OCA priest helps coordinate aid, assist IOCC partners in Haiti
Priest Antonio Perdomo, rector of Saint George the Great Martyr Church, Pharr, TX, arrived in Haiti on the first weekend of February to consult with Orthodox Christian communities and ecumenical partners with regard to ongoing assistance and short and long term needs of those who survived the January 12 earthquake there.
Father Antonio was accompanied by Mark Ohanian, senior program coordinator for International Orthodox Christian Charities. He will work with the IOCC team to support of the efforts of Orthodox partners in Haiti, where there are an estimated 3,000 Orthodox Christians. IOCC is currently providing food and hygiene items to 350 Orthodox faithful in six parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia [ROCOR] in Haiti with the support of a $10,000 grant from the ROCOR “Fund for Assistance.”
Born in the Dominican Republic, Father Antonio is a native Spanish speaker and a member of IOCC’s Frontline, a volunteer network of highly trained, credentialed and experienced emergency response personnel. Mr. Ohanian, the team leader who managed recovery and reconstruction projects for IOCC in Bosnia-Herzegovina, is a disaster response veteran who grew up in Lebanon during the war and speaks French.
Nearly $1.7 million in assistance has been provided by IOCC in the month since the earthquake ravaged much of Haiti’s capital and environs. Medicines, medical equipment, water purification and sanitation equipment, tents, hygiene kits, shelter materials, fuel, food, blankets, jerry cans for water and mattresses have been shipped and distributed throughout Haiti in cooperation with ACT Alliance members and Orthodox Christian and other partners.
IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas [SCOBA] and a member of the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of churches and agencies engaged in development, humanitarian assistance and advocacy.
To help the victims of disasters around the world, including those in Haiti, log on to www.iocc.org, call toll-free 877-803-4622, or send a check or money order payable to IOCC, PO Box 630225, Baltimore, MD 21263-0225.