Southeastern Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to send 41 Haitian-American doctors and nurses to Haiti

Mt. Dora – The Southeastern Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (SEC), headquartered in Mt. Dora, Fl., announced today that it will send two teams of medical professionals to aid in the rescue and recovery efforts in Haiti.

Lead by Haitian-American Hubert J. Morel, president of the Southeastern Conference and assisted by Haitian-American Nicole Brisé, SEC Women’s Ministries director, and David Peay, SEC Adventist Disaster Response director, each team will spend a week in Haiti providing medical services to the thousands of individuals that were impacted by the earthquake that rocked Haiti more than a week ago.

Supporting the effort is Fl. Rep. Ronald Brisé, D-North Miami, a native of Port-au-Prince. Of the 41 doctors and nurses that will make the trip to Haiti, 29 are Haitian American. The first team will depart the Miami International Airport on Tuesday January 26, 2010. The second team will depart on Monday February 1, 2010.

While in Haiti both teams will reside on the campus of the Adventiste d’Haiti Hospital, a 70-bed health care facility located just outside of Port-au-Prince. Southeastern is not acting alone in this effort. But will be working in conjunction with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), which has a 30 year established record in Haiti, and Florida Hospital. ADRA will provide logistics support.

Florida Hospital has already sent more 60,000 lbs. of medical supplies, which will be used by the Southeastern medical teams to treat the injured Haitians.

“Every Haitian church in Southeastern has been affected by the tragedy,” said Morel. He added “Our members have lost wives, husbands, children, mothers and fathers in the earthquake.” Alah Monestime, S.E.C. Haitian Ministries coordinator is making plans to provide long-term support to Haiti.

The Southeastern Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is a regional conference that covers the state of Florida and the southern portion of Georgia. It is a Christian organization that operates 161 churches and 15 schools. Of the 188 pastors, teachers and support staff that Southeastern employs, 24 pastors are Haitian pastors that shepherd 36 Haitian congregations.

There are 18 Haitian teachers teaching in two Haitian only schools and in other schools throughout the school system. Of the 39,126 members approximately 15,000 are Haitian-Americans.