News

Disaster strikes

Six months ago this week a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the impoverished nation of Haiti.

More than 222,500 people died in the diaster and a further 300,500 were injured. Almost 300,000 homes and 5,000 schools were destroyed or badly damaged. Eight hospitals were totally destroyed and 22 seriously damaged – more than half of the hospitals in the affected regions.

Around 1.5 million people were forced into temporary shelter, 309,000 of whom were children. The total cost of the earthquake – both physical damage and economic losses – is estimated by the United Nations at almost $9 billion (US $7.8 billion).

AngliCORD responds

AngliCORD supporters donated quickly and generously in response to the disaster in Haiti on 12 January. By the middle of June 2010 AngliCORD had sent $88,000 in funds to support the vital emergency relief and recovery work on the ground in the capital Port-au-Prince and other areas.

This money has been used to provide emergency shelter, food, water and psychosocial support and to help affected communities find ways to make a living.

While Haiti is starting to get back on its feet many Haitians are still in need of emergency aid due to the sheer scale of the earthquake. Reconstruction of the country will take many years.

The ACT Alliance

AngliCORD is programming donations through the ACT Alliance, one of the world’s largest international relief and development coalitions.

ACT members have been in Haiti for more than three decades and are committed to working with local agencies and the national Government to provide long term support to the people of Haiti.

Progress to date

Working directly or through more than 20 local and national partners, ACT members have assisted more than 341,000 crisis-affected people.

Thousands of people in the emergency camps have been given tents, tarpaulins, blankets, mattresses, mosquito nets, water, sanitation, food and other essentials.

Over 50 temporary school have been built in the most affected areas and schools work restarted in early April with a revised curriculum. ACT is working to provide emergency facilities with water, sanitation and school materials.

ACT has also started building an environmentally-friendly pilot school using recycled rubble and promoting community participation.

ACT members are supporting the affected communities to create sustainable livelihood and income opportunities including by providing seeds and tools in farming communities.

Psychosocial support has been provided to people affected by the earthquake through trained community leaders.

Youth and children have been taking part in arts, dancing and painting activities to help them cope with the upheaval in their lives since 12 January.

Continuing need

Maintaining the level of services now being provided is a major challenge.

The need for safe shelter is acute. The hurricane season started on 1 June and the thousands of people living in tents are now at risk of flooding and mudslides.

Within the camps, the main challenge has been working out how many people need help. Efforts are continuing to develop strong camp committees to help with this.

Resettlement of people living in the camps has been hampered by lack of available land, the destruction of ownership documents and the sheer amount of debris blocking land.

There is an urgent need to get schools in the affected areas back into operation and develop a long-term plan to build permanent, safe schools.

The biggest challenges for the education sector are still insufficient school facilities and materials. The collapse of the school-fee system means most teachers have not been paid since the earthquake.