CARE: Deploying Humanitarian Aid to Haiti for Earthquake Victims

1   <blockquote> "We currently have 133 personnel on the ground in Haiti and are deploying additional staff immediately to distribute food, hygiene kits and water, as well as to deliver emergency health services.'' - Dr. Helene Gayle, CARE president and CEO </blockquote>   <a href="https://citizeneffect.org/projects/haitirelief/donations/new">Please consider making a donation right now, to help CARE provide critical services >></a> <img align="right" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/citizeneffect_production/blog_assets/49/screen-capture.png" alt="" />Around 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, a powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck 10 miles off the coast of Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince and triggered a tsunami warning for the region. A series of more than 30 aftershocks measuring 4.5 and higher on the Richter Scale, followed throughout the night and into the morning. The combined effect of this earthquake and its aftershocks has devastated Haiti and in particular its capital, potentially leaving thousands dead and many more without shelter or access to basic necessities. As with all disasters, clean water, shelter, food, and medical aid are urgently needed in Haiti. Because of their special needs, and the fact that they are often less able to flee, women and girls are especially during emergencies, and they will require immediate assistance. Mothers with infants and pregnant women will also require special supplies and health care services in the wake of the disaster. <blockquote> "The immediate need is to rescue people trapped in the rubble, then to get people food and water. We're particularly worried about the children, because so many schools seem to have collapsed. Children were still in school in the afternoon when the earthquake hit, so there are many children trapped. It's horrifying." - Sophie Perez, CARE's Country Director in Haiti. </blockquote> CARE plans to start food distributions using stocks of high-protein biscuits from warehouses in Haiti. In addition, the 133 CARE staff who are already on the ground are coordinating with U.N. agencies and other aid organizations to gather more detailed information about the damage and will rapidly scale up their response based on these assessments. CARE's staff in Haiti has extensive experience responding to disasters, and CARE is also immediately dispatching humanitarian crisis experts from around the world to address the crisis facing Haiti. What CARE is doing CARE is deploying additional emergency team members to the devastated city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti to support the 133 staff who are already on the ground in Haiti. These staff will be selected from around the world for their expertise in emergency relief. Together, this team will work to coordinate with U.N. agencies and other aid organizations to gather more detailed information about the current conditions and quickly develop an effective, coordinated response. This effort will include providing earthquake victims with basic necessities such as food, water, shelter, and emergency medical aid. Why? Haiti and its capital, Port-au-Prince, have suffered the worst earthquake in the country’s history, a disaster that has devastated the Western hemisphere’s most impoverished nation. Although exact numbers are not yet available, the death toll is expected to be catastrophic. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told CNN on Wednesday that hundreds of thousands may be dead. Without immediate assistance, conditions in Port-au-Prince and Haiti’s other affected areas could significantly worsen. The few health and humanitarian resources that were formerly available in the region were likely destroyed during the earthquake. CARE has begun responding to Haiti’s urgent need by providing critical relief in the country where the organization has been operating since 1954. How? CARE will draw upon its existing resources stored in Haitian warehouses to immediately begun assisting Port-au-Prince’s survivors. In addition, with the help of Delta Airlines, selected CARE staff are quickly being flown into the region. The combined CARE team will then perform assessments in concert with other aid organizations and U.N. agencies that become the basis for the response plan that the team will subsequently help institute. <a href="https://citizeneffect.org/projects/haitirelief/donations/new">Visit the project page today and make your tax deductible donation >></a> 3

2010-01-14T19:37:51Z

Port-au-Prince, Haiti is in ruins with over 3 million people affected, and thousands dead. Your help is urgently needed. <div style="text-align: left;">Citizen Effect is not a disaster relief organization, so we've partnered with CARE to allow you to directly help the people of Haiti. CARE has extensive experience in Haiti and staff on the ground - ready to help.</div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> President Obama said, "responding to a disaster of this magnitude will require every element of our national capacity," and all of us are part of that effort. Let's work together, as Citizen Philanthropists, to help the people of Haiti.

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CARE: Deploying Humanitarian Aid to Haiti for Earthquake Victims

2010-01-15T20:13:28Z

care-deploying-humanitarian-aid-to-haiti-for-earthquake-victims