President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Red Cross (SVGRC) Bernard Morgan is pledging support of the organisation to Haiti as that nation grapples with the aftermath of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on August 14th.

Morgan said that SVGRC is in support of the people of Haiti and stands in solidarity with them during this moment of need. According to a release from the organisation, Morgan stated that through the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) he is pledging his support of appropriate human resources to respond in the areas of disaster management and operations. He said the SVGRC has done it before and is more than prepared to assist Haiti during this time.

The president deeply empathises with the Haitian people and agonises about the suffering and economic hardship that they endure in the wake of such devastation. This he said is coupled with persistent poverty which creates a development dilemma that has plagued the country in its recent history.

Despite the fact that Vincentians are suffering from the effects of a volcanic eruption, Morgan is confident that Vincentians would see the need to assist Haiti at this time.

He recounted that he received support during the SVG volcanic eruption from many Caribbean leaders including the president of the Haitian Red Cross who pledged his unwavering support to the national society.

In speaking about the local disaster situation, he said “Although we are still in the disaster… we have to underscore that we have reached to the point of recovery. We are out of the immediate emergency phase and we are entering now into the recovery phase. We got tremendous assistance in terms of food, water, clothing and other relief items, that people needed immediately after the impact of the eruption. Now, we are going into a phase where we are considering restoring livelihoods, rebuilding and rehabilitation. Isn’t it incumbent on us, because of this tragedy in Haiti to pause for a while, reflect on how gracious God has been to us and that we can lend a helping hand to a Caribbean sister nation who is now in their immediate emergency phase.”