You are here : Action Against Hunger UK > Mediaroom > Latest News

Haiti earthquake: Testimonies

Resilience and mobilisation sets the mood - even in the most desperate of communities

By Lucile Grosjean, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Here in Croix Deprez the mood is resilient and strong. I witness those who have lost everything, and are living day-to-day on the bare minimum. However, despite catastrophic circumstances, there is a real, heartfelt sense of community spirit, the pulling together in the name of national solidarity.

Today I met Serge Felix, a young 30 year old father. Luckily, Serge was at the barbers when the quake hit – his house was completely destroyed, and had he been there….he may not be alive today. With his head half shaven, as a result from the quake, he says:

“The clothes that I was wearing are the only things I have. I want to find a job to meet the needs of my family, and to make my contribution to those in need. Before the earthquake, I wanted to leave my country in order to do a Masters in Human Sciences, and then find work. Now everything has changed. I have solid training, I already have 10 years professional experience; I can help my country. So, without question, I must stay here to help. I am ready for anything now.”

True to his word, Serge is currently helping his community by assisting with Action Against Hunger’s relief efforts. He has already helped install a waterpoint near the refugee camp in Croix Deprez, and is distributing water units to his fellow survivors.

The same surge of solidarity can also be felt in Gonaïves, situated five hours North of Port au Prince. With a town barely recovered from the huge cyclones of 2008, and the community now faced with further destruction, locals are refusing to give into the situation, and those that can, are giving everything they have to those worse off. As such, gifts of clothes, toys and tools have all arrived at the Action Against Hunger office in the Gonaïves.

This mark of generosity and overall feeling of national solitary, in the face of adversity, gives me hope in a country so crippled by tragedy.

Psychological support for aid workers in Haiti is crucial for effective relief operations

: Action Against Hunger aid workers set up a water reservoir in the neighbourhood of Croix Deprez

By Cyril Cosar, Action Against Hunger psychologist, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Serious humanitarian disasters, such as this, can cause psychological trauma, not only for those affected, but also for the humanitarian workers who witness the events.

30 of us were present in Port-au-Prince at the time of the earthquake. The first floor of our office collapsed with everyone inside – one was buried under the rubble, one is still be accounted for. Almost all national colleagues have lost their homes, and worse, loved ones.

Despite this trauma, the original team which had operated in Haiti since 1985, regrouped in the face of adversity to return to work and help the other survivors, desperate for aid. Aided by added logistic, nutrition and water experts, the team has already mobilised to set up water points in Port au Prince which are providing safe water for some 35,000 displaced Haitians.

However, despite this display of solidarity and persistence in working tirelessly after personal trauma, Action Against Hunger is conscious of it’s duty to provide psychological support to its team, with the overall aim of helping to achieve an effective relief operation.

We've initiated a programme offering support to our entire team. The psychological risks that are faced by operational teams are extensive. The streets are flooded with dead bodies, and every day aid workers are faced with harrowing stories of the individuals who have lost everything in the disaster.

The workload is enormous, the state of emergency overwhelming. Everyone is sleeping rough on the streets in intolerable conditions, and the constant feeling of insecurity lingers in the city under the threat of further tremors. Communication with family and friends is nearly impossible. The combination of so many stressful situations can have a serious psychological impact.

To combat these traumas, and to ensure that the relief effort is managed under the best possible conditions, we've set up individual and group debriefing sessions. In this type of situation, aid workers tend to neglect their own wellbeing. Pushing yourself to the limit can cause sleep problems, and lead to illness, behavioural problems, anxiety … To avoid this, rest areas need to be organised. A good humanitarian worker is one who has excellent physical and mental health.

"The injured are trying to survive without medical care, food and water"

Canape-Vert Hospital :
The hospital is empty. The building was severely damaged during the quake and nobody dares staying inside. The hospital equipment is not working anyway since there is no electricity. Outside the hospital, the injured are lying on the ground. Their relatives are trying to help as best as possible. There’s no medicine and the few nurses and doctors are overwhelmed with demand and lack crucial supplies. There’s no access to drinking water in this neighbourhood. Everyone keeps asking for water.

We meet Mr Alexis, who is there with his two injured daughters. Some 50 years old, he brought them here on Tuesday night, in the immediate aftermath of the quake. The girls’ legs and limbs are broken. His other four children and his wife have sought refuge in a temporary shelter. Mr Alexis is unable to feed his children - there simply is no food: for three days now they’ve been surviving on tiny amounts of water and a few sweets he was able to find. They've lost all their belongings when their home collapsed. They are living from hand to mouth. His priority is to get medical care for his daughters. And then - who knows. Carpenter by profession, he will try to find employment and participate in reconstruction work. He hopes he will one day be able to provide for his family again….

Lucile Grosjean, in Haiti with Action Against Hunger, reports

19th January 2010 - "The day began as normal, between 5 and 6am. Everyone started working on their computers, reading correspondence coming in from headquarters and our collagues in Gonaives. Meanwhile, the water and sanitation teams began loading the equipment into the vehicles. Suddenly we began hearing noises from the street: nearly 200 people were gathering outside the office, all looking for work. The day before, we had spread word that we were looking for additional logisticians, engineers and nurses.

