Haiti Earthquake Update

17 May 2010

Islamic Relief organised three camps for displaced people, accommodating approximately 1,100 families. These camps include:

• A tent for each family, with basic necessities
• Complete drainage system, with washing areas and showers, to reduce the possibility of waterborne diseases
• A lighting system to improve security

Islamic Relief  has launched a rubble clearance programme, which will create jobs for 100 people and assist the reconstruction effort.

Work is due to begin on the reconstruction of three schools, large enough to accommodate over 5,000 students as well as generate jobs for 60 teachers 

22 April 2010

Islamic Relief’s work over the past few months has included:

• Regular water and food distributions (including rice, beans, oil, sugar and     powdered milk)
• Tent distributions
• Cooking set, blanket and plastic bucket distributions
• Plastic sheet, hygiene kit and jerry can distributions
• Organised rubbish collection
• Construction of washing and shower facilities

Islamic Relief was one of the first humanitarian organisations on the scene, and were able to deliver food to thousands of survivors in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Emergency staff set up the first organised camp ford is placed people, on a football field in Parc Sainte Claire, eleven days after the earthquake. Another camp has since been established in Accra Nord, shelter and washing facilities are currently being provided to over 3,000 people.

During the relief effort, our cash-for-work scheme created temporary jobs for about 50 camp residents.

Future Plans

The next phase of Islamic Relief’s work will shift towards reconstruction and rehabilitation. As well as temporary shelter construction, plans are being finalised for the construction of a school large enough to accommodate pupils from 16 damaged or destroyed schools in Ouest province. The school will be run by the local community and students will be provided with learning materials and lunch.

Also cash for work projects will continue to provide people with jobs so that they can begin to support themselves.

11 February 2010

Second campsite now complete!

Islamic Relief has established a second camp to house over 1,100 families in Accra Nord, Delmas 33 province, with each family being provided with a tent, kitchen and hygiene kits.

As with the first camp site, which was the first organised camp to be set up in Port-au-Prince, the focus has been on forming and supporting community based camp management committees to ensure sustainability and security of the camp

Plans are also being prepared for a third camp site to be established for approximately 500 families.

In addition to the campsite, Islamic Relief has continued with distribution of food to over 1,000 families and daily water tanker deliveries

Please donate generously to help us to save lives:

£25 will buy a family hygiene kit

£50 will buy a food pack for a family for 1 month

£75 will buy a water tank, supplying 100 people

£350 will buy a family tent

29 January 2010

• Camp site for 100 families now complete
• With a medical team from Hungary, first aid medical care has been established for residents of the camp
• Three water bladders, each with a 10,000 litre capacity have been installed in areas close to the camp
• Plastic sheeting, hygiene and kitchen sets have been distributed in areas close to the camp
• Shipment of further 1,000 tents expected early next week , allowing for larger camps to be established

Please donate generously to help us to save lives:

• £25 will buy a family hygiene kit
• £50 will buy a food pack for a family for 1 month
• £75 will buy a water tank, supplying 100 people
• £350 will buy a family tent

26 January 2010

“Fenela Jacobs, 39, lives in a 4-by-4-meter (13-by-13-foot) abode provided by the Britain-based Islamic Relief Worldwide. .

..Still, she says living in the 2-meter-tall (6-foot-high) khaki home with a paisley interior is better than the makeshift shelters crafted from bed sheets propped on wooden sticks where her family was living before.”

To read the Guardian report, please click here (link to http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8916623)

Please donate generously to help us to save lives:

• £25 will buy a family hygiene kit
• £50 will buy a food pack for a family for 1 month
• £75 will buy a water tank, supplying 100 people
• £350 will buy a family tent

24 January 2010

First camp site set-up!

The first camp site for approximately 50 families has been set-up in Parc Saint Claire in Delmas, on a sports field. Each family has been provided a tent, kitchen and hygiene kits. One team member commented:

“The day was great, people were very happy and grateful to see promises from the international aid agencies finally materialising”

As well as the camp, the following activities have taken place:

• Food packs consisting of rice, beans, sugar and oil were distributed to 2,500 people  
• Daily water deliveries to  the 40 water tanks that have been installed
• 72 tonnes of aid has been shipped by Islamic Relief USA for Haiti. The shipment includes:
• Medical equipment
  Blankets
• First aid kits
• Water filtration bottles
• Wheelchairs

Over the next few days, more tents will be erected to provide temporary shelter to hundreds of families.

Please donate generously to help us to save lives:

• £25 will buy a family hygiene kit
• £50 will buy a food pack for a family for 1 month
• £75 will buy a water tank, supplying 100 people
• £350 will buy a family tent

20 January 2010

The Islamic Relief Emergency Response team is currently in Port-au-Prince delivering clean water and family tents to different districts:

• 40 water tanks are being installed, which are filled twice a day by water tankers. Each water tank provides water to over 100 people
• Secure, waterproof family tents are being delivered, benefitting over 5,000 people

Please donate generously to help us to save lives:

• £25 will buy a family hygiene kit
• £50 will buy a food pack for a family for 1 month
• £75 will buy a water tank, supplying 100 people
• £350 will buy a family tent

 Update: 17 January 2010
The Islamic Relief Emergency Response Team is currently in Port-au-Prince, working towards implementing a quick impact project to source and distribute the most needed items.

There is still a search and rescue operation being conducted, mainly taken care of governmental teams from the USA and UK and other European countries, and survivors are still being found. As more aid is slowly being flown in from around the World to Haiti, there are still bottlenecks in the delivery due to many roads being blocked due to damage caused by the earthquake.

Islamic Relief aid worker Adil Husseini, currently in Port-au-Prince reported:“The devastated city of Port-au-Prince greeted us with the smell of death. Nothing hit us like seeing the dead bodies; their stench overpowered everything else.As we entered deeper into the heart of the city it became apparent how the little infrastructure that was once in place had been brought to its knees. People were trying to keep hold of anything they found or were able to salvage amidst the disaster. Some had taken to looting and the local security struggled to bring a sense of order to a community so desperate and still very much in a state of shock.

At the petrol station huge crowds gathered to fill their vehicles with the last remaining drops from a tanker that had been abandoned. A local Haitian told us that fuel prices had risen by over 60 per cent in the last few days.

Port-au-Prince has been devastated by this catastrophe. Huge buildings have been completely destroyed, cars are crushed under the rubble, homes have been abandoned and families have been broken. The Islamic Relief team here is assessing the situation to help meet people’s needs but the task is not easy. Many roads are blocked off and the lack of security is increasingly becoming an issue.”

The Disasters Emergency Committee, of which Islamic Relief is a member agency launched an emergency appeal on Thursday, and has thus far raised over £23 Million. For more information or to donate to this appeal, please click here (link to DEC homepage in new window)

The urgent needs are:
• Emergency medical care
• Clean water
• Shelter
• Emergency food