World Council of Churches head leads team to Haiti quake zone

        The delegation includes ecumenical leaders from North America, the
Caribbean, Latin America, France, and the Dominican Republic.
        “For me, it is important to see and listen to the Haitian people, and to see
how the churches can respond to their needs in a meaningful way,” said
Tveit, according to his spokesperson Maria Halava, from the ACT Alliance.
“It is significant that the Haitians themselves are involved in all
reconstruction work,” added the WCC leader on June 15.
        Tveit, a Norwegian Lutheran, who took up his post only days before the quake
struck Haiti, visited Norwegian Church Aid’s project in Bel Air on the
outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince. This is in an area known as the
red zone, which marks regions most severely damaged by the earthquake.
        The ecumenical delegation saw that people in the camps are still living
under plastic sheeting, and vulnerable to rain and hurricanes.
        The government in Haiti said that around 230,000 people died, 300,000 had
been injured and one million people were left without homes after the quake.
        “It will take a long time until we can see the change,” said Bernice Powell
Jackson, WCC president from North America. She compared the
situation with that of New Orleans, where hurricane Katrina hit five years
ago. “It [New Orleans] looked like the damage was so bad that nothing could
be done but now, five years later, you can see the progress,” Jackson said.
        Together with ACT Alliance member Church World Service, which supports an
organization working with people with disabilities, the delegation visited camps in Petion
Ville. “Before the earthquake, there were approximately 800,000 people living with
disabilities. Now, there might be a million,” Jackson explained.
        Members of the visiting group noted that mental and spiritual healing will be
needed for Haitians to rebuild their lives.
        “Together, we can try to find ways to strengthen the fellowship of
churches,” said Lorenzo Mota King, executive director of the Social Services
of the Dominican Churches agency, which is part of the ACT Alliance. The
Dominican Republic has given extensive support to Haiti since the
earthquake.