Haiti: Reflections from the Field
A report from Michele Beauvoir Chandler in Save the Children's Haiti Country Office
Within the space of one month in 2008, Haiti was hit by four successive hurricanes and tropical storms, (Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike). These storms were major catastrophes to the already troubled and unprepared country. I was lucky to be among those invited by the Division of Humanitarian Response and the Haiti Country Office to assist with the emergency response.
At that time, I was privileged to visit one of Save the Children's Child Friendly Space (CFS) in Jacmel. The space had been opened for only two days and already there were 250 children doing activities. Led by trained social workers, these safe spaces helped children cope with their traumatic experience through playing, dancing and singing; they were happy, forgetting what they had lost if only for a few hours. Their parents, however, were very much aware. Most of them lost their homes, their children's school supplies right before the school year, their businesses. They expressed their appreciation about the opportunity Save the Children provided for the community youth affected by the storms to be given the chance to be children again.
Disaster Preparedness
Save the Children is concentrating on preparedness for this year's hurricane season. Protection Sector Manager, Margarett Lubin and the Project Coordinator in Gonaives, Serge Gilles, are working towards improving preparedness and school reinsertion. "We need to implement projects aimed at preparing the population, especially children for future emergencies. As with all emergencies, we were informed of abuse and exploitation of young girls within the shelters, which is why we try to build local capacity to assure a more protective environment for children during emergencies," said Lubin.
Staying Focused on the Future
I truly admire the strength of the people who are victims of these hurricanes; they continuously impress me by rebuilding the little that they had, and happy to receive whatever is provided by organizations such as sheets and school supplies. I met families who had lost everything, their homes, their children's school supplies and they still keep education for their children a priority all the while hoping that such disasters will not hit them as hard in the future.
According to government figures the hurricanes and tropical storms left 793 people dead, injured 548 and 310 missing. More than 165,000 families — 800,000 people — were affected. The greatest damage was caused by the floods that completely covered towns with water and mud, in some parts of Gonaïves the water was 5 feet deep.
Save the Children provided 19 Child Friendly Spaces in temporary disaster shelter sites in Gonaives and the Southeast Department so that approximately 4,501 children could find relief from the turmoil. The agency also provided 374 school age children with a school reinsertion package that included tuition, books, uniforms and school supplies; 250 families with small recapitalization grants and 20 of the most vulnerable families in the target communities in Gonaives have benefitted from 20 phone banks that will serve as income generating activities. We also arranged Christmas activities for the children participating in our CFS, and invited parents and school officials.
Last Updated May 2009
