ELCA concludes its earthquake-relief efforts in Haiti

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
has concluded its relief and recovery efforts in Haiti following the
January 2010 earthquake - the most powerful to strike Haiti in more than
200 years.
Nearly 250,000 people were killed, 300,000 injured and more than 1
million people were left homeless as a result of the earthquake. Through
Lutheran Disaster Response, ELCA members responded by donating more than
$12.5 million dollars to support relief efforts, which were conducted in
partnership with the Lutheran Church in Haiti and The Lutheran World
Federation.
According to the Rev. Raquel Rodriguez, director for the ELCA Latin
American and Caribbean Continental desk, ELCA members “can see the fruits
of their generosity.”
Funds provided by ELCA members supported immediate and long-term
recovery that rebuilt communities, and restored and sustained lives.
In Gressier, located near the Haitian capital of Port au Prince, new
community centers were built to provide space for training and education
projects established by the Lutheran Church in Haiti. These projects
include vocational training to teach workers how to build homes that are
stronger and more disaster-resistant and a Montessori-based primary
school.
In addition to these projects, there are income-generating endeavors
such as a dairy that sells yogurt processed from locally-produced milk,
guest house facilities for visitors to the church and a factory that
creates and sells vibrated cement blocks. These sturdy blocks were used
for the construction of each of these facilities and other rebuilding
efforts.
The Lutheran Church in Haiti anticipates that these projects will
generate income “not only for people in this community, but also for the
church. Part of the income (to be) generated will come back to the church
for mission and evangelism. So, it is really important to celebrate all
the things that have been enabled by the funds that ELCA members have
provided,” said Rodriguez.
ELCA funds sent to Lutheran World Federation supported the
federation’s construction of a newly created community called The
Gressier Model Village with 150 homes and a community center -- all built
to resist earthquakes and hurricane-force winds and rain. Families
started moving into the village this spring. Dr. Carl Stecker, ELCA
director for global diakonia, attended the February 2013 dedication
ceremony and toured the community.
“A lot of the rhetoric [talk] immediately after the earthquake by
former Presidents Clinton and Bush and others in the international
community was ‘let’s build Haiti back better’ and this was a way we as
the Lutheran church have responded with our partners in the Lutheran
World Federation,” said Stecker.
The ELCA’s long-term relief providing housing, education and life-
skills training “is a very affirmative way of accompanying the people in
Haiti. Not only in the immediate (aftermath), but in a way that will have
long-lasting effects,” said Rodriguez.
In the midst of the recovery efforts, disaster funds were also
provided to help contain an outbreak of cholera. The church responded to
the epidemic by establishing programs to teach Haitians about the causes
of cholera and ways to prevent the spread of the disease. The program
continues through a grant from ELCA World Hunger.
The ELCA is a member of The Lutheran World Federation, a global
communion of 143 member churches in 79 countries worldwide, and is the
communion’s only member church from the United States. The Lutheran
Church in Haiti is pursuing membership in the federation.