At 8:30 am local time Saturday, August 14th, 2021, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the nation of Haiti. The town most affected, Les Cayes, is where the Forward Edge children’s program is located.  

Fortunately, all Forward Edge staff members are safe, but we don’t know yet if all the children and families in our program are okay. At this writing, the preliminary death toll stands at 227, with that number expected to rise dramatically. Churches and homes have also been reduced to rubble. Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry has declared a month-long state of emergency.   

“I saw bodies being pulled out of the rubble, injured and perhaps dead people,” said Les Cayes resident Jean Marie Simon who was at the market when the earthquake struck and ran home to see if his family was safe. “I heard cries of pain everywhere I passed through.” 

As the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is ill equipped to respond to disasters like this. But, by God’s grace, our Forward Edge community is uniquely positioned to send support to trustworthy partners who will ensure that it goes directly to those most in need.