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Archive for the ‘Emergencies’ Category

Haiti quake: Healing the whole person

March 10, 2010

Human contact was key as Caritas Lebanon staff set about building trust with survivors in Haiti. Being able to tell your story is key to overcoming trauma. Credit CLMC

Available in French

By Caritas Lebanon staff

Our team of three staff from the Caritas Lebanon Migrants’ Center (CLMC) left for a mission to Haiti to offer counselling support to quake survivors. Psycho-social support is not always a priority in an emergency. It is help of utmost importance though. Our mission was to show people that they are important. To show that there is someone who wishes to help them overcome the trauma and walk with them in the path of grief and then recovery.

We imagined ourselves as valiant knights in shining armour, who will bring about change in their lives. After all, we had the knowledge, the experience and the willingness. It turned out that yes, we were the catalysts of change, but a change in which Haitians contributed. A change in our lives as well, not only in the Haitians we met. It is really hard to express our feelings, but this was an enriching experience for us.

We were certainly taken aback upon our arrival to Port-au-Prince on January 30 to see all the sad but smiling faces. We had expected to see a broken people. Instead, we found proud and loving people with an extraordinary faith. We never thought that the words “God”, “love” and “faith” could be so tangibly felt when dealing with people, when visiting them in camps, hospitals or at work or in the streets.
(more…)

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Ugandan mudslides

March 5, 2010

In the late hours of Monday, March 1st, mudslides buried three villages in Uganda’s eastern Bududa district, which has experienced exceptionally heavy rainfall. CRS is currently procuring essential relief items for distribution in affected areas. Yesterday, CRS staff (CRS is a Caritas member in the USA) met with local Caritas partners in Bududa parish to better assess the situation. Here is an update from CRS Uganda Head of Programming Cecilia Adalla.

Rains started on Monday at around noon and heavy downpours continued for hours. According to the Bududa parish priest, the two villages of Mabono and Nametsi bore the brunt of the landslides. The priest said that the average population of each village is about 800 people.

We were told that in Nametsi people saw water rushing down the mountains. Many took shelter at the market area as they couldn’t go to their homes due to the force of the water. Around 100 children from the Catholic school in Nametsi also took shelter at the market area. They had already left school and couldn’t go home.

Around 8 pm, the villagers heard a very loud noise that sounded like an explosion. A huge stone broke from the mountain and rolled down toward the market area, destroying everything in its path. Mudslides and landslides followed, completely destroying a health center, the market area and the Church of God, where there were people praying. So far, the students who took shelter at the market area have not been found. The mudslides narrowly missed the Catholic church and school; all of the children who had remained at the school survived.

Later we drove to the two sites where camps are being established for survivors of the landslides. We found no displaced people at these sites yet, though we learned that a food distribution had taken place earlier. The local government administrator and the parish priest reported that most of the survivors have refused to relocate to these sites as they continue to try to find their relatives in the disaster area. Many are using hoes and spades to dig through the mud and earth.
(more…)

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What Chile needs

March 5, 2010

Fernanda Herrera, 16, and other students prepare food kits that will be distributed to the victims of the 8.8 quake in Chile. Caritas Chile needs dry and canned food, such as rice and tuna, but also shelter materials for people who have lost their homes. "What we need most now is tents", says Juan Cristobal Precht, emergency relief coordinator of Caritas Chile. "But they should be completely different to the ones, that are distributed in Haiti at the moment. There it rains with 27 degrees, here it rains with minus 4 degrees." What he is looking into is tents with thick floors, and heated ones.

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Haiti Quake: Love thy neighbour

March 4, 2010

Mexican resuers in the rubble of Port-au-Prince. Credit: Caritas/Katie Orlinsky

Available in Spanish and French

Mexico knows what it means to be hit by a major earthquake. In 1985, an 8.1 magnitude earthquake struck the country killing 10,000 people and causing major damage to the capital.

Mexico has generously opened its arms to Haiti following the massive earthquake which hit its Latin American neighbour in January.

The people of Mexico have sent four thousand tonnes of aid since the disaster. They have sent food, water and medicines that collected through donations to parishes. Caritas has been one of the main channels for this aid into Haiti. (more…)

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Helping Haiti’s orphans

March 2, 2010

Lesley Fucand faces up to the massive of damage caused by Haiti's earthquake

Available in French

“I no longer know how to feed and clothe them”

Before the 12th January earthquake, there were more than 350,000 orphans in Haiti. The disaster has left thousands more children without parents. Here we meet the director of one of the orphanages that Caritas is helping.

By Mathilde Magnier

Lesley Fucand is a survivor. At first sight you can’t tell what he’s been through, but then you notice the terrible injury to his leg and his slight limp. And then you see how drawn and totally exhausted he looks.

Since the earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince and left 230,000 dead, Lesley hasn’t had a minute’s peace. As head of one of the numerous orphanages in the capital, this retired American of Haitian origin has only one thing in mind: finding a home for the children he looks after. It’s a vital issue for a country which had 350,000 orphans before the earthquake. According to Unicef there are now around one thousand more just in Port-au-Prince.

Lesley’s life was deeply affected by the earthquake. His house and car were destroyed, but more importantly, four of the 22 children in his orphanage have died. Three died from their injuries and one girl was never even rescued from the rubble. The 18 remaining children were obviously deeply affected.
(more…)

Tags:earthquake, orphans
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Haiti earthquake response a symbol of solidarity

March 1, 2010

Caritas Internationalis President Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga greeting Caritas Haiti President Bishop Pierre-André Dumas at Toussaint Louverture Airport, Port-au-Prince, on Monday February 22. Credit:Caritas

By Oscar Andrés Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B.

