AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - Over 1 million rand for Haiti collected by Church in South Africa

Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) – The Project Caritas Haiti collection has raised over a million rand (95,000 Euros) thanks to the generosity of Southern African communities and individual donators. The money collected will go directly to Catholic Relief Services (CRS)/Caritas Internationalis, still present on the ground in Port-au-Prince.
More than 300 donors and communities gave for an average of around R3000 each, donations going from R10 to R200.000. The collection started on 15 January, just after the earthquake that overtook Haiti and caused more than 210,000 deaths
In a letter published on January 15, addressed to all South Africans, Archbishop Jabulani Nxumalo spoke of the "urgent humanitarian emergency," asking people to "contribute generously to provide support in Haiti."
The Catholic Church in Haiti is particularly affected by the earthquake. According to Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Apostolic Nuncio in Haiti, hundreds of priests, seminarians and sisters died, among whom was the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince. 80% of Haiti's population is Catholic.
Catholic Relief Services has been asked by the Vatican to coordinate the Church's relief and recovery efforts in the Caribbean nation. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 16/2/2010)