A 7.2 – magnitude earthquake violently shook Haiti on August 14. Just 5 weeks after the assassination of their president, Jovenel Moise. It was even more powerful than the 7.0 magnitude earthquake of 2010 that killed nearly 300,000 people. This earthquake’s epicenter, Petit Trou de Nippes, is a less densely populated area of the country. About 80 miles west of Port Au Prince. Two cities that have reported major devastation are Les Cayes and Jeremie, which are located in Haiti’s southern peninsula. Two cities that are still rebuilding since the devastating hurricane Matthew of 2016. As of this morning, there have been 1,297 reported deaths so far with thousands of others injured. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of homes and buildings are completely destroyed.

We felt the earthquake here in Charrier but, by the grace of God, experienced no injuries or structural damages. Zacharie’s family members were not directly affected either. The kids are definitely shook up and you can feel the tension in the air as there are many who suffer from the trauma of their experience with the 2010 earthquake. Zacharie and his sister Antas included as they were both in Port au Prince that day.

The aftershocks on the day of the August 14 earthquake had everyone nervous, so we decided to camp out together in our yard. Waking up the next morning with all my kids close by made me so thankful for our big yard to be able to do that.

We have been closely following the relief efforts that are taking place right now. At this time we do not have plans to start our own relief efforts, but we wanted to make recommendations on some worthy organizations to give toward right now. These are pre existing organizations that are already established and working in country. We encourage you to consider giving toward smaller scale orgs as large non profits usually have a huge overhead and the funds that actually make it to Haiti would be only a small percentage of your donation.

Here are some great organizations to consider giving toward right now:

1. Hero Rescue Haiti – https://www.heroclientrescue.com/ is a 24/7 emergency medical ambulance and medevac service here in country that is already working to help treat and transport the injured to major hospitals. Follow the donate link on their website.
2. Haiti Air Ambulance – https://www.haitiairambulance.org/ is a nonprofit dedicated to providing emergency helicopter services in country that has also already been working in the affected areas. Donations can be made on their website
3. Hope for Haiti – https://hopeforhaiti.com/ is an org in Les Cayes that has been established for 30+ years. They have a full short and long term recovery plan on their website and are posting updates about their relief efforts frequently. Follow the link to donate.
4. Little Footprints, Big Steps – https://littlefootprintsbigsteps.com/ is an org that “protects vulnerable children in Haiti by reuniting families and empowering them with resources and opportunities to build a self sufficient future.” They are working to help as many as possible affected by the earthquake and donations can be made on their website.

I’m sure there are MANY worthy organizations right now, but here are just a few that we have been aware of that are working right now to help those affected by this earthquake. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

Above all, please join us in prayer over this country. Haiti really cant seem to catch a break. Yes, these people are amazingly resilient which they’ve proven time and time again. But they are still human and they can only handle so much.

Thank you all for your continuous support.

Some information was taken from this article https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/08/14/world/haiti-earthquake