Keys to a new home built after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Credit: Ryan Worms/Caritas
By Ryan Worms
Almost two years on from the earthquake of 12 January 2010, more than 600,000 people are still displaced in camps. They live in extremely precarious conditions and their health security is at risk.
Three dioceses were particularly affected by the earthquake: Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and Anse-à-Veau/Miragoâne. In certain areas more than 90 percent of the houses were destroyed.
Duval is a village set in the hills above Port-au-Prince, one hour’s drive from the capital. Bernard and his family live in this area. His wife Marie Gerta St Hilaire recalls 12 January 2010: “When the ground started to shake I panicked. I asked my husband to come and help me, but he could barely stand up. When we were able to get back to our house, it wasn’t there anymore. Everything had been destroyed, and there was devastation everywhere. After a while, we moved into a shack with our children. It was very hard, and I didn’t know if we’d ever get out of it.”
There is renewed hope for Bernard and his family: the inauguration of their new house. It was built as part of a partnership between Caritas Haiti and Caritas Ecuador. In Duval, on this first Sunday of November, 31 other families received the keys of their new homes during a ceremony organised in the presence of the President of Caritas Ecuador, Msgr Julio Parrilla.
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