News
Children in Port-au-Prince - 02/03/2010 11:13
7 weeks on from the devastating earthquake which demolished huge swathes of the capital of Haiti and killed an estimated 230,000 people, millions have been left homeless. The last couple of months have been perhaps the worst disaster in all the rocky history of Haiti. In the aftermath of the As time ticks on, the imminent rainy season becomes more of a problem. Already the rains have caused a landslide in Cap-Haïtien which destroyed an elementary school and killed four children, including the young daughter of our partners medical director, Dr Toussaint. Devastating floods in the third largest city of Although the rainy season does not really start for another month, these early rains have been heavy enough to cause problems for the 1.2 million homeless living in rough camps round the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. Living under simple plastic sheets offers no protection from the torrential rain of the Caribbean. There is an opportunity not to be missed here to rebuild Port-au-Prince to better withstand future disasters. However, what are the millions of now homeless inhabitants to do in the meantime? These people simply want to return to their homes and get back to their lives, but it will be Whatever the intentions of the US missionaries arrested in Haiti, it really highlighted some of the issues facing children there. For so many years, children have been at such risk in Haiti, with unknown numbers trafficked across the border to the Dominican Republic, some 25,000 children living on the streets, We want to be helping children like these in the long term. To ensure that we are working where the need is greatest, Caroline will be going to visit Haiti next month to reconnect with her contacts from her previous visit in December. We are not looking to start up...
Haiti: one month later... - 12/02/2010 10:42
A month after the earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince it is good to hear that the government is beginning to get itself back on its feet. It is a mammoth task but, with assistance from the UN and aid agencies, Haiti is starting to get more organised. Aid is finally getting through Our partners recently attended a meeting with the UN, the US army and the major aid agencies. Aid is now flooding in by sea and air and it is a challenge to co-ordinate it all, but as the different organisations discussed their struggles they all found little ways they could We have had a new girl join our project in House of Blessings, a refugee fleeing the devastation in Port-au-Prince. Check back soon to hear her story. Jubilee Action's medical volunteers arrived safely back in the UK this morning. They have been in Haiti helping in the overcrowded hospitals, now...
The future of our work in Haiti - 05/02/2010 14:39
Cap-Haïtien, the city where our House of Blessings is based, has welcomed home refugees fleeing the earthquake-ravaged capital of Haiti. Family members, whether close kin or distant relatives, have been welcomed and offered safe shelter, food and water. Our partners have been busy opening their hospital and health clinic to Our House of Blessings continues well despite the earthquake. Most members of staff have welcomed back some members of their family, although others have lost many of their family in Port-au-Prince. Our night staff told us they have lost 9 members of their family. I can’t even begin to imagine The media have broadcast news of the many, many children orphaned and disabled by the earthquake. We have informed the UN we are a home for lost, orphaned or displaced children, especially those now disabled as we are one of the few places in the country with the facilities to Thanks to your overwhelmingly generous responses to offer your time and medical skills, we have a huge number of medical personnel who are now staffing our partners hospital facilities in the north of Haiti. Haiti has been flooded with medics rushing to the rescue, at present there is an excess We told you in December of our determination to set up a project for street children and restaveks who are so in need of our help. Government help was almost non-existent and there were few international charities who were working in this area. Now, what few local charitable organisations were Next month, I will be visiting Haiti once more to meet with those organisations I met in December and see where our support is most needed. There are many large emergency aid organisations who stepped in in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. We are not experts in disaster relief Thank you all so much for your incredible generosity which makes it possible for us to support these children who are so much in need of our help. In order to deliver the long-term support that they really need, these children need your continued support. Even as Haiti fades from...
Welcoming the refugees - 03/02/2010 15:34
The UK media were expecting a mass exodus of refugees to the north of Haiti, following the devastation of the earthquake. They were right, many have sought safer refuge from Cap-Haitien, home to House of Blessings, our home for disabled and abandoned children. But there are not the mass queues Usually, families in the countryside are supported by the income earned by their city relatives. Now, these relatives, if they have survived, have returned back home with nothing but the clothes on their back. With no external income, we can only expect poverty to be increasing. I'm sure you already As you know, we will be continuing to work in Haiti, both with disabled and abandoned children through our House of Blessings project, and a new project for street children and restaveks. Keep your eyes peeled for updates on our next steps....
Thank you - 01/02/2010 14:54
A huge thank you to everyone who has volunteered to go and help in Haiti. Thanks to your overwhelmingly generous response to offer your time and medical skills, we have a huge number of medical personnel who are now staffing our partners hospital facilities in the north of Haiti. Haiti Thank you so much for your help and support....
