Members of Humanity & Inclusion’s emergency team head north from Les Cayes to assess needs in Grand’Anse following the earthquake.
Humanity & Inclusion’s emergency area manager, a logistics specialist and an expert in debris clearance are visiting Jeremie, Corail and Pestel to assess the situation and determine the next steps of their response. The earthquake dramatically affected these areas, leaving many injured and without shelter, food or clean water.
"Coordinating the last mile between arrival and delivery is the greatest hurdle," says Anissa Bouachria, Humanity & Inclusion’s emergency area manager. “Our main focus will be on the health needs and logistics components. We need to look at the roads, ports and bridges for clearance concerns or infrastructural damage. Then, we can determine our shipping and storage possibilities accordingly."
Deliver emergency aid to Haiti
As part of its emergency response, Humanity & Inclusion has been preparing maritime shipments in order to deliver essential aid materials to the regions most affected by the earthquake. Proper inspection of the ports, which may have been damaged in the quake, will determine the possibilities of shipping, the volume of supplies to be shipped, where they can be unloaded, and how. This service could serve as a strategic way for numerous NGOs to access affected regions in Haiti with vital goods.
“Another priority is to build collaborative relationships with the local authorities in Grand’Anse,” Bouachria explains. “As we did in Les Cayes, we need to meet with the Civil Protection Agency, the Director of Health and the Ministry of Public Transportation, so that we can tailor our response to the particular situation in each region.”
While these members of the emergency response team broaden the scope of Humanity & Inclusion’s intervention, others remain in Les Cayes to continue assisting with rehabilitation services that are underway in local hospitals and a rehabilitation center.
“In Jeremie, we expect to see a lot of similarities to Les Cayes, such as a need for rehabilitation support, and for essential goods,” Bouachria says. “We just need to determine the volume of need. In order to provide an adapted response, we need to have a clear idea of the situation and the possibilities in each region we visit.”