Pope Benedict has called on "everyone's generosity" to respond to what
a CRS official has described as Haiti's "disaster of the century".
The Catholic Church will immediately activate [its aid] through its charity institutions in order to respond to the most urgent needs of the population," Pope Benedict said in a message cited by the Irish Times.
Meanwhile, CRS says it has mobilized an immediate major aid response to quake-ravaged Haiti and invites all concerned supporters to join us in the outreach.
Catholic Relief Services staff in Haiti is responding immediately to the earthquake that rocked Port -au- Prince, the capital of Haiti. Tuesday night the agency made an immediate commitment of $ 5 million for emergency supplies.
In a brief phone conversation before communication was lost, CRS Country Representative Karel Zelenka described Port -au- Prince as "covered with a plume of dust from damaged buildings."
"I've been in earthquakes before, but I've never felt anything like this," Zelenka said, speaking from the city of 2 million people. "This was a major hit. And it was direct. It is a disaster of the century. We should be prepared for thousands and thousands of dead and injured."
Zelenka, who was concerned about the safety of his staff, said that the building housing the CRS Haiti headquarters was intact but that several major buildings had collapsed in the 7. 0-magnitude quake, including one across the street. CRS staff members spent the night outside, fearing more damage due to aftershocks.
CRS has food and relief supplies pre-positioned in Haiti. Additional supplies such as plastic sheeting, hygiene kits, mosquito nets, and water purification tablets are being loaded in the Dominican Republic for distribution in Haiti.
As dawn came to Port -au- Prince this morning, Zelenka and CRS staff were working to get food and other emergency supplies that CRS has in the country for our longer-range programs positioned to help those devastated by the quake. But, he said, communication and transportation remain challenging.
Meanwhile, CRS is gearing up a full-scale emergency response.
"We've been in Haiti for more than 55 years," said Bill Canny who, before he became CRS director of emergency operations in October was the country representative in Haiti and oversaw the response to two massive hurricanes in 2008. "This is going to be devastating to an already large, slum-like city."
"We're moving additional emergency staff in as quickly as possible, as we know it's chaos in Port -au-Prince and help is needed immediately," he said.
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Aid and special units sent from around the world (Irish Times)
Haiti Earthquake Response Set (CRS)