Haiti Update
Posted on Tue, 16/02/2010
It is just over one month since the horrifying earthquake hit Haiti on January 12. In the capital Port-au-Prince and other parts of Haiti the victims commemorated the tragedy this past weekend. In churches and public spaces many tens of thousands gathered to share their grief in hymns and prayers.
Churches and other networks in Haiti and in the Dominican Republic, supported by Action by Churches Together (ACT), are directing their efforts, towards places which to date have been unreached. This is crucial for the health and relative well-being of tens of thousands of earthquake survivors in the cities and in rural parts of Haiti, where more than 450,000 people have sought refuge. In these areas local community networks and self help groups are often the sole providers of assistance. Working with them has meant that ACT has been able to provide care and support the survivors from the moment the earthquake hit Haiti.
Conditions for most of the estimated 1.2 million people living in improvised camps and shelters remain unbearably cramped and of a poor standard. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has identified large gaps in provision of shelter and sanitation. Only 280,000 people have received some material for shelter i.e. less than 25% of the target group. Only 120,000 have received transitory shelter, much less than the 620,000 people who need it. Only 3,000 toilets have been provided to people in temporary settlements out of the 18,000 needed. Often 200 people have to share one toilet.
Just outside of Port-au-Prince, community leader Altenor Ronald expressed a mixture of frustration, anger and disorientation as he tried to coordinate the relocation of the displaced into a roadside displacement site. “We have no food, no stoves, people are hungry. I’m in charge and I don’t know what to do,” he said.
In Jacmel, on Haiti’s southern coast, members of one of many “solidarity groups” of friends and neighbours that have opted not to move to displacement camps and instead to stay together on borrowed land, said they do not know how long they will remain in and around the grounds of Jacmel’s Wesleyan Methodist Church. It could be months, even longer, they said. “How long will it be? I don’t know,” said community leader Francilaire Jeudi. “Nobody knows.”
If many signs are grim, others are less so. Despite logistical challenges and many pre-existing social problems in Haiti, Tommy Bouchiba, acting country director for ACT/Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, noted that humanitarian aid is getting to those who need it. Aid pipelines are opening up and rehabilitation programs are already beginning. “It is getting better,” Bouchiba said of the overall humanitarian situation.
One reason for the improvement is due to the presence of such groups as members of the ACT Alliance. Since 12 January, the ACT Alliance has assisted more than 150,000 people, with the majority being provided with ongoing support such as water, sanitation, shelter or regular food supplies or meals. Others have received relief items such as cash or hygiene or baby kits while others have benefited from medical assistance and supplies to health clinics.
We continue to be humbled by the generosity of so many people to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Donations are still being received and to date over $115,000 has been receipted through GMP for the Haiti Appeal.
(Details and photos for this article are taken from Action by Churches Together)