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The quake levelled many sections of the city, destroying government buildings, foreign aid offices, Schools, most of the hospitals and countless slums. The fatalities are expected to be near 100,000, but millions more are likely to be displaced.
Rescue teams from all over the world are now descending on Haiti to help where they are able. The devastating earthquake is causing an unfolding humanitarian crisis. Children have been killed and injured — many are in desperate need of clean water, shelter and medical help.
Haiti, in the West Indies, occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is two-thirds mountainous, with the rest of the country marked by great valleys, extensive plateaus, and small plains. Nearly all of the 8.7 million residents are of African descent and speak Creole and French. The capital is Port-au-Prince.
The situation for Haiti was already difficult before the earthquake hit the island. It has in recent years struggled with problems ranging from near-constant political upheaval, health crises, severe environmental degradation and an annual barrage of hurricanes, which killed an estimated 800 people and caused vast damage in 2008.
The country is, by a significant margin, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, with four out of five people living in poverty and more than half in abject poverty. Seventy per cent of Haiti's population live on less than two dollars per day and half of its 8.5 million people are unemployed. More than half of the country's 9.6 million inhabitants are under 21 years of age
Deforestation and over-farming has left much of Haiti eroded and barren, undermining subsistence farming efforts, driving up food prices and leaving the country even more vulnerable to natural disasters. Its long history of political instability and corruption has added to the turmoil.
Pray for Haiti
· Pray for the people of Haiti as they deal with the aftermath of the earthquake, ask the Lord to comfort those who are injured and mourning.
· Pray for rescue efforts to find survivors trapped in destroyed buildings and for communication links and power supplies to be restored quickly.
· Pray for a swift and generous response from the international community to help this disaster-prone poor country.
· Pray for the safety and protection of Tearfund staff and partners based in Haiti and that they will be able to respond as effectively as possible.
