Support UM News on World Press Freedom Day: Give to help sustain and expand the storytelling capacity of UM News. Your donation today will transform information into inspiration and ensure we can continue sharing stories of God’s work in the world through The UMC. Help us reach our $10,000 goal and keep this vital ministry fair, faithful, trusted and free for all!

Haitians mourn losses from quake

"January 12 is a bad day for Haitian people. We will never forget this day."

Emile Belorne, who works at the Methodist Guest House in Port-au-Prince, like millions of others in Haiti, is still coming to terms with her memories of the day a massive earthquake struck her country, killing more than 200,000 people.

"I felt it was the last day of my life," she said. "It felt like the end of the world."

The people of Haiti took three days of remembrance, Feb. 12 to 14, to mourn their losses, including family and friends as well as their homes and livelihoods.

During the three days, people dressed in white and usually spent from 6 a.m. until 1 or 2 p.m. at church singing and praying, said Kathryn J. Paik, executive with the United Methodist Committee on Relief, who has been in Haiti helping set up a field office.

Emile Belorne says she will never forget the day the earthquake struck.

Emile Belorne says she will never forget the day the earthquake struck.

"It wasn't what I expected at all--wailing and angry toward God for allowing this to happen--but rather a time to gather their strength from God to go on still once more," Paik said. "Of course, I'm sure there are isolated cases of tension, frustration mainly toward their own government for not acting fast enough or that aid isn't getting to them quickly enough. But around where I was, streets were quiet and crowds getting in and out of churches were peaceful."

'Take my soul'

The survivors of the earthquake remember the moments leading up to the few seconds that changed everything.

Weeks after, Belorne said, she still feels the Earth move. Like all of their neighbors, she and her family are living outside. No one who felt the terrible shaking can trust buildings anymore.

"I was in my house with my husband and children. I felt the house shake with violence," Belorne said. "I cried out, 'Lord, Lord save us.' Everyone knew only Jesus could do something."

Dr. Honore Clogya, a pediatrician with Grace Hospital, was in his drugstore with his wife and mother-in-law when he felt the tremors.

The building collapsed and buried all three of them. "My wife cried out, 'God, you can take my soul,' because she thought she would die," he said. His mother-in-law did not survive.

"I feel very stressed," he said, a few weeks after the disaster. "Haitians must believe in God. They must take a breath and bless God, for everything is for his glory."

Restoring hope

Samuel Loomery, 17, was buried in the rubble of his secondary school. "I was on the fourth floor, then I was on the first floor," he said. "Concrete fell on my feet. I couldn't move." Before his world collapsed, Loomery had hopes of being a diplomat.

Families crowd a makeshift camp at the municipal soccer stadium in Leogane, Haiti, following the earthquake.

Families crowd a makeshift camp at the municipal soccer stadium in Leogane, Haiti, following the earthquake.

Val Keteline, 24, had been working as a chef in a kitchen owned by the Methodist Church of Haiti. Like many, she is now unemployed.

"Most families are sad; some people are mad. Some people are talking bad because they don't have faith. They need to talk to someone," she said.

The needs are great.

"There is no more Port-au-Prince," is how 18-year-old Jules Peterson describes life now. "Many, many people died."

But there is hope.

"Haitians are such resilient people. They pick up after themselves and life must continue," Paik said.

How to Help

Gifts to support UMCOR's relief efforts in Haiti can be made online by visiting www.umcorhaiti.org. For gifts by mail, please make checks payable to UMCOR and mail to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087. Please indicateHaiti Emergency, UMCOR Advance #418325on the memo line of your check.

*Gilbert is a news writer for United Methodist News Service in Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or [email protected].

Video

UMTV: Gesner Paul: Haiti Church Leader

UMTV: UMCOR Food for Haiti

Related Articles

Haiti journal: Dreading the rainy season

Haitian church members distribute UMCOR food

UMCOR begins pilot aid project for Haitians

Resources

United Methodist Committee on Relief


Like what you're reading? Support the ministry of UM News! Your support ensures the latest denominational news, dynamic stories and informative articles will continue to connect our global community. Make a tax-deductible donation at ResourceUMC.org/GiveUMCom.

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe Now
Disaster Relief
Patrick Abro (left), a United Methodist missionary serving as health operation manager in the Burundi Conference, and the Rev. Cimpaye Valentine (right), Bujumbura District superintendent, hand a bag of rice to flood survivors in Cibitoke, Burundi. With financial support from the United Methodist Committee on Relief, the church helped 140 households affected by severe flooding in the district. Photo by Jérôme Ndayisenga, UM News.

Church supports flood survivors in Burundi

With financial support from the United Methodist Committee on Relief, the church has distributed food and other supplies to hundreds of flood survivors.
Disaster Relief
An uprooted tree lies across a crushed car in the neighborhood of Grace United Methodist Church’s parsonage in St. Louis. United Methodists are responding in Missouri, Kentucky and other states after violent storms tore across the central U.S., leaving at least 28 people dead. Photo by the Rev. Katie Nix, Grace United Methodist Church, courtesy of the Missouri Conference.

Churchgoers respond to deadly US twisters

United Methodists in Kentucky and Missouri, among other states, are trying to bring relief after deadly tornadoes wreaked havoc this weekend. They also offer ways others can help.
Disaster Relief
Children and adults cross a mud-filled street in Kasaba, Congo, where flooding has killed at least 110 people, including five United Methodists, and destroyed hundreds of homes. A local United Methodist church was destroyed by floodwaters, affecting some 300 United Methodists. Photo courtesy of the Ecclesiastical District of Fizi.

Church members among dead in Congo floods

Five United Methodists killed, a church destroyed, and hundreds of families are affected by flooding in Eastern Congo.

United Methodist Communications is an agency of The United Methodist Church

©2025 United Methodist Communications. All Rights Reserved