cite Soleil and was told that the 30 children were "OK"... he said one child was injured and taken to the hospital but will be "OK".

We have not been able to get ahold of Yvon at our orphanage in Titanyen and have no information at this time on the 23 orphaned children there. We also have not heard from Fanfan or Elder and have no information on Elders school in Cite Soleil.

We were able to talk with Joyce at Mother Theresa's and she said they had damage there. The babies were all moved outside and spent the night outside. She said the guest house is still standing but is severely damaged. She said Father Tom's house collapsed and he was injured but will be "OK".

We are trying to get our water truck up and running to bring badly needed water into Cite Soleil. We are also trying to raise emergency funds to bring our second water truck out of "moth balls" and use it to deliver water where needed. We are also deploying our dumptruck and Bobcat to help.

As we hear more, we will continue to update the blog. Please pray for the people of Haiti. They need our prayers so desperately. If you can give, please visit www.healinghaiti.org and make a donation.

Ke Bondye Beni'ou,

Jeff & Alyn