2021
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Named person(s)
None
Date photo taken
02 September 2021
Partner organization
Association des Volontaires pour la Reforme et le Développement de Saint-Jean-du-Sud (AVOREDES; Association for the Reform and Development of Saint-Jean-du-Sud)
City/Town
Port-au-Prince
Country of origin
Haiti
Region
Latin America and Carribbean
Photo credit
MCC photo/Paul Fast
Themes
Relief
Description
MCC material aid being loaded into a Mission Aviation Fellowship airplane in Port-au-Prince. The air transport was provided free of charge by MAF. MCC Haiti Program Manager Muriel Chaperon and MCC Health Coordinator Paul Shetler Fast accompanied the 1,600 lbs of material aid down for distribution with partner AVOREDES in Saint-Jean-du-Sud following the August 14 earthquake. The aid was for 50 families whose homes had been seriously damaged or destroyed in the quake. The load included 50 relief buckets and 25 boxes of canned meat (each family received 12 cans as a compliment to the basic food rations available). Air transport was used due to insecurity in the road from Port-au-Prince to the south.
Personal/Project impact
On Tuesday, August 31, MCC flew canned meat and relief kits (a large bucket of hygiene supplies for a family) through Mission Aviation Fellowship, to Saint-Jean-du-Sud, a southwest municipality in southern Haiti. This area was impacted by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Aug. 14, that caused more than 2,000 fatalities and destroyed or damaged houses and livelihoods, leaving 650,000 people in need of emergency humanitarian assistance. MCC’s partner Association des Volontaires pour la Reforme et le Développement de Saint-Jean-du-Sud (AVOREDES; Association for the Reform and Development of Saint-Jean-du-Sud) distributed 12 cans of meat and one relief kit to 50 families whose homes were destroyed or severely damaged and were considered especially vulnerable, including pregnant women, people with disabilities, and families headed by elderly persons or single women. AVOREDES is connected to Assemblée de la Grâce, which is part of Mennonite World Conference. About half of the people who received supplies were related to Mennonite churches in the area.
This was the first distribution in the area by any organization. Getting supplies to the area was initially difficult because of insecurity from gangs and bandits and tropical storm Grace that followed the earthquake within the same week. Paul Fast, former MCC representative in Haiti and current MCC health coordinator, reported that recipients were filled with gratitude. One woman said, “Thank you for not leaving us alone. We’ve felt very alone these last days, waiting after the earthquake, hoping someone would come, hoping someone would not forget us.”