An estimated 800,000 people have been affected by an earthquake that hit Haiti mid-August. Women and girls with disabilities are among those most impacted. Humanity & Inclusion’s teams are on-site and coordinating with local actors to ensure that humanitarian aid takes their needs into account.

The population in Haiti has long been exposed to issues of poverty, made worse by frequent natural disasters in the country. Today, in addition to inflation of the local currency, Humanity & inclusion surveys of local markets found that the cost of basic goods has increased since the earthquake. A pack of women’s sanitary napkins was 75 Haitian gourdes before the earthquake, but now costs over 100. Even more challenging, many people are now without any income after the disaster.

“Many women with disabilities have lost their tools for their income-generating activities,” says Marijoe Pierre, President of the Haitian Association for Women with Disabilities in the South. “A disabled woman seamstress lost her sewing machine in the rubble. She is a single mother with three children. This machine allowed her to feed her three children. She now lives with them in a camp for displaced people along the road to Torbec.”

According to the UN, around 1,500 people with disabilities have been identified in the three most affected regions (Nippes, Grand’Anse, South), the majority of which are women. In the more than 500 emergency rehabilitation sessions carried out by Humanity & Inclusion’s team since August, 58% of patients have been women and girls.

Deliver emergency aid to Haiti

One month after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake affected 690,000 people in southwest Haiti, humanitarian needs in the country remain immense. The natural disaster wreaked havoc on the Grand’Anse, South and Nippes districts, causing over 2,200 deaths and putting 650,000 people in need of vital support.

“Day after day at the rehabilitation center, patients are multiplying,” says Guetchly-Nise, a physical therapist recruited by Humanity & Inclusion and its partner FONTEN in Les Cayes.

Deliver emergency aid to Haiti

Humanity & Inclusion’s physical therapy reinforcements taught rehabilitation exercises and distributed mobility aids to Stephanie, 12, and her aunt after they were injured when their home collapsed during the Aug. 14 earthquake.

After the earthquake that hit southern Haiti on Aug. 14, delayed arrivals pose serious consequences for incoming patients. Dr. Donald Amazan is working alongside Humanity & Inclusion to treat injured Haitians.

Deliver emergency aid to Haiti

Humanity & Inclusion transported more than 16 tons of equipment from its emergency response depot in Dubai to Port-au-Prince to help communities affected by the Aug. 14 earthquake.

Humanity & Inclusion is determined to put inclusion and protection at the forefront of its emergency response to ensure that no one is left behind. 

Women, children, aging people and people with disabilities are at even greater risk of harm following the recent Haiti earthquake.

Deliver emergency aid to Haiti

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. 

In the aftermath of the recent Haitian earthquake, Humanity & Inclusion delivers humanitarian aid by sea to support people affected by the disaster.

On Monday morning, Humanity & Inclusion received a maritime shipment of mobility aids in Les Cayes, where its emergency team has been responding since the recent earthquake caused more than 2,200 deaths and over 12,000 injuries throughout southwest Haiti.

Deliver emergency aid to Haiti

On a recent visit to a hospital in Les Cayes, Humanity & Inclusion’s staff met Oscar, who remains positive despite his home being destroyed and his leg broken in the earthquake.

On August 14, Oscar was just outside his home, walking down the narrow alley between two buildings, when he felt the ground begin to move.

“The walls swayed back and forth and I started to run,” he says. “I knew immediately that it was an earthquake, and that they could collapse at any moment." Before he could escape, the bricks began crashing onto him, cutting his arms and shattering his leg. Despite his broken leg, Oscar continued to run to avoid being buried by the rubble. 

The Humanity & Inclusion emergency response team has begun the training process for physical therapists who will be reinforcing local hospitals and a rehabilitation center in Les Cayes, Haiti.

Our experts are working with seven physical therapists and one physical therapy assistant who have already received all of the appropriate training to respond to routine rehabilitation needs. Most of the specialists have participated in past trainings conducted by Humanity & Inclusion.

Deliver emergency aid to Haiti