Haiti Quake Updates

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

There has been much written about insecurity when delivering aid in Haiti. For the Red Cross it is all about the approach you take. Basically, genuine contact and partnership with the community. Good preparation. Involving people and being accountable to them; involving communities in their recovery. Guns, barbed wire and containment often serve to frustrate and provoke people in desperate need into an enraged mob. Aid need not be delivered through the barrel of a gun. Head Down Eyes Opener Joe Lowry reports from Port au Prince on a typical Red Cross relief distribution.

Relief distributions are stepping up a gear in Haiti. Soon the Red Cross relief effort will reach its first target of getting essential household (non-food) items to 5,000 families every week. The distribution are – unlike those reported in the media – generally smooth and secure.

"We’re doing targeted and frequent distributions," says Charles Blake from the Red Cross relief team in Haiti. "We don’t use any armed security, barbed wire or tear gas, we rely on our emblem and the goodwill the public has towards Haitian Red Cross."

Prioritizing women

It works. At the Citée Renault camp for displaced people at the edge of Port-au-Prince hundreds of people wait in line. "First priority are pregnant women, then other women, the elderly and then men," explains Charles. "The Haiti Red Cross volunteers visit the camps two days in advance, work with the committees and distribute tickets. The community feels part of the distribution just as Haiti Red Cross is part of the community." (Photo shows pregnant women, top priority to receive relief, at a Red Cross distribution this week).

Each ticket entitles the holder to a blanket, mosquito net, two boxes of sanitary items like soap, toothpaste and shampoo, and a box of kitchen items including plates, pots, cutlery and knives.

Among the hundreds of women receiving a package is Ismene Caiis, a market woman, who has queued three hours to reach the head of the queue. The distribution is done at a site near the camp, where access can be halted if the crowd gets unruly. "It happens sometimes, especially towards the end of the day when people sense the supplies are running out, but if they have a ticket they will get aid," says Charles.

But Ismene and her cousin Leckson Michel, a teacher, make their way through the good-natured crowd and back to Ismene’s tent, which the 25-year-old shares with her daughter (9) and eight-year-old son. The tent, sheets draped over branches, is about the size of a double bed and has a piece of cardboard on the floor. Nothing else.

Having lost everything

"This is really useful for us", she says, thrilled with the metal plates and pots. "Of course we need food as well but this is welcome as we have lost everything we ever owned."

The Red Cross has installed water points in the camp and runs a clinic nearby. Camp Renault is not ideal, far from it, but at least some basics have been taken care of.

The big worry is shelter, as the rainy period in May will be followed by the hurricane season. "We have been distributing plastic sheeting and tools to thousands of families but the difficulty is the density of the displaced. At least the tarpaulins gives them shade during the day and will help when the rains come," says Corinne Treherne from the shelter team. "The long-term solution is to get them back into their homes or to help them integrate into host families."

Type "Haiti" into Twitter, Facebook or Youtube and you soon encounter a message from @redcross sent at 05:38 GMT on Jan 13.

In less than 48 hours, the American Red Cross had received more than $35m in donations - including $8m directly from texts.

"This breaks all world records for a mobile giving campaign," says their spokeswoman, Gloria Huang.

"It's been incredible. People have donated more to Haiti than to Hurricane Katrina or the tsunami in Asia.

"And Twitter has played an extremely significant part."

Getting aid to Haiti quake survivors

By Pete Garratt
January 15, 2010 at 4:22 pm

Forgive me for not blogging earlier but it’s been hard to get a moment to gather my thoughts since Tuesday night, when my phone went as I was just on my way to bed.

I received a text alerting me to the Haiti quake – which was 7.0 on the Richter scale. From my knowledge of the country I knew that an earthquake of that magnitude located in the capital Port au Prince would have a major impact. Immediately I was on the phone to colleagues, planning out initial response activity.

An early start the next morning. First off, we released £200,000 from our Disaster Fund to support the relief efforts of Red Cross staff and volunteers in Haiti who were helping survivors before the dust had even settled. Then colleagues from my team (disaster management) got together with others from fundraising and communication to launch the Haiti Earthquake Appeal.

Because we already had pre-positioned relief items in our regional warehouse in Panama – such as kitchen sets, hygiene kits, blankets and shelter kits – we were able to contribute these goods for 3,000 families straight away. And we have now released over £1.64 million to support the relief efforts in Haiti.

Although I knew it was going to be bad, I still wasn’t quite prepared for the full extent of the horror that has unfolded over the last few days. The infrastructure of the affected area has been completely decimated and getting any information is extremely difficult. But quite early on we heard reports about the Red Cross building being damaged and my thoughts naturally turned to our colleagues. Although I’ve since heard that all the international Red Cross staff are accounted for, sadly a number of local staff have been killed.

