Old name alert
It’s been eight weeks since Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti, and tens of thousands of people are still in need of aid. Many are living in makeshift shelters and do not have easy access to healthcare or drinking water. A cholera outbreak continues to pose a threat.
Logistical constraints
Flooding in the north and south of Haiti has damaged dozens of roads and bridges, making it nearly impossible for Handicap International to transport humanitarian aid to people living in remote areas by land. To overcome these logistical constraints, our teams set up a logistics platform in Les Cayes and Jérémie and have transported 54 tons of aid to those living in hard-to-reach areas. Dozens of boats and approximately 40 trucks gathered to transport humanitarian cargo–with volumes expected to rise in the coming weeks.
Emergency kits, hygiene kits, and household items
Handicap International is organizing the distribution of 1,000 emergency and hygiene kits kits–containing a toolbox, rope, sheets, fastenings, jerry cans, and torches–and essential household items in the region of Les Nippes. The supplies will help people build shelters, provide decent living conditions, and stop the spread of cholera.
Rehabilitation and psychosocial support
Two mobile teams, each including a psychological support project manager, physical therapist, and social worker, were deployed to the city of Les Cayes to access the injured following the disaster. Each team assessed conditions in the city’s hospitals and its rehabilitation services, supplied wheelchairs, crutches and walkers, and organized rehabilitation sessions for more than 150 people.
We also provided psychological support sessions for victims: “A lot of people have been deeply affected by the hurricane,” explains Fanny Del, Handicap International’s head of emergency operations in Port-au-Prince. “Some of them have lost everything and live in temporary shelters with little privacy or security. It’s very destabilizing and adds to the pain of losing a relative or suffering from an injury.” Additional teams will soon be deployed to the city of Les Cayes, then Jérémie.
Including the most vulnerable
The organization is identifying the most vulnerable people–people with disabilities, pregnant women, older people, isolated heads of households–in the areas of Grande Anse and Sud, and helps provide access to humanitarian services such as healthcare, education, and rehabilitation.
Haiti needs you. Support Handicap International and make sure no one is excluded from life-saving aid.
Your gift will provide:
- essential aid: water, shelter, and basic supplies
- mobility devices, such as wheelchairs, walkers, and artificial limbs
- psychological support to those traumatized by the disaster
- physical therapy and other rehabilitative care to those with injuries and disabilities
*Any funds raised beyond the needs of our emergency response in Haiti will be used to support other vital programs in the country and around the world.
Handicap International has worked in Haiti since 2008. We are co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for our work to ban landmines, the 1996 Nansen Prize for our work with refugees, and the 2011 Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the world’s largest humanitarian prize, for our work in Haiti after the earthquake.