Haiti: Save The Children Reaches More Than 105,000

Save The Children Reaches More Than 105,000 Children And Families In Haiti

29 January 2010 - Two weeks after a devastating magnitude-7 earthquake rocked Haiti, the global humanitarian organization Save the Children has reached more than 105,000 children and adults, providing lifesaving food, medicines and supplies.

The organisation is also working to protect vulnerable children, providing spaces to play and helping trace unaccompanied children and reunite them with their families.

“It took less than 40 seconds for lives of tens of thousands of Haitian children to change completely. They lost friends, family and teachers, saw their homes and neighborhoods destroyed, and watched their family's livelihood disappear in this devastating quake,” said Lee Nelson, Save the Children’s country director in Haiti.

“Today, Save the Children is rushing to meet the immediate lifesaving needs of these children and their families by distributing food, water, hygiene and household supplies, and by erecting latrines and bathing facilities. And, given the enormity of this disaster, we will be assisting Haitian families with their recovery for months and years to come.”

Save the Children staff in Port-au-Prince, Léogâne and Jacmel are ramping up efforts to meet the health, protection and educational needs of thousands of children displaced from their homes and living in makeshift camps. It is distributing hygiene kits, household kits, plastic sheeting, blankets, food and water.

Save the Children’s water and sanitation programs are providing clean water, latrines and bathing facilities for 2,200 people in the encampments at Lakou Issa and Theatre National camps in Port-au-Prince. Yesterday the agency distributed 2-week rations of food to 600 families in Léogâne, where it also provided blankets, plastic sheeting and jerry cans. And two mobile clinics are treating the sick and injured in Jacmel and Léogâne.

More than 6,000 children have participated in activities at 13 child-friendly spaces established by Save the Children in Jacmel and Port-au-Prince. Today 25 additional staff members were trained to help run three more spaces. Save the Children plans to open 150 for children affected by the earthquake over the next coming weeks.

“Despite the challenges presented by the scale of this disaster and its impact on the capital city, we are reaching more children and families every day,” said Annie Foster, Save the Children’s team leader in Haiti. “The Haitian people are very resilient and communities are supporting each other, but they cannot do it alone.

Save the Children is focusing its efforts across a variety of critical areas — food, clean water, health, protection and education — and working in partnership with local communities, the government and other agencies. New supply trucks and planes are arriving with increasing regularity. As logistical challenges decrease, we will work together to provide both immediate assistance and ongoing support so that Haiti can recover and rebuild.”

Save the Children has worked in Haiti since 1978 and currently has more than 220 staff in the country. All staff has been accounted for, with one staff member reported to have died in the earthquake.

To donate to Save the Children’s Emergency Appeal:

• Save the Children’s website: www.savethechildren.org.nz

• Call Save the Children New Zealand’s donation line: 0800 167 168 or 0900 67168 to give an automatic $20 donation

• Text 8595 to give an automatic $3 donation

• Visit any one of Save the Children’s shops across the country (our website: www.savethechildren.org.nz lists the one closest to you)

• Send a cheque, made out to Save the Children, to Freepost PO Box 6584, Marion Square, Wellington. Mark your envelope Haiti and don’t forget to add your name and address so we can send you a receipt.

ENDS

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