Update from Haiti

Jean Claude Cerin, Tearfund coordinator in Haiti, sends this news and prayer requests…

Dear friends and colleagues,

I appreciate very much your support and all the prayers that are going up for us in Haiti. The disaster is very big indeed. We are used to hurricanes, not to earthquakes. Our last major earthquake happened in the North of Haiti in 1847, almost 200 years ago. So people have no reflex for this and are not trained on the right preservation moves. In general, the disaster is terrible because there are many buildings that collapsed at a peak time --4:45 pm-- including Schools, Universities, Government buildings, the UN headquarters, hotels, supermarkets, hospitals, etc. Several important people from Government, the church and the business communities also died and we cannot count the dead among the general population.

The numbers say it all: this year’s Stand Up Take Action campaign was a success. Passionate kiwis around the country took the message to John Key and members of Parliament that we want our country to “walk the walk” over our promise to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The final New Zealand count was 21,233, which exceeded all of our expectations.

Globally 173,045,325 citizens gathered at over 3,000 events in more than 120 countries, demanding that governments take action to eradicate extreme poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. "Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now!", has been certified by Guinness World Records as the a new world record and remains the largest mobilization of human beings in recorded history. The people from the Millennium Campaign say "Thank you for Standing with us!"

Last year the total was 116 million people, so this year was a significant increase even on that number.  This year Kiwis from Invercargill to Whangarei added their faces to the global event in bigger numbers than ever before. There were events in schools, universities, churches and public places.

LONDON - 13 February 2009

The Anglican Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, yesterday highlighted the significance of the world financial crisis and discussed the implications for ministry for those struggling with the practical consequences of the downturn in the economy.

Reflecting on the need for active solidarity, Dr Sentamu said: "We have heard the predictions. This slough of economic despond is deep and we are told it will get deeper. For every statistic on the hundreds of jobs lost, there are hundreds of stories of individual hardship and of families in need. Their struggle must be our lament ­ as we face up to our responsibilities.

He said: "England, you think you've got problems? It's time to get real.

The biggest challenge facing the new government in New Zealand is going to be steering a path through the current global financial turmoil. The situation has similarities to the sport of canyoning, or trying to steer an unwieldy raft through a steep set of rapids. There is no chance of going against the flow. Rather the aim is to come out at the end without collapsing in the process.

The temptation will be to take a path of withdrawal from all external commitments, and to look only to our own interests, with the aim of being able to return to ‘business as normal’ once the crisis has past. Environmental issues such as controls on carbon emissions, that are going to cost financially, will be pushed back down the scale of importance. Similarly overseas development assistance (ODA) will be cut back or restructured to only those programs that have a visible economic kickback for New Zealand. The political focus for the industrialised countries will be on protecting their own consumers and taxpayers.