Haiti earthquake coverage
Haiti's most powerful earthquake in 200 years struck on 12 January. Follow the latest updates from Concern.
Photos: who is Lucie?
Posted by Bernadette Murphy | in Haiti earthquake coverage | 1 September 2010 | 0 comments
In January 2010, Galet Greffin, a semi-rural area on the outskirts of Port au Prince, was largely wiped out by the Haiti earthquake. Concern Worldwide have been working closely with communities there since the earthquake struck. Eight months on, we look at how the people of Galet Greffin are picking up the pieces.
Introducing Lucie
Marie Lucie Saintaime is a 27-year-old native of Galet Greffin. Known as Lucie, she is the only market stall merchant in Galet Greffin, selling everything from wool to toothpaste. One of the first things you notice about Lucie is her smile. It is a smile that doesn’t waver, even as she describes the worst day of her life: when the Haiti earthquake struck in January this year and completely destroyed 75% of Galet Greffin.
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Video: building shelters in Haiti
In the next few months, Concern and community members will build over 1,200 shelters in Galet Greffin and the neighbouring Tabarre Issa settlement in Haiti.
Calm space for babies and parents
Posted by Claire Hanna | in Haiti earthquake coverage | 14 July 2010 | 0 comments
During my visit to Tabarre Issa camp my translator for the morning was Alix, a Haitian who worked at JFK airport in New York.
Alix had returned home shortly before the quake. He is determined to stay and do what he can. After the initial couple of months living under tarpaulins, he compared the structured Tabarre site to an ordered city.
Baby tent
One of the tents in the camp is visited daily by infants under one and their parents. Here, our trained staff provide milk, advise parents, track the babies’ development and lead singing and playing times - a beautiful sight to see following the earlier chaos of the city. Parents can also leave their babies there for a while to get a break or to work.
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Reaching malnourished children
Posted by Naoise Kavanagh | in Haiti earthquake coverage | 13 July 2010 | 0 comments
As part of the emergency response in Haiti, we’re running a number of nutrition programmes aimed at reaching the poorest and most vulnerable people. The European Commission provided funding of €1m to support the running of these programmes, which are now reaching over 6,000 children.
Malnutrition ward
The state hospital in Port-au-Prince, supported by Concern, provides 24 hour care for 19 severely malnourished infants. Children who are too sick to eat are fed by drip before moving to milk and then plumpynut. The average stay is two weeks, but this varies and can extend to six weeks. Once healthy enough to leave, babies are enrolled in the outpatient programme and are seen weekly. Despite the physical limitations, no child is ever turned away.
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Tabarre Issa camp
Posted by Claire Hanna | in Haiti earthquake coverage | 13 July 2010 | 0 comments
I visited Tabarre Issa camp last week. This was the first of the temporary camps designed to provide shelter for some of the 250,000 people most at risk from further damage by floods, mudslides and the hurricanes expected in the coming months.
Improved conditions
Tabarre is located just outside Port-au-Prince and is now home to 500 families, currently living in tents. Even though most people are still under canvass, the conditions are much better than the camps they left in the city. Each person has 50 square meters of space rather than the cramped four metre squared.
Long-term shelter
As people will be here for quite some time, Concern is making sure to look after longer term as well as immediate needs. Construction of more durable shelter is well underway.
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First impressions
Posted by Claire Hanna | in Haiti earthquake coverage | 12 July 2010 | 0 comments
I arrived in Port-au-Prince last Friday for a short visit to see the progress that’s been made since Haiti’s enormous earthquake in January.
I also want to get a sense of the challenges for Concern and the people we work with.
Millions of euro were donated by the public in Ireland, the UK and the US and I’m keen to see firsthand how that money has improved the lives of the people we’re supporting.
Emergency phase
The earthquake response is still in the emergency phase, but plans are well underway to move to longer-term rehabilitation. There are reminders everywhere of the extraordinary nature of this disaster.
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Progress so far
Posted by Niall O Murchu | in Haiti earthquake coverage | 9 July 2010 | 0 comments
It is now six months since Haiti was devastated by an earthquake.
Progress
So it is important to take stock of what we have done so far and account for the money we raised.
Six months on
To do this, we have published a new page, containing key facts on the number of people we’ve helped, videos of our programmes and a map of where we are working.
Haiti: the rains have come
Despite the onset of some heavy rains, Concern’s work continues in Haiti. We are now helping 110,000 people there.
New settlement
One of the areas hit by torrential rain was Taberre Issa, a newly constructed settlement on the outskirts of town. We blogged about the preparations for this camp in a recent update.
As a result of the rain, tents were flooded and latrines were knocked over, but Concern’s teams responded immediately by repairing the damage.
The camp
Overall though, the camp survived well in the heavy rains. It is now home to over 500 families, and has so far been successful. The community in the camp is receiving a lot of international attention too. Recent visitors included a high-ranking EU commissionaire, a US congressman, the EU Ambassador to Haiti and the US Ambassador to Haiti.
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Child-friendly spaces in Haiti
The earthquake that hit Haiti in January destroyed half of its schools, leaving one million children out of education.
Concern is creating areas for 2,000 children so they can play in safety. Now, as many families are living in camps, these spaces help children get over the trauma they experienced by allowing them to play with other children. Child friendly spaces are also a stepping stone back to formal education.
This video describes this project.
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Preparing for Haiti’s rains
Posted by Alan O Reilly | in Haiti earthquake coverage | 21 April 2010 | 0 comments
Mark Jafar, the Vice President of Corporate Communications at MTV Networks, is currently visiting Concern’s emergency operation in Haiti. He wrote this blog post.
Beauty and danger
Bourdon Valley lies tucked into the hills that rise above Port-au-Prince. With its thick mango groves and gently winding river, it’s easy to see why one would make this home. But the small concrete houses that once lined the valley walls now lie in ruin, replaced by the blue and white shelters that now blanket so much of Port-au-Prince’s landscape.
The inclined forests that lend Bourdon Valley its beauty also make it exceedingly dangerous. 1 May will be the start of Haiti’s rainy season, which threatens to unleash a torrent of mudslides and flash floods on the valley’s makeshift communities.
The UN has determined that 9,000 of Bourdon Valley’s residents are at immediate risk of losing their lives in this area due to dangers posed by the rains. Getting these people out is a priority.