As President of Caritas Internationalis, I visited Haiti in February to offer solidarity with the people and to take aid from my home country of Honduras on behalf of our supporters.

When I arrived in Port-au-Prince, I was shocked because the tragedy and devastation were even greater than what I had seen in the media.

The Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, Archbishop Bernardito Auza; the president of Caritas Haiti, Bishop Pierre Dumas; and the director of Caritas Haiti, Fr Serge Chadic, accompanied me to the destroyed cathedral and the house where my colleague, Archbishop Serge Miot was killed. We visited Renaissance Hospital and Champ de Mars makeshift camp, where tens of thousands of people have taken refuge. We also talked with Haiti’s Bishops’ Conference.

While I am deeply moved by the suffering of the Haitian people, I am also aware that there is a sign of hope. The huge swell of support that we have seen so far for the survivors of the earthquake shows that the world is not going to forget Haitians.

As President of Caritas Internationalis, my first commitment will be to make the voice of the Haitian people heard so that there is no danger that we will forget their plight.

Caritas has been in Haiti for many years and our staff bring love, compassion and determination to their work. We have 165 member organisations worldwide and I was delighted to see the fraternity and solidarity expressed by Caritas in Haiti.

When those who can help do, the world is a more just place. This is how things should be and this is one of the aims of our work in Haiti and around the world.

Caritas is already serving over half a million people in Haiti, helping them with food, water, shelter and healthcare. We are also planning our longer-term projects. We want to help Haitians rebuild, but also to help them on the path to autonomy so that they can live with dignity.

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Haiti quake: Storm clouds ahead

February 22, 2010

Caritas water and sanitation advisers testing water bladders in Nambanam Camp, in Port-au-Prince, where 250 families live. Credit: CARITAS/Mathilde Magnier

Available also in French

By Mathilde Magnier, Caritas Communications Officer, Port-au-Prince

One month after the dramatic earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince, the coming rainy season presents another major challenge to Caritas and other aid agencies.

The quake killed 217 000 people and left over one million Haitians without shelter. With most quake’s survivors living in overcrowded temporary settlements, crammed into wooden huts made of bed sheets and plastic bags, shelter and sanitation continue to be issues of concern.

The rainy season could start as early as end of February. It is threatening to cause landslides and bring about health problems in the makeshift camps where more than 500,000 people are living. Rain is already falling and afternoon showers are more and more frequent in Port-au-Prince.

“The rainy season is our biggest concern at the moment. It will affect people’s well being and security,” said Isaac Boyd, CRS shelter adviser (CRS is a Caritas member from the USA).

“As well as landslides and deteriorating sanitary conditions, it will cause a lot of misery. Many people worry about the fact they haven t received enough tangible shelters support so far, this is why we will give out as much plastic sheeting as possible in the coming days,” he said.

To date, the Caritas combined response has distributed nearly 11,000 emergency shelter kits and over 5000 tents to Port-au-Prince, Jacmel et Léogâne.

(more…)

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Fr Serge B Chadic, Director General of Caritas Haiti addresses Rome conference on Haiti

February 18, 2010

From left to right: Bishop Pierre Dumas, president of Caritas Haiti; Fr Pierre Chadic, director of Caritas Haiti; Bill Canny - Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Jacques Duffaut - Secours Catholique, Sean Callaghan - CRS

Speech by Fr Serge B Chadic, Director General of Caritas Haiti

Available in French and Spanish

Rome, 17 February 2010

Brothers and sisters, distinguished participants at this meeting,

Being called upon to address such a distinguished gathering makes me feel humble, and it is with humility that I wish to speak on behalf of Caritas Haiti, CRS, and the other Caritas organisations who are collaborating with us on the emergency plan at the National Office in Haiti. However, I feel highly honoured to do so. It is improper to dwell on other people’s suffering. The only appropriate response is resourceful charity to alleviate suffering and destitution, whilst respecting human dignity and evangelical principles. Haiti has shown such generosity and solidarity in the recent disaster that people don’t know whether to cry or admire this nation for its courage. Haiti has shown that it is trustworthy. Before the deployment of urgently needed international aid, rescue teams, experts and funds come Haiti and its people. I bring you the greetings, friendship, courage and generosity of the rest of the population of Haiti who survived the earthquake of 12 January 2010. (more…)

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Haiti quake: Mourning the dead

February 15, 2010

Photo by Sara A. Fajardo/Catholic Relief Services

Available in French

By Mathilde Magnier, Caritas Communications Officer in Port-au-Prince

A month after the earthquake that devastated the country, Haitians remembered their dead with three days of mourning and fasting.

From dust till dawn in Port-au-Prince, the loudspeakers blasted gospel, sermons and prayers in a strange atmosphere of joy, despair and reverence. In this deeply religious country, Catholics, Protestants and followers of voodoo join in the same celebrations, their arms raised to the heavens.

In the shattered capital, the main places of worship have been destroyed, forcing people to organize ceremonies in the city’s waste grounds, schoolyards or temporary shelter camps such as Petionville Club or the Champ de Mars. In the streets solemn mourning processions follow groups of people openly grieving. Women are dressed in white, children wear their best clothes and men have tied black armbands of mourning around their arms. Those who can walk help the injured in their wheelchairs and support those hobbling on crutches. Some sing and dance while others are prostrate. The crowd is so dense it is difficult to know who believes in what and who prays to who.

“These are difficult days. As Haitians we have to mourn our dead together “, explains Lérénie. (more…)

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