Bishop Jean Zache Duracin Says Thank you to Aid Workers, Invites the World Community to Partner in Rebuilding His Nation

Port-au-Prince, Haiti: January 31, 2010, (PCTV Newsdesk)

"We are desperate but strong in faith."

These are the words of Bishop Jean Zache Duracin of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti two weeks after the earthquake, which has become known simply as 'La Catastrophe.'

The Bishop, who January 18 rejected offers to evacuate him from Port-au-Prince, told an aide at that time he must remain in the Haitian capital.

"No, I will stay with my people," the Rev. Lauren Stanley, one of four Episcopal Church missionaries assigned to the Haitian diocese, told Episcopal News Service (ENS) the bishop said in response to the evacuation offer.

In his reflections posted on the website of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti (www.egliseepiscopaledhaiti.org  ), Bishop Duracin describes the devastation and present living conditions, and his own diocese'soutreach to thousands of people who have been made homeless, including children and disabled people, and many who are wounded.

In a news release circulated by ACNSlist, published by Anglican Communion News Service, London, which is distributed to more than 8,000 journalists and other readers around the world, the Bishop reflects that for Haiti the course of history has changed. He looks to the future, with prayer and in faith, for long-term partnership with others who might accompany the people of Haiti as they work to rebuild and restore their nation.

Monseigneur Duracin made his observations online after the devastating catastrophe of Tuesday, January 12 in the afternoon, "a date which will be marked forever in the memory of the Haitians and the people of the entire world.

"January 12, around 4: 53 in the afternoon, is the beginning of another period in the history of this republic called 'The First Black Republic of the World,' " the Bishop writes.

The Bishop states: "It's also another period in the history of humanitarian aides.because the catastrophe brought a real blow to the country of more than 10 million people.

"The inhabitants lost everything, their house, their life of before. The capital has transformed into an immense camp for refugees. They call desperately for water, for food, and for medicine," he said.

The Bishop recalls that, "I was two seconds from the entrance and I could, only just, thanks to the aid of On High, save my skin. My wife, who herself was inside, is still in the hospital Zanmi La Sante because her legs were cornered in the debris of the house.

"We had barely the time to move the rubble," the Bishop recalled.

"Two of my children miraculously came out of this collapse. The Cathedral of St. Trinity did not resist this quake of magnitude 7.3 on the Richter scale that ravaged our country; the auditorium of St. Cecile, the only amphitheatre of Haiti practically saw its roof descend on the scene where the concerts are habitually held.most of our churches are destroyed, many of our schools are heaps of rocks."

The Bishop goes on to say: "The secondary school Saint Pierre where I established an attempt at a makeshift tent with my family in the middle of about 3,000 refugees during the day and many more during the night is fragile, flimsy, and weak because of the lack of water and food.

"The hygiene condition is precarious with the quantity of children of lower ages, close to 200 children, and the presence of the handicapped of the school St. Vincent, which itself was subjected to irreparable damages complicates their life."

The Bishop says that a large part of the capital is entirely destroyed.

"The National Palace is in part collapsed. Several ministries, the Parliament, churches, the hospitals, hotels, schools, and numerous university/academic establishments were destroyed; the university of the Episcopal church of Haiti is one of this number. The picture that we have before our eyes is truly sad."

The Bishop said the tremor has "very strongly" disrupted communications in the country.

"We transport the wounded to the hospital centers that are still standing. The Hospital St. Croix is managing to aid the wounded of Leogane."

"I hold out my arms of the diocese to these thousands of homeless people and I offer my prayers," the Bishop says.

"Haiti already had profound difficulties before the earthquake with a population that is extremely poor and thus after the earthquake it will be difficult to get out all alone."

The Bishop said the earthquake caused between 150,000 and 200,000 deaths. There will be 250,000 wounded, and millions without homes, of which close to the majority are at Port-au-Prince, the capital.

"We were all surprised during the 48 seconds by the deadly quake.this earthquake is a catastrophe without precedent.

"The course of history of Haiti has changed," he said.

"I would like to say thank you to all who until now have lent a hand. I would like to believe, however, that we are at the beginning of a long partnership. I invite you all to accompany us in aiding our Haitian brothers and sisters."