Haiti Earthquake Relief

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Latest Catholic Relief Services (CRS) / Caritas Haiti Efforts
As the rainy season approaches, the focus of CRS’ relief effort is moving from food, CRS
has fed some 600,000 people, to transitional shelter. Many Port-au-Prince residents, their homes either destroyed or unstable, are living beneath sheets and curtains that provide no protection against inclement weather.

CRS has distributed emergency shelter kits, containing two waterproof tarpaulins, 80 nails, and 100 feet of rope, to 12,000 families. The materials will be used to construct temporary structures that should give 60,000 people protection from the rain.
Markets are reappearing, often out on the streets in front of destroyed buildings. With food
coming into the city, from the countryside and the Dominica Republic, CRS does not want to
disrupt markets with too many additional food distributions. Our focus now is on cash-for-work
projects so people will have money to shop in the markets.
CRS is supporting the employment of scores of Haitians to clean out one of the main canals in
Port-au-Prince that became cluttered with rubble and other trash in the weeks after the quake.
The canal needs to be cleared both to help restore sanitation and to avoid flooding when the
heavy rains come.
Providing decent health care is an ongoing challenge. Teams from the University of Maryland continue to rotate in and out of the St. Francois de Sales Hospital. CRS helped get the hospital up and running though most of its buildings were destroyed. Now operation of St. Francois, taking place mainly under tents, must be moved to another site so the destroyed buildings can be
cleared and plans for reconstruction can be drawn up.
Life in the impromptu camps that now house tens of thousands of Haitians also comes with health risks. CRS is expanding efforts and resources to get information about proper hygiene to displaced people.
Another ongoing concern is the safety and security of children. Even as CRS sets up safe spaces for children in camps, they are working with the many orphanages they supported before the earthquake, assessing their needs as they return to providing care.

Visit CRS’ Web site at www.crs.org for several ways you can continue supporting the people of Haiti.

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