On the other side of the garden a brief was taking place for the water and sanitation teams.

One week into the disaster, a general meeting was organised for all the Port-au-Prince staff before everyone went out to continue our activities. A minute’s silence was observed in memory of the earthquake victims, all of the affected families and our colleague. Only a helicopter flying overhead interrupted the silence. It was the first time that everyone had got together since the disaster, and even though everyone is now involved in round-the-clock-action, the level of emotion is still very high.

An the everyone spread throughout the city. Some attended coordination meetings at the UN base, others continued our assessments on the periphery of the city – it’s essential that we don’t concentrate solely in Port-au-Prince as rural areas have also been affected. Martha, one of our water experts, is working with firemen from the Dominican Republic, who have donated several unneeded tank trucks to provide water to the different water points. Today, 80,000 litres of water have been distributed around the city!

Oscar, a nutritionist, has been out recruiting all day. In a school courtyard next to Champs de Mars, where more than 25 000 people have congregated, he’s been testing the skills and knowledge of all those who have turned up. It is important that people have the necessary skills to carry out our nutrition activities. They will be looking after babies and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers, and all our programmes need to meet our nutrition and health protocols. Only those with the necessary experience will be able to join the team.

Mohamed has been preparing the food distributions. In view of the large number of people in the city and security risks, all food distributions have to be carefully organised. The distribution is divided up into small neighbourhoods, with management committees responsible for managing the queues. Today they made a list of all the families who have set up makeshift shelters in the Champs de Mars neighbourhood – more than 4,000 families, each with at least 6 family members.

We’ve had some good news today. Caroline finalised an agreement with the World Food Programme. They will give us 172,000 kg of food to distribute, in addition to the 52,000 kg we’ve already received from Santo Domingo.

Abel is in charge of organising the logistics of this freight. It’s not been an easy task. There have been problems all day: finding trucks, the lack of fuel, finding a storage area and then moving all of the freight to the new warehouse – and all this needs to be solved without proper means of communication.

But it’s important to focus on the good news, especially when everyone feels the task is endless. The scale of needs is incredible – camps containing several thousands of people have popped up everywhere. The number of water points installed is growing by the day. The logistics team have gathered nearly 1,500 emergency kits, each containing tarpaulins, blankets, soap, buckets etc. And despite the trauma, the residents of Port-au-Prince are extremely resilient and everyone is helping each other.

By the end of the day, everyone gradually returned to the office for the day’s debriefing. Small meetings were organised to collate the information gathered over the course of the day, proposals were finalised and next steps prepared. Three more scolleagues joined us from Europe today.

Despite the confined space, the very basic living conditions, the increasing tiredness and the horrors experienced every day in the city, the atmosphere is good. We also talked to our colleagues in Gonaives, suing the satellite phone. More and more people are moving towards the bigger towns. Today, we set up water points in the Gonaives’s overcrowded hospitals. It’s just one drop more in this vast ocean of needs, but gradually, we will get there."

"People are sharing everything with each other: this is keeping us alive!

Canape – Vert Hospital :
Jean Benoit is lying on the ground, exposed to the tropical sun. He seems to suffer terribly from a wound on his leg. He was on his way back from the food store when the earthquake struck, leaving him badly injured. Jean Benoit is from the Bois par quatre neighbourhood, a poor district where between 80,000 and 90,000 people are living. His neighbourhood was severely damaged by the quake. His family is still living there. "We have no food; even if we were able to afford food, there are no supplies. . Luckily, people are sharing the bit they have with each other; there is a strong sense of mutual responsibility amongst the community." Once he feels better, he would like to join his mother who lives in the country side.

"Amid the chaos, survivors are organising themselves"

Canape-Vert Roundabout (Action Against Hunger’s office was based here)
Some 1,500 people are crammed in the middle of the roundabout. People arrived carrying the few belongings they managed to salvage. They’ve put up some sheets to protect themselves from the sun. Others are in their cars, parked in the middle of the streets. They’ve run out of petrol and it is nearly impossible to find petrol in the city, so they cannot leave Port-au-Prince.

Small stalls have been set up where vendors are selling food and drinks to the survivors. Prices have nearly doubled in just 48 hours. Some markets have opened again but most people do not have any money to buy food. One sees mainly women and children here while their husbands have returned to the rubble of their homes to salvage some belongings and look for food. Everyone is looking for water. But there is hardly anything to eat or drink. Until now, people are sharing whatever they can find with one another. A wealthier person has come by and bought food for everyone. It is thanks to these informal arrangements that people are surviving until more international aid trickles in.

Quake survivors are seeking shelter in makeshift camps

Sainte Marie Neighbourhood
Three makeshift camps have sprung up in this neighbourhood, each sheltering some 1,000 people. People are sitting down wherever the can find some space. Rosalie is here with her dad and young children. Everone is coughing because of the dust. She has not eaten since this morning (it’s 2pm). She gave the bit of rice she found to her children.