Haiti Six Months Later: Food for the Hungry Update

Food for the Hungry is
on the ground in Haiti

January 12, 2010 was a day when the world turned its attention to Haiti. A powerful earthquake rocked the country's capital Port au Prince, killing an estimated 230,000 people. More than 300,000 had been injured and over 1 million made homeless. It was the worst earthquake in the region in more than 200 years.

Six months after the devastation, the road to recovery for millions of Haitians remains long and challenging. Much work needs to be done, but at the same time, there is much to celebrate. From the early days of relief assistance to the ongoing long-term recovery efforts, Food for the Hungry has been walking alongside churches and community leaders in Haiti to build healthier, more stable communities for children and families.

In the aftermath of the earthquake, Food for the Hungry's work is focused in the communities of Siloe, Bellevue La Montagne, Kenscoff and Aux Cadets. There are more than 50,000 displaced people in these communities and at least 120,000 people need long-term help.

FH’s response in the weeks following the earthquake

Thanks to the generosity of partners and friends, Food for the Hungry has continued to serve the people of Haiti since 2008. Our Haitian staff are very capable and have shown great courage in serving others even as they personally grieve over loss of family members, friends and possessions.

In the past six months, strategic programs in relief distribution, health and hygiene, temporary shelter, children protection and education, and so much more have been put in place to alleviate the suffering of the earthquake victims.

Health and hygiene

• Medical supplies have been provided to five hospitals and two health centers.

• Six international and two Haitian medical teams addressed health needs of the earthquake survivors.

• In the aftermath of the earthquake, a lot of medical work was done with amputees and people with respiratory illness, infections and sexually transmitted diseases.

• Six international and two Haitian medical teams addressed health needs of the earthquake survivors through mobile medical clinics. The mobile clinics are ongoing and so far have served 10,303 people.

• Training provided to 1,700 leader-mothers on treatment of diarrhea (transmission, care and treatment), proper hand washing, improved water sourcing and water purification, water treatment, conservation of water, feces disposal, good latrines, deworming, proper feeding of sick children, proper storage of food, breastfeeding, proper nutrition and vitamin A. Each leader-mother is providing training to 10 others so that17,000 additional women are trained on basic health and hygiene.

Food and non-food distributions

• Tarps, jerry cans and hygiene kits (toothpaste, soap, rubbing alcohol, cotton, razor blades, and feminine hygiene products) have been distributed to nearly 4,000 families.

• Supplied hundreds of water filtration systems capable of delivering up to 600 gallons if clean water per day.

• Tens of thousands of packaged meals delivered to families in need.

Transitional shelters

• Work is underway to build 800 transitional shelters. In the community of Siloe, 320 transitional shelters have already been constructed. Food for the Hungry is working with Samaritan's Purse to help people move out of temporary tents. They supply the prefab houses whereas Food for the Hungry provides resources for labor and transport.

• The primary target beneficiaries for these shelters are female-headed households.

Child-friendly spaces and child protection

• In partnership with local non-government organizations and churches, child-friendly spaces have been established for children to play and receive much-needed care and counseling.

• 62 child-friendly spaces were opened in Bellevue La Montagne, Aux Cadets and Siloe (plus three in Belledere, a region near the Dominican Republic border). Currently, we serve nearly 10,000 children in the program.

• Trained 1,290 volunteers and 151 community leaders in child protection issues.

• Bellevue La Montagne and Aux Cadets are two of the biggest areas where children are most vulnerable to being given away as slaves or as a "restavik" because families are so desperately poor. Food for the Hungry has been teaching parents and community leaders how to protect children from abuse and exploitation.

Child development program

• 5,197 children registered and 2,521 sponsored.

Water and sanitation

• 52 latrines have been dug; 337 hand washing stations (tippy taps) have been installed; and 1,400 hygiene kits distributed.

Cash for work

• Nearly 2,500 workers were hired for rubble removal, 40 percent of them women. Through the cash-for-work program, 1,241 plots of land have been cleared of rubble.

More opportunities to serve
While progress has been made in the last six months, Haitians will still need help for the longer-term.. Every day, there are new opportunities to serve in much bigger scale, particularly in the areas of child development, health and sanitation, education and livelihood development. Some next steps:

• Construction of two-hole latrines in every child-friendly spaces site.

• More resources needed to train people how to address post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and adults traumatized by the earthquake.

• Unique to Food for the Hungry because of our work in Belledre, which is a border area, is the opportunity to address the problem of child trafficking.

• There is still need for distribution of non-food items. One item on the "wish list" is the construction of 200-gallon water tanks in child-friendly spaces, schools and health clinics.

We are appealing to friends like you for prayers and financial support. God is at work in Haiti, rebuilding lives and drawing men and women into His kingdom. Your partnership is crucial in conveying God's amazing love to people who are in very difficult circumstances. Thank you for caring enough to help.

Read a blog post by Lauren Marshall, Food for the Hungry-Haiti volunteer.