Most pupils like to get a day off school, but for Haiti’s children it’s not just a day but months. January’s earthquake destroyed 90 percent of schools, leaving children without an education “The schools must be reopened, children have to go back to their studies as quickly as possible,” says Fr Zucchi, head of four ...
The risks to children following Haiti’s earthquake include not only trafficking but also hunger. Up to 24 percent of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition in Haiti. In poorer areas, this figure is even greater. One of Caritas’ priorities in the earthquake’s aftermath has been to supply regular food to the survivors. So far, ...
I was visiting parts of my diocese the day before the earthquake. To get to one place I had to cross a lot of rivers. As we crossed one the water was “bubbling” and there were waves. We decided to stay that night at the diocesan training centre in Matean which is near the sea. ...
Rolande Jean’s home sits a few feet from the edge of the Caribbean Sea, between the small town of Nippes, Haiti and, in September 2008, directly in the path of Hurricane Ike. When the Category 4 storm roared ashore, Jean huddled with her husband and children in their small wooden house, and bore the brunt ...
In the beginning of September 2008, Haiti was hit by two hurricanes which killed thousands, left tens of thousands homeless, and threatened the lives and livelihoods of millions more. Mudslides and flooded rivers buried entire towns beneath as much as 15 feet of water and left over 15 million cubic meters of mud behind. Haiti ...
Soft spoken and demure, Junor Hesgazons leans intently into his schoolwork, his eyes casting constantly to the chalkboard as the day’s lesson takes shape. His white collared shirt neatly creased despite the humidity of southern Haiti, Hesgazons looks every bit the engineer he hopes one day to be. “I like to study engineering. I like ...
When was Haiti last in the news? You’ll probably have to wrack your brains before remembering that it last made the headlines in September 2008 when a series of tropical storms caused massive flooding and mudslides. Five months later, NGOs are wrapping up their emergency programmes and pulling out. No news on Haiti and the ...
By David Snyder for CRS and Caritas staff Like tens of thousands of those living in Gonaives, Haiti, Mertilus Jasmin spends most of his days knee deep in mud. Unlike most, however, he has a shovel in his hands, and is earning money to help dig the city out from the effects of Hurricane Ike. ...