Haiti earthquake disaster

Providing front line help to the ravaged island

For a country like Haiti, the shock of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake reverberates further into the future than you can imagine. The earthquake that occurred on 12 January has wracked the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, a place already staggering under the damage inflicted by four hurricanes last year.

In a disaster on this scale, numbers are hard to confirm, swallowed in the confusion. The widely accepted figures are that 3 million people are displaced, 250,000 injured and up to 50,000 dead. Haiti’s infrastructure is severely damaged with hospitals and roads badly damaged and phone lines and electricity still not functioning.

Numbers and estimates cannot truly convey the scale of the devastation. WideWorld’s charity partner CARE International is already working on the ground in Haiti, and we’ve been given access to their Emergency Coordinator for the region, Hauke Hoops, to fill us in on the details.

“This is one of the biggest disasters I’ve ever seen, and it is a huge logistical challenge,” writes Hauke Hoops. “Everything has to come in by plane or boat, but the port is destroyed. The airport is overstretched, overcrowded with flights.

“Security is a huge concern. The jail collapsed, and there are 5,000 inmates on the loose. This has caused a lot of fear. It is very dangerous, with repeated aftershocks, and the escaped people from the jail. There are rising tensions.

“We need to distribute as quickly as possible, but this is a difficult situation to guarantee safety and organise distribution. People have been without food for two days now, and they are starting to get desperate. In this situation, people will do anything to get food and water for their families.

“We have 133 staff already working in Haiti, but our staff in Port-au-Prince lost everything – their houses, their families, everything. Staff are totally traumatised. They’re trying to help, but we need to bring in additional staff from across the country and international teams. We’ve seen this before, where staff have lost family members, they are trying to control their own emotions, take care of their families, and at the same time, respond to a massive disaster. You can imagine how difficult this is, if you’ve lost your children, but there is so much work to do and everyone needs help. It’s a nightmare.

“There are lots of people in the streets trying to find relief. There is rubble everywhere. Buildings collapsed like a house of cards. I see many people trying to find people in the rubble, underneath the buildings. There are many search and rescue teams coming in, but it’s not enough. The people are doing a lot of the rescue by themselves, pulling at the rubble with their bare hands or with shovels. They are listening to see if they can hear people yelling for help. There are fewer people yelling for help now. There are so many places to look, so many houses collapsed, but the search and rescue teams can’t be everywhere at once.

“There are bodies on the street, bodies everywhere. I passed by bodies in the streets. People are walking by them, it’s as if they are sleeping. It’s scary. There are dead bodies lined up in rows. Our main priority now is to clear the bodies. There is a fear of outbreak of disease because of the open wounds being left untreated, and lack of sanitation. There is rubbish everywhere.

"People need clean drinking water. The water system wasn’t completely destroyed. Pipes were broken in the earthquake, but there is some water coming out. People are lining up at the areas where water is coming out. So there is some access but it’s not clean water, the pipes have been contaminated. Water purification tablets are very important. CARE has a shipment of water purification tablets that arrived last night, and we need to distribute these right away. We need more water purification tablets.

“There is still production of electricity, but they can’t turn the power back on because the power lines are down, there are electrical wires in the streets, and people are stepping over them. If they turn the electricity back on now, people might be electrocuted or injured.

“There is an issue of access. We can’t reach all areas by road. It is difficult to get any trucks; either they are without fuel because the gas stations are empty. There is nothing available here.”

About CARE International in Haiti

CARE International has had a presence in Haiti since 1954 supporting projects in HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, maternal and child health, education, food security and water and sanitation.

CARE’s focus areas for response include food, non-food items and shelter. Our overall fundraising target is $10 million over a three-year period. This timeframe is critical to include immediate relief and longer term recovery. With such severe damage to homes and infrastructure, recovery and rehabilitation will be an extended process. CARE is expecting the arrival of 60,000 water purification tablets to arrive today for immediate distribution and will be working with World Food Programme on food distributions. We are also participating in joint assessments on Water and Sanitation.

How you can help

Donate now to the CARE Haiti appeal.

Your money will go towards the water purification tablets, high-energy biscuits and temporary shelter that the people there need.

Click here to donate.

Get involved with CARE Challenge events

Take an active role by raising money through CARE Challenge events: 91% of the money raised goes directly to their overseas programmes in 70 countries.

Click here to find out more