Handicap continues to supply aid to the people of Haiti hit hard by Hurricane Sandy on 24 October. The organisation is handing out emergency kits along with chlorine to prevent cholera and preparing to expand its emergency relief efforts. The situation is extremely worrying: some villages are still cut off from the rest of the world, many people’s homes have been severely damaged, cholera cases are rising, and more than one million people may find themselves without anything to eat in the months ahead.
In the areas hardest hit by Tropical Storm Sandy, Handicap International has provided some 2,800 families with essential non-food items (a hygiene kit, cooking kits, jerrycans, blankets, etc.) to help them get through this crisis. “The people of Haiti have lost so much. More than 18,000 homes[1] have been damaged. Some families are living in extremely poor conditions in temporary shelters,” explains Marlène Dussauge, RRM (Rapid Response Mechanism) project manager in Haiti. “Some villages are still cut off from the world because the roads have been destroyed. It’s almost impossible to reach them, even by foot. Sometimes we have to transport the aid by sea.”
Handicap International, which launched its relief operation within 24 hours of the storm striking, has also noted several cases of cholera. These have been confirmed by the Ministry of Public Health. Unfortunately, many health centres and cholera treatment facilities were destroyed in the storm. “Our teams are giving out essential non-food items like soap and chlorine tablets to treat the water in the most vulnerable districts. It’s a start but it’s not enough. Handicap International has launched an appeal for funds to intensify its emergency relief effort.”
“Cholera is not the only thing we need to worry about,” says Marlène. “According to estimates from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), some 1.2 million people (out of a population of 10 million) are unlikely to have enough to eat over the coming months. At the end of August, Tropical Storm Isaachad already caused a lot of damage to crops, leading to a spike in food prices and raising the threat of food insecurity to alarming levels. Following this latest tropical storm, 70% of crops in the south of the island have been destroyed and farmers have lost a lot of cattle, giving rise to fears of major malnutrition problems in the months to come. Handicap International, which has an extensive aid distribution capacity, has decided to provide support to organisations actively involved in the food security sector.”
Immediate response
Handicap International’s immediate response was made possible by the RRM (Rapid Response Mechanism) set up in August 2011 and supported by Unicef. “We used the first stage of the project to identify vulnerable districts in the south east and west departments, and the Nippes. These districts are often badly affected by natural disasters, but receive less help from humanitarian aid operators and are difficult to access when it rains because the roads turn into rivers,” explains Marlène.
“We have identified local partners in these districts, such as local organisations and members of the Civil Protection unit. They have been given intensive training in how to respond to a natural disaster, including how to hand out goods, put up tents, monitor hygiene levels, and ensure that the most vulnerable people (including people with disabilities) are not forgotten. An alert network has been set up in each district and we have a key contact person with whom we are in regular contact and have already prepared for this kind of situation.”
“For the time being we are continuing to perform assessments, handing out emergency kits and lobbying local authorities,” says Marlène. “Unfortunately, the international community has only supplied very limited funds to deal with this emergency, which has received little media coverage, despite the extent of the damage. We are looking for funds to launch a more extensive project in addition to our current actions. This project would be made up of three components: cholera prevention, construction equipment distribution, and potentially temporary food distributions.”