The magnitude of the earthquake that hit on 12 January 2010 and the destruction caused was catastrophic. Houses were levelled and the country’s infrastructure was widely destroyed.
Save the Children had to respond to the most challenging and complex emergency effort that we had ever undertaken. With a 30-year history in Haiti, we were on the ground when the earthquake hit and responded immediately with emergency aid. We have already reached 682,000 children and their family with food, shelter and supplies.
But the country faces a long-term process of intense reconstruction, rehabilitation and investment. Over the next five years we will be helping people rebuild their lives.
Video: 6 months after the earthquake
Getting children back to school
The simple act of going to school provides children with comfort and a sense of security, helping them to overcome difficult experiences. We’ve helped 45,000 children go back to school by helping over 270 schools or temporary learning spaces reopen by providing supplies and equipment and teacher training to ensure that children are receiving the best possible quality of education.
A place to play with friends
We’ve set up 54 child-friendly spaces so children aged 3- 17 have safe places to play with friends and carry out age-appropriate activities while their parents work to re-establish their way of life and rebuild their homes.
Safe cleaning water
We’re providing sanitation and safe drinking water to 100 camps through water supply systems, such as community water tanks, latrines, hand-washing facilities, bathing areas and the delivery of drinking water through water tankers.
Food to save lives
We distributed food to almost 300,000 children and adults in the aftermath of the emergency. We are also helping almost 11,000 people earn a living through work schemes where they rebuild the country’s infrastructure for cash.
Keeping children healthy
We have provided health care or nutritious food to more than 100,000 people through our mobile healthcare clinics. Children suffering from malnutrition are admitted immediately into programmes, and given therapeutic nutritional supplements, such as fortified peanut paste. The children’s progress is tracked weekly. We also help new mums learn how to breastfeed to get their babies off to a healthy start.
But thousands of families still have no permanent homes. With the rain and hurricane season intensifying, they are still living in tents in temporary camps leaving hundreds of thousands of children at risk from major health complications.
What YOU can do to help
Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. More than 70% of Haitians live on less than $1 per day, and average life-expectancy is 52 years. One in four children are malnourished and infant, child, and maternal mortality are among the highest in the region.
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