Response & Prayer Vigil
Thursday 19th August 2021
Trinity Methodist Church, Douglas
Drop in between 4pm & 8pm (Live feed at 5pm)
Come and pray with us for the people of Afghanistan and the people of Haiti.
5-5.45pm— Joint prayers with Christians across the UK.
Prayers lead by The Rt Revd Dr David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Church, Dr Krish Kandiah, Ramani Leathard, head of Asia region & Afghanistan, Christian Aid
~ Prayer stations
~ Quiet reflection
~ Prayers & readings every 15 minutes.
Afghanistan:
The situation in Afghanistan is rapidly evolving. As you will have seen tragically, over the weekend Kabul, along with many of other key cities, has been taken over by the Taliban, with people fearing for their lives with the ongoing insecurity and uncertainty. Christian Aid has worked in Afghanistan for over 30 years and have worked under several regimes, including the Taliban in the mid-1990s in Herat. However we are well aware of the fragility and uncertainty of the current situation, and our immediate concern and focus will be the safety of our staff, their families and our local partners.
Subrata De (now safely outised the country), Christian Aid’s country manager in Afghanistan, said: “The situation is dire and more support will be required for poor and marginalised communities in the coming days. Christian Aid has been working in Afghanistan for 30 years and we will not desert now. We’re doing all we can to continue distributions of food and emergency supplies to the most affected communities. We hope that humanitarian access will remain, especially access to women and girls in the communities as we are very concerned about their safety “As an Indian national, I have been lucky enough to evacuate safely but our staff, their families and the thousands of people we support, are living with uncertainty and insecurity.”
Fionna Smyth, head of global advocacy & policy at Christian Aid, said: “We urge the UK Government to take action on four key areas; to work closely with the United Nations and wider donor community, to ensure that humanitarian assistance is provided to those most in need in the face of a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis, to immediately suspend all deportations from the UK of Afghan asylum seekers and refugees and open safe and legal routes for those fearing persecution
Haiti:
A major earthquake struck south of Haiti early Saturday August 14th. Over 1000 people in Haiti have died and this number is set to rise as people are extracted from the rubble over the coming days. Houses and infrastructure have been destroyed, especially in towns of Les Cayes and Jeremie near the epicentre. Local journalists in Les Cayes have spoken of overwhelmed medical facilities and widespread destruction. Haiti is now in the probable track of tropical storm Grace which could bring heavy rains early next week, further exacerbating an already devastating situation. As a result of the situation, the Haitian government has declared a state of emergency
On Saturday August 14, 2021, 8.29am (local time) a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti
- The quake’s epicenter was 75 miles west of the capital of Port-au-Prince. The worst affected area is the city of Les Cayes in the south-west of the island.
- At least 1,419 people have died (according to Reliefweb).
- An estimated 6,900 more people have been injured (Reliefweb) and many more made homeless.
- The quake toppled buildings and homes, damaged infrastructure including hospitals, schools, churches, ports, bridges and roads, and markets.
- More than 37,000 homes have been destroyed and 46,000 have sustained damaged leaving thousands homeless (Reliefweb).
- 60% of the population in the south of Haiti have been affected. Many people are displaced after being forced to flee their homes in fear that they may collapse.
- Storm Grace is hampering rescue efforts
- The Haitian government has declared a state of emergency for one month.
- The earthquake comes a month after the Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was shot dead at his home.
