February 7, 2010 | Read Time: 2 minutes
As international aid charities lay out their long-term recovery plans for Haiti, many of them continue to struggle with the loss of key staff members who were killed when the earthquake struck.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, had a large number of international charities operating in it before the quake, and the disaster hit the capital of Port-au-Prince, where many were based, said James Bishop, vice president for humanitarian policy and practice at InterAction, a Washington coalition of more than 150 charities that work abroad.
“There’s a large NGO presence,” he said, referring to nongovernmental organizations. “It’s much thicker than it would have been in Aceh,” a part of Indonesia that was hit by tsunamis in 2004.
As charities account for their lost staff members, they also are trying to help those who survived the earthquake, providing mental-health assistance and other support.
At World Vision, for example, all of its 90 employees in Haiti survived, but the Federal Way, Wash., charity sent psychological counselors to Port-au-Prince to help them recover.
“One hundred percent of the staff were affected by the earthquake,” said Jeffrey Wright, World Vision’s emergency-response manager. “Most of them lost their homes and many of them lost immediate family members as well.”
Top Leader Killed
Perhaps the organization that suffered the harshest blow is the United Methodist Committee on Relief. The New York group’s director, the Rev. Sam Dixon, was killed in Haiti. He was 60.
Mr. Dixon, who oversaw the relief organization’s 450 staff members and its worldwide operations, had traveled to Port-au-Prince to discuss how to improve health services and nutrition programs in Haiti. When the earthquake struck, the Hotel Montana, where Mr. Dixon was meeting with officials from another charity, collapsed.
Trapped in the rubble for 55 hours, Mr. Dixon eventually died.
In addition to Mr. Dixon, the Rev. Clint Rabb, who oversaw global volunteering for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, the relief committee’s parent body, also died. He was rescued from the hotel rubble and flown to Miami for medical care but eventually succumbed to his injuries. He was 60.
Melissa Hinnen, director of communications for the United Methodist relief group, said the losses have been tough.
“It’s been hard, but part of working at a faith-based organization is knowing it’s okay to take that moment to pray or take that moment to cry,” she said.
Aside from official memorial services, the organization has set up a Web page for people to write about Mr. Dixon and Mr. Rabb.
To honor Mr. Dixon’s commitment to humanitarian relief, the group is also asking for donations in his name to support its efforts in Haiti.
Said Ms. Hinnen: “Having that personal connection has strengthened our resolve to carry on his legacy.”
