Haiti remains at the beginning of a long recovery 8 months later

I looked at the calendar this morning and it reminded me just how quickly 2010 is passing and with the end of summer upon us like many of you I feel the holidays and the end of the year just around the corner. As if to reiterate how how rapidly the year has gone do you remember what happened on January 12 of this year? That was the day that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti an event so dramatic and haunting that I don’t know a single person who didn’t suffer a sense of helplessness and hopelessness watching it unfold from afar.

There’s no need to recount the statistics caused by the quake beyond the fact that analysts have listed it as the sixth most deadly in history. I wanted to write to highlight where Haiti is today more than eight months later and also to mention one of the many nonprofits that continue to try and bring aid and relief to the survivors. The extreme poverty in Haiti meant that rebuilding and recovery were always going to be as challenging as the catastrophic loss of life due to the quake itself. Some alarming results were published a few months ago looking at the state of the nation six months after the disaster. At that time over 95% of the rubble from damaged buildings and structures had yet to be cleared many still containing the bodies of those lost in the quake. Apart from food and water one of the greatest needs initially was tents and tarpaulin to create relief camps for those who no longer had a safe home to live in, it is estimated that more than 1.5 million people are living in these camps at present. Very little transitional or permanent housing has been constructed since the quake and the camps have little if any electricity, running water and sewage disposal. Moreover this being the Caribbean the weather can be hot and rainy and many of the tents have already deteriorated beyond reasonable use. Long-term recovery and stability for Haiti still remains in the balance and the dispersal of relief funds and relief efforts remain difficult at best. The public response to the disaster was remarkable and heartwarming but due to the terribly slow process of rebuilding and clearing damaged districts much of the funds donated remain tied up at present.

In reality the the 1.5 million people in the camps face an extended period under the same conditions so the continued need for tents and tarpaulin remains high. HomeinHaiti.org began immediately after the disaster with a simple goal (simple on paper) of providing as much immediate relief shelter as possible to the millions of homeless Haitians. Since January more than $1.5 million worth of tents has been donated to Haiti via the organization which represents a greater total than any established organization or government specific to the provision of shelter. Phase 1 of the goal has been reached with the emergency camps in place outside the worst impacted areas. The organization has now launched a new project called ‘the Miriam centre’ which is to build a school and home for disabled orphans. The facility will provide housing for Haitian children with cerebral palsy, severe autism and other significant disadvantages. This new facility will support its twin which currently exists which is now extremely overcrowded since the events in January. The project seeks $300,000 to convert the land and purchase equipment and materials to build the new centre, at present they are nearly 1/3 of the way to the target with construction set to begin imminently. While the road to recovery remains steep for Haiti ideally targets such as these can be reached rapidly with greater awareness.