CRS Thank You from Haiti

Thank You All - from Haiti

We in Haiti, are all shouldering the loss in some way here, but we hope you can take pride in some of the burden you’ve helped to lift. As of today, February 8, alongside our Church and Caritas partners, we have been able to achieve the following:

• Distribution of food to 264,200 people, and non-food items to 25,000 people.
• Provision of medical care and treatment to a total of 4,126 people, and hygiene kits to 10,000 people.
• Support of medical materials and supplies, volunteer doctors and nurses, food, water and other support to expand emergency medical care at St. Francois de Sales Hospital.
• Establishment of three functioning operating rooms—conducting an average of 12 severe surgical cases per day—as well as a laboratory, X-ray room and blood bank at St. Francois de Sales Hospital.
• Resumption of health care at 12 highly populated areas in Port-au-Prince
and Leogane.
• Launching of public health campaign carried out through megaphone and radio.
• Installation of four water storage and purification units in various areas of the city, and water and sanitation assessments in another 14 locations.
• Creation of designs to build a latrine at St. Francois de Sales Hospital, and an initial strategy for drainage, showers and sanitation at camps and temporary settlements.
• Child protection trainings taking place. Five child friendly spaces have been set up at camps. Assessment of 101 orphanages and child care centers supported by CRS/Caritas Haiti is ongoing.
• First phase of emergency shelter kit distributions in Pétionville provided for 6,500 families (39,000 people).

It is going to be a long road to recovery, and our teams of professionals are mapping out the transitional and long-term programming that fits with the needs and context for people to rebuild their lives. We’ll be sure to share those updates and stories with you.

In the meantime, thank you for making this possible and please keep the people of Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.
A saying is popular in Haiti that you can hear on the streets and in camps:
“Nou bite men nou pap tonbe. We may stumble but we will not fall.”
Indeed, with your support, few things have rung so true.

CRS History in Haiti
Catholic Relief Services began working in Haiti in 1954 after Hurricane Hazel devastated the country and killed upward of 1,000 people. High population density, severe deforestation and decaying infrastructure make Haiti particularly vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods.

In the beginning, CRS’ work centered on responding to the massive loss of lives and physical destruction caused by the hurricane. However, since 1954 CRS Haiti has grown to include both emergency relief activities and long-term development work. CRS Haiti now focuses not only on emergency response, but on spurring economic growth for Haiti’s poorest citizens through agriculture, natural resource management, and microfinance/small-business development. We also help Haitians by providing much-needed programs in education and health.

CRS Haiti continues to support “safety net,” or social welfare, centers such as children’s homes and centers for the aged and dying. Catholic Relief Services Haiti works to improve access to health and nutrition services, education, and water and sanitation. CRS programs assist with emergencyresponse, HIV and AIDS, social safety net institutions, and agricultural development. These efforts focus on ensuring social justice and preserving human rights.

For more information, please visit www.crs.org