Cross Catholic Outreach recently received an update from Catherine, a staff member who lives in Houston. Even in the midst of this heartbreaking disaster, She reported that God is moving among his people and working miracles to accomplish great things.
As Cross Catholic Outreach’s Haiti Project Manager – and someone who has lived in Haiti for six years – it’s impossible for me to be objective about the impact of Hurricane Matthew. It’s been three months since the killer storm battered Haiti’s southern peninsula, and yet I feel the raw pain of the people as if it had all happened just yesterday.
In September – literally two days before Hurricane Matthew devastated the southern peninsula of Haiti – I was in the country for the dedication of two schools. Sadly, one of those missions was damaged by the storm.
Cross Catholic Outreach’s Haiti disaster response team is currently hard at work delivering meals and other crucially needed aid to survivors of Hurricane Matthew. During its travels, the team has listened to firsthand accounts of that terrifying experience. One couple told how their house began to fall apart in the middle of the night. After one room tumbled down the hillside, they ran to the front porch, hugged each other and huddled behind the door, which had blown open and pinned them against the wall.
Floods and high winds impacted ministry partners and left many poor families in need of aid. Immediately after Hurricane Earl swept across Belize on August 4, our staff mobilized to help, working with our in-country parish partners to target aid to those in greatest need.
When the devastating 7.0-magnitute earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, I was in the southern city of Les Cayes visiting a Cross project. There was a slight swaying of buildings and I remember wondering if it was worse elsewhere in the country.