The Red Cross is a global family and hearing this news is hard, along with seeing the terrible images on the news of all who are suffering I’ve been moved and motivated even more to do all I can to help.

Haiti is a French speaking nation and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies – who co-ordinate all Red Cross National Societies from around the world at times of natural disasters – quickly deployed a number of emergency response units (ERU) from countries that speak French.

However, I’ve just found out that even more assistance is needed and I’ve been asked to deploy our logistics ERU. We’re now working on getting that team on a plane first thing tomorrow. They will be going to the Dominican Republic – which is Haiti’s neighbour – to facilitate delivery of relief that needs to go by road, as the airport is overloaded.

As well as co-ordinating our response, I’ve given a number of media interviews. It’s important at times like this to get the message out and communicate to the public what we are doing and how urgently we need to raise money to continue helping survivors.

You may have seen some reports that aid isn’t getting through. It’s true that the challenge we’re now facing is to consolidate our support and make sure that the aid gets delivered as quickly as possible.

However, we are closely monitoring the security situation in Haiti and based on current information, the arrival and distribution of vital Red Cross relief items has not been affected. Security issues will be taken into consideration as the situation becomes clearer and relief programmes are established.

It’s vitally important with so many people affected that the aid is prioritised for those who need it most. But our teams are trained and experienced at identifying the most vulnerable and making sure that they get the aid in the safest way.

It’s been long days and nights for us here in the London office, but obviously far worse for those living through this nightmare. We will continue to do everything we can.

Please help us by giving to the Disasters Emergency Committee emergency appeal.

Image 1 © American Red Cross

Image 2 © Eliana Aponte / Reuters

Image 3 © Lloyd Sturdy / British Red Cross

Image 4 © Matthew Marek / American Red Cross

Priority needs are food, water, shelter, medical help

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With estimates that as many as three million people may be affected by the catastrophic earthquake which hit Haiti Tuesday, the American Red Cross is releasing an additional $9 million for earthquake relief, bringing its total commitment so far to $10 million to support relief efforts in Haiti.

U.S. mobile subscribers have texted donations of more than $2 million to the Red Cross in the aftermath of the massive earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday. Mobile donations solutions provider mGive launched the effort in association with the Red Cross and the U.S. Department of State--by texting HAITI to 90999, subscribers pledge $10 to the relief cause. The donation will appear on their next mobile bill, with 100 percent of the funds going to the Red Cross.

All four major U.S, operators have thrown their support behind the mGive campaign--a mention on the White House blog and word of mouth on Facebook and Twitter are also credited with boosting momentum. Speaking to MSNBC.com on Wednesday, Verizon Wireless spokesperson Jeffrey Nelson called the effort "the biggest day in the history of mobile giving in the U.S.," adding that at the time, Verizon customers alone had already donated more than $300,000.

LONDON, Jan 13 (AFP) - Britain is rushing a humanitarian assessment team to Haiti after the devastating earthquake there, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday, while aid agencies pledged emergency help.

"We stand ready to provide whatever humanitarian assistance is required," he said, adding that he was "deeply saddened and worried about the reported scale of the earthquake in Haiti."

A spokesman for the Department for International Development (DFID) said they were "deeply concerned" as the death toll mounted on the impoverished Caribbean island state.

"It appears to have been severe, causing considerable damage and harm. We do not yet have a clear picture of needs from the Haitian authorities or from humanitarian agencies. We are monitoring the situation closely.

"Overnight we have mobilised a DFID humanitarian assessment team to fly to Haiti today."

Aid agency Oxfam said it had emergency response teams in the region poised to respond.

"At this stage it is too early to tell the severity of the earthquake in Haiti, but the early signs are not good with communications down across the country," said Jane Cocking, the charity's humanitarian director.

"Oxfam has its emergency response team for Latin America based in Haiti so we are well prepared, with a public health, water and sanitation team in Port-au-Prince ready to respond.

"We also have emergency supplies in Panama which we can access should we need to."

Kristie van de Wetering, a former Oxfam employee still based in Port-au-Prince, said in a statement on the Oxfam website that the Haitian capital was "very chaotic" with many houses in rubble.

"There is a blanket of dust rising from the valley south of the capital," she said.

"We can hear people calling for help from every corner. The aftershocks are ongoing and making people very nervous."

Red Cross spokeswoman Heron Holloway said the charity was preparing to fly in aid from Panama

Aid group Oxfam said it had emergency response teams in the region poised to respond.

"At this stage it is too early to tell the severity of the earthquake in Haiti, but the early signs are not good with communications down across the country," said Jane Cocking, the charity's humanitarian director.

"Oxfam has its emergency response team for Latin America based in Haiti so we are well prepared, with a public health, water and sanitation team in Port-au-Prince ready to respond.

"We also have emergency supplies in Panama which we can access should we need to."

Red Cross spokeswoman Heron Holloway said the charity was preparing to fly in aid from Panama.