REQUEST FOR FOOD SUPPORT FOR VULNERABLE FAMILIES OF THE ORTHODOX PARISH OF SAINT AUGUSTINE AFFECTED BY THE HAITIAN INSTITUTIONAL AND POLITICAL CRISIS
Christ is among us! Jacmel, Haiti. 10/10/2022
From Reverend Father Claude (Claudy) PIERRE
Please, help us. Since 2019 to the present day, Haiti has experienced an endless institutional and political crisis: there is a collapse of the state and a proliferation of armed gangs in the capital in Port-au-Prince and in almost all other cities. The State cannot meet its obligations; the criminal gangs besieging the country and its people have fermented and sprouted under the aegis of politicians and the international community. The rape, theft, kidnapping and massacres had left our potential guardians insensitive; the faces: north, south, east and west of the capital are blocked by armed gangs. However, the capital of the country (Port-au-Prince) is the center of commercial and economic activities in the country; the fuel crisis and the sudden resurgence of cholera brought all the country's activities to a standstill. Inflation rises from 8% in 2019 to 28% in 2021 to reach 38% in 2022. Now we are facing a general uprising in the country against the government. We have protests everywhere and all activities have been blocked for more than 8 weeks. Today, the Orthodox parishioner families of St. Augustine face many urgent problems:
No access to drinking water (water treatment companies do not work, since they cannot find fuel)
Food (families do not find a dish a day to feed; they force to take a dish every two (2) or every three (3) days to ensure its survival)
They have no purchasing power (all activities are at a standstill; no traffic, no trade, roads are blocked; rare days, we give truce......)
Faced with this situation, we urgently ask for support (Food, financial...) For the supply of drinking water, food kits and detergents to 50 families of the Orthodox parish of Saint Augustine as well as the neighboring people of the parish to compensate with this famine and the rise of cholera for a period of at least 15 days. Our request is 7325.75 US dollars. This sum is designed for the purchase and will be distributed as follows:
Rice, Beans, Spaghetti, Oil, Drinking water, Salmon, and finally
Detergent (for hand washing to prevent cholera)........
He is truly among us! In Christ:
Reverend Father Claude (Claudy) PIERRE
Head of the Orthodox Parish of Saint Augustine of Jacmel
Here follows more information for those who are not aware of the overall conditions in our country leading up to the current crisis, having begun since 2019. Then follows the Appeal of Fr. Jules in Leogane.
RATIONALE AND CONTEXT OF THE REQUEST The Republic of Haiti, located in the Caribbean Sea southeast of Cuba. Hit by repeated natural disasters and a recurrent political crisis that extends over time, Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas and has just been ranked 8th among the most fragile states in the world. There are 11.4 million inhabitants (census by 2018 estimate).
According to the 2020 Human Development Index established by the UNDP, it ranks 171st out of 189 countries and the unemployment rate is 65%. Finally, according to a study conducted by UNDP 2021; 59% of the population lives below the poverty line of $2 a day and more than 5 million Haitians (49%) live below the extreme poverty line of less than a dollar a day. Development projects and activities in Haiti have declined since January 2010 when a powerful earthquake shook the capital.
Development projects and activities in Haiti have declined since January 2010; when a powerful earthquake shook the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas. The earthquake killed 230,000 people and severely disrupted essential services and economic activity. Since then, Haiti has been slowly beginning its exit from the crisis and has reoriented its efforts towards long-term development. In 2012, the Haitian government adopted a long-term strategic development plan (Haiti Strategic Development Plan: Vision 2030) and a new framework to coordinate development assistance. In decline since the 1980s, agriculture remains the main productive sector and accounts for nearly a quarter of GDP. Hurricane Mathieu on October 4, 2016 have been hit the southern peninsula of Haiti and the earthquake of 2021 Greatly aggravates the economic and food situation of the Haitian population. Basic food products are not available and accessible in local markets, so the prices of basic necessities have increased considerably. As an alternative, the most vulnerable populations have resorted to charcoal production, livestock sales, petty trade and accelerated tree cutting. The Department of South-East (Jacmel) is facing significant constraints, starting with decades of underinvestment. Beyond the acute problems that have arisen following the last two droughts and the passage of Hurricane Matthew, which require urgent action, some areas are experiencing chronic problems that deserve to be addressed from a sustainable development perspective. Low agricultural productivity in the most exposed areas remains a major problem, compounded by a large decapitalization of families.
Christ is among us! Leogane, Haiti. 10/10/2022
From Reverend Father Jules Dume
Dear Father Daniel, Bless!
I come to you, as head of the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul in the city of Léogane.
We ask for your financial help in view of the difficult situation of the country and of all our faithful with your administration. I can explain in a few words the critical state they are facing. The faithful live in miserable situations because of the precarious situation currently in Haiti, an undesirable state.
They are malnourished, poorly dressed, poorly housed and the country is currently blocked. Often people and the faithful turn to me for some need. I do not have the means to help them.
Dear Father, personally with this precariousness of the high cost of living that is currently taking place in Haiti, I ask you for an aid of $5000 US to your administration to pay the University of Marc, the schooling of my daughters Melissa and Anne as a whole to solve my economic difficulties.
I thank you in advance by taking my request into consideration. I go through extremely difficult times with my three children. The majority of my parishioners live on less than a dollar a week, kneeling because of the degradation of the country that is still and again blocked.
Receive dear Father my personal greetings and those of my dearest parishioners.
In Christ! Father Jules Dumé.