Jennifer Lang, Program Manager and Elizabeth Warren, Program Assistant – September 3, 2012
Last month, Tropical Storm Isaac hit Haiti with heavy rain and strong winds. Hurricanes are a constant fear during the rainy season, which stretches from May through October. Most communities are unprepared to handle large amounts of rainfall, where flash flooding makes travel impossible. In rural areas, pregnancies and common illnesses can become medical emergencies because healthcare sites are inaccessible. Children cannot attend school for fear of mudslides on their walk. Cholera surges again when households flood and lack the means for proper sanitation.
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| A Home in Cote De Fer is still flooded 4 days after the storm passed. | Cote de Fer residents walk across wooden planks built to allow them to cross the mud and water outside their homes. | Market Day in Cote de Fer continues after Isaac, despite flooding and excessive mud. |
Hope for Haiti partners with over 60 healthcare and education sites and during and after Isaac, our staff kept in constant contact with community leaders to identify damaged areas and deliver life-saving materials in response to the storm. In the city of Les Cayes, Hope for Haiti’s operations base in the South, a local orphanage and nursing home experienced severe flooding. A 2-hour mountainous drive to Cotes de Fer revealed a flooded downtown and surging river. Most residents were forced to wade through a foot of mud and water in order to get to school or to the market even days after Isaac’s immediate impact.
In Cotes de Fer, Les Cayes, and seven other partner communities throughout the South, Hope for Haiti distributed supplies to combat Isaac’s impact. A stock of 1,500 Emergency Buckets is always prepared in advance of a crisis, and it allows us to respond quickly to areas hard hit. In the case of Isaac, that meant we were providing relief less than 12 hours after the storm while the waters were still rising.
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| Program Assistant, Arianne Pingledis, crosses muddy path to distribute emergency buckets in Cote de Fer. | Program Assistant, Liz Warren, carries emergency buckets to Cote de Fer residents after Tropical Storm Isaac. | Program Assistant, Liz Warren, delivers emergency buckets to houses in Cote de Fer that experienced flash floods. |
A single Emergency Bucket contains the basic supplies for a family of 5 to survive for 5 days in the aftermath of an emergency. These tools include candles, matches, food, soap, detergent, water purification tablets, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. After Tropical Storm Isaac, over 400 families received buckets—enough materials to support 2,000 people. Two rural healthcare facilities also received supplies to help prevent and combat the spread of Cholera. We are preparing another 500 buckets in order to be prepared for the next crisis.
Your support saves lives in an emergency. Hope for Haiti’s community partnerships that were built over more than 20 years ago allow us to respond in times of greatest need. With a gift of $100, you can purchase a bucket for a family in the wake of a disaster. For $1,200, a rural healthcare facility can pay the monthly salary of their sole doctor to help fight deadly diseases like Cholera. Thank you to all who have responded and to-date contributed over $7,000 to our Emergency Relief efforts. Your support is greatly appreciated!