Central America

Haiti

Poverty, Earthquake, Cyclones and Cholera

In Haiti since 1989, Terre des hommes (Tdh) takes care of children suffering from malnutrition, develops access to water and sanitation, and brings emergency aid after the series of disasters that hit the country.

Context

Even before the earthquake, the state of health and child protection was already very alarming: four children out of ten lived in absolute poverty, 23% of the under-fives suffered from delayed growth, one third of the children did not live at home, 173,000 worked as unpaid domestic servants (“restavek”), 2,000 children became victims of trafficking yearly.
On January 12th, 2010, an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale devastated the capital city and its surroundings. Hundreds of thousands of children and adults lost their families, their homes and their work within a few dreadful minutes. They were forced to go and find refuge in other regions, which also brought them into danger. After the cyclones of the 2010 summer, the Haitians were struck by a terrible cholera epidemic, and then by violent riots related to the recent elections.

Our intervention

• Fighting malnutrition by community activity – Tdh combats malnutrition by concerted action with the communities: use of local products, encouragement of breast-feeding, water disinfection. Children suffering from malnutrition are looked after by mobile clinics in their villages, and the most severe cases are admitted to the units for nutritional stabilisation.
• Access to water, hygiene and sanitation – Tdh constructs bores, catchment points and latrines, and disinfects water. The work of promoting hygiene in the villages allows local capacity to be reinforced and minimises disease risks.
• Emergency aid – Following the earthquake Tdh increased its activities around Les Cayes. The Foundation also set up emergency interventions for nutrition, water, sanitation, hygiene and child protection in the areas struck by the earthquake (Leogane, Petit Goave, Grand Goave).

Centered at -72.285215 18.971187 6

Places of intervention : Les Cayes, Petit Gôave, Port Salut, Chantal, Arniquet, Torbeck, Camp Perrin, Léogâne, Grand Gôave

Projects : Combating malnutrition, Water and sanitation, emergency aid after the earthquake

In joint cooperation with : Min. Public Health and Population, Social Affairs, Justice, Institute of Social Welfare, UNICEF, MSF Spain, MdM Swiss., TdH NL, Germ., It., Lux.

Delegate : Olivier Le Guillou

Expatriate staff : 20

National staff : 220

Budget : 8'000'000 CHF

Gallery

Latest News

10 Jan 2012 • Humanitarian crises Haiti
Haiti: Two years after the earthquake - Terre des hommes stays to help the most helpless

Two years after the disastrous earthquake in January 2010 and the terrible cholera epidemic that struck the island a few months later, Terre des hommes (Tdh) carries on with its commitment to help the most underprivileged Haitians. Present in Haiti for the past twenty years, t... Read more
16 Dec 2011 • Humanitarian crises Haiti
Terre des hommes will go on helping the children of Haiti

Terre des hommes (Tdh) will continue to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake in the near future. Two years after the disaster and with a huge humanitarian response to the cholera epidemic, Tdh continues to protect more than 6,000 children at risk of violence, to contribute... Read more

Side Notes

What Tdh can do with:

• CHF 25.-: Look after a child during his stay in a unit for nutritional treatment
• CHF 100.-: Give a day’s training on child nutrition to 10 people.

The situation of the children

• 24% of the children suffer from chronic malnutrition
• Before the earthquake, 60% of the population had no access to basic services

Achievements 2010

• Tdh’s emergency intervention benefited 80,000 people and the Foundation employed 200 Haitians.
• 43,000 disaster victims received shelters and/or basic necessities.
• 9,350 people got back their access to drinking water, and 1,500 latrines were built.
• 25,000 children were examined, 1,100 children suffering from malnutrition were treated, 1,850 pregnant or breastfeeding women were examined thoroughly.
• 750 children and their families were followed up and given help (support, family reunification, child registration). Nine recreation centres were built and offered activities to more than 4,000 children.

Testimonial

When he was one year old, Léger was suffering from severe malnutrition. He spent eight months in a specialist nutrition unit and in a stabilisation unit at a nearby hospital.

- Léger, Tdh beneficiary in Haiti