Latin America

Message from the Caritas family in Haiti

Message from the Caritas family in Haiti

French | Spanish | Creole Message from the Caritas family in Haiti On the occasion of the first anniversary of the 12th January earthquake, the members of the Caritas Internationalis Confederation, in communion with Caritas Haiti, feel the need to express once more their proximity to all the victims of this tragedy. They reaffirm their ...

Continue Reading...

A year in Haiti for one Caritas member organisation

A year in Haiti for one Caritas member organisation

Catholic Relief Services (CRS – an American member of Caritas) had been working Haiti 55 years before the earthquake struck. On 12 January, CRS had a staff of around 300 on the ground who had been working on existing programmes. Here’s how the year panned out: 12 January: When the earthquake hits in the afternoon, many ...

Continue Reading...

Caritas providing long term help to rebuild Haiti

Caritas providing long term help to rebuild Haiti

Close to a year after the earthquake, Caritas relief and reconstruction programmes in Haiti are well-established throughout the country. Caritas will invest more than $217 million in Haiti over a one year period that started in May 2010. This aid will cover further emergency needs caused for example by hurricanes, floods or the cholera epidemic, ...

Continue Reading...

Livelihoods – Helping farmers in Haiti

Livelihoods – Helping farmers in Haiti

With Port-au-Prince in ruins following the earthquake, hundreds of thousands of people fled to the countryside. Les Cayes, in the south or Haiti, is a rural zone. It is very vulnerable to heavy rains, floods and soil erosion due to deforestation. Enelio Teme is trying to help his relatives who arrived from Port-au-Prince following the ...

Continue Reading...

Education in Haiti – Something solid in the uncertainty

Caritas Czech  Saint Louis Wilner is counting his blessings that his wife and children are alive. He lost family members in the earthquake and also his house and possessions. His wife lost her business and he lost his job as a result of the disaster. It’s been a tough year. He’s taking his three-year-old daughter, ...

Continue Reading...

Education in Haiti – Food for thought

Education in Haiti – Food for thought

The afternoon of the Haiti earthquake many children died or were left trapped in collapsed schools. An estimated 90 per cent of schools in Port-au-Prince were damaged or destroyed, leaving around two million children without access to education. Literacy rates in Haiti were already low compared to global standards before the earthquake. The Haitian authorities ...

Continue Reading...

Haiti: Safe from the snakes

Haiti: Safe from the snakes

Cordaid – Caritas Netherlands  Francois Tifabe was walking through an alley near his home on 12 January 2010 when the ground started to shake. Before he understood what was happening a nearby wall collapsed and the debris fell on his leg. “I still feel the pain and need a stick to walk,” said Mr Tifabe, ...

Continue Reading...

Shelter in Haiti– Brick by brick

Caritas Austria  Nelson Elissier and Michelle Azor built their house brick by brick. They didn’t have much money, but every time they got a little, they bought building materials for their house. It took four years to complete their home, but just six months after they had finished, the earthquake destroyed what they had worked ...

Continue Reading...

Haiti: Putting the “care” in healthcare

Haiti: Putting the “care” in healthcare

Caritas Germany, Dr Joost Butenop – health advisor  Following the Haiti earthquake, Caritas was with the most-affected people from very early on and we managed to save lives and alleviate suffering within our capacity. Our health centres always did more than handing out drugs. People came for comfort and support. Holding a hand or hugging ...

Continue Reading...

Haiti: Providing children in camps with a safe place to play and grow

Haiti: Providing children in camps with a safe place to play and grow

Trócaire  More than a million earthquake victims in Haiti are still living in camps. Many of them are children as four out of ten people in Haiti are under 14 years old. Difficult living conditions in the camps and uncertainty about the future mark their daily lives. Irish Caritas member Trócaire provides children in camps ...

Continue Reading...