News Update 

May 19, 2009 — WESTPORT, Conn. — With tens of thousands of homes in Haiti destroyed by floodwaters Save the Children has reached families with critical supplies and provided displaced children with safe spaces to play and learn.

A school collapse near Port-au-Prince on Nov. 7, 2008 killed 92 and injured more than 150.

Save the Children assisted children in areas throughout Haiti where four tropical storms  caused more than 800 deaths and affected over 850,000 people. An estimated 100,000 storm victims were housed in temporary shelters, including about 60,000 in and around Gonaïve. Widespread flooding displaced families across a broad swath of the country, including the cities of Jacmel, Gonaïves and Hinche, where Save the Children provided programs.

Many of the temporary shelters were in schools, which caused the government to delay the opening of the school year until October. Adequate temporary shelters needed to be set up for those storm victims evacuated from school sites with nowhere to go.  

The 2008 storms and hurricanes also compounded the already dire national food security crisis in Haiti. More than 4 million people were estimated to be at risk of hunger and malnutrition. They were also more susceptible to waterborne diseases because of the lack of clean water.

Our Response

Save the Children provided thousands of children and their families with food, water, mattresses, blankets, medicines, hygiene, household and infant kits.

A Haitian baby sits next to an improvised kitchen set up after four storms devasted areas near Port-au- Prince. Sept. 16, 2008. REUTERS/ Eduardo Munoz . Courtesy alertnet.org

The agency coordinated delivery on Oct. 6, 2008 of more than 30,000 pounds of medicines and medical and surgical materials — including antibiotics, antiseptics, pain medicines, multivitamins, gauze, sutures and oral-rehydration salts to treat dehydration from diarrhea.

The shipment, valued at nearly $3 million, was donated and delivered to Port-au-Prince, Haiti by AmeriCares. It helped meet the emergency medical needs of tens of thousands of displaced people.

Working with UNICEF in some locations, Save the Children established 11 child-friendly areas and activities for thousands of children in Gonaïve and Jacmel. More than 200 social workers were trained. Five additional child-friendly areas were established in Jacmel.

These sites provided emotional-support programs and nutritious snacks, and ultimately helped ensure children return to school. The project reached an estimated 6,500 children.

• Haiti: Reflections from the Field A report from Michele Beauvoir Chandler the Haiti Country Office.
  
• Read about Save the Children's program in temporary shelters.

• In 2008 Haiti was struck by Tropical Storm Fay on Aug. 15 and 16, by Hurricane Gustav on Aug. 26, by Tropical Storm Hanna on Sept. 1 and by Hurricane Ike on Sept. 6 and 7.
  
• About 90 percent of crops were destroyed in some key areas.
• Save the Children has worked in Haiti since 1985, primarily in the Central Plateau region and the capital city of Port-au-Prince, providing health, education, protection and food security programs to vulnerable children.