Update 7: Wednesday 20 October

 

Media is reporting 17 Christian missionaries from United States, including children, have been abducted after visiting an orphanage they were building in Haiti.

This follows an increase in gang violence across the country.

The LWF team overseeing delivery of your ALWS earthquake emergency aid through the ACT Alliance has told us:

“The operating environment is extremely difficult, which creates delays,

but the team is persevering and present on the ground.

They are receiving psychosocial support themselves

in the light of the highly stressful context and demands of the response.

We are grateful to them for their dedication and hard work.”

 

Thanks to the generosity of people like you, ALWS is able to commit $50,000 to the Haiti Emergency Response through ACT Alliance. This is DOUBLE what we planned – thank you!

 

Through ACT Alliance, your work continues in:

• WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)
• Cash-based support to survivors
• Shelter kits
• Hygiene kits
• Repair of homes
• Repair of schools
• Protection of those most vulnerable

 

Two LWF deployments are awaiting travel documentation:

• Team 1: support for Response Coordination and WASH
• Team 2: 26 October – 3 November to visit Grand-Anse region

 

WASH

• access to lifesaving WASH services
• rehabilitate/protect water sources
• chlorinate contaminated water
• toolkits to community groups to repair and maintain WASH facilities
• promote positive hygiene – hand washing, food preservation, water storage
• help women access appropriate menstrual hygiene supplies
• establish and strengthen local Protection Committees
• hygiene promotion to strengthen COVID-19 prevention

 

Shelter

• rebuild destroyed houses using TEKLA Technic, proven after Hurricane Matthew
• vulnerable households receive a household items kit to complete shelter
• support repair of damaged schools, including WASH facilities
• provide shelters at school so education can continue

 

Survivor Community-Led Response (SCLR)

• female-headed households
• young people
• people with disabilities
• elderly people
• cash support to meet basic needs
• SCLR uses communities’ natural resilience and skills
• SCLR micro-projects strengthen longer-term resilience
• repair of water system and broken pipes
• road rehabilitation
• purchase of basic food items, school kits, covid kits

 

Updated damage toll ·       83,770 homes damaged ·       690,000 people affected ·       25,000 people displaced

 

If you would like to support this ongoing recovery work:

DONATE NOW

 

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Update 6: Tuesday 14 September

Tarpaulins provide temporary shelter for earthquake survivors living in damaged homes. Photo: ACT Alliance

 

How you help survivors of the Haiti Earthquake

Through ALWS, you join a worldwide response of churches through the ACT Alliance.

Joint Action:   aim to help 129,675 people

Investment:   5,129,247 USD

Partners:

• Lutheran World Federation
• Norwegian Church Aid
• Christian Aid
• Church World Service
• Service Chrieten d’Haiti
• World Renew
• Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe

People Targeted

People aimed to be helped x Gender & Age
	Under 5	Children	18-49	50-69	Seniors
Female	12,270	22,793	13,270	14,238	4,859
Male	10,456	19,421	12,947	12,977	6,473

 

Transport of aid supplies to worst-hit regions can be challenging! Photo: ACT Alliance

 

Our planned ALWS action

Our direct ALWS partner is LWF Haiti – Lutheran World Federation.

Focus area:    Sud, Gand ‘Anse

Time-frame:   20.8.21 – 20.7.22

 

ALWS-supported LWF action

Your ALWS help is targeted to:

• Female-headed families
• Young people
• People with disabilities
• Elderly

Your specific help planned to include:

Non-food items:       1,500 families (7,500 people)

WASH:                    2,000 families (water, sanitation, hygiene)

Psychosocial care:     2,000 families

Cash Assistance:       20,000 people

 Your Survivors Community-Led Response aims to support micro-projects:

• Repair water system (eg broken pipes)
• Road rehabilitation
• Purchase basic food
• School kits
• COVID Kits

You also support planned action:

• Training in Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change
• Repairs to school buildings
• Temporary shelters for school activities
• Sensitisation sessions on menstrual hygiene and self-esteem
• Build and install hand-washing facilities
• Safe permanent shelters for marginalised people
• Train workers to ‘Build Back Better’

 

DONATE NOW

INFORMATION SOURCE: ACT Alliance – Haiti: Humanitarian Response to communities affected by the Earthquake. HT1211. 13 September 2021.

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UPDATE 5: Monday 30 August

 The following is a report from the front-line of the rescue and recovery effort you support …

 

The LWF and partners team ALWS supports in Haiti distribute Emergency Shelter Kits for 300 families in Camp Perrin.

Photo: DKH

 

Prospery Raymond is Director of LWF Haiti, our ALWS partner in delivering your ALWS aid, following the 7.2 earthquake on Saturday 14 August.

Two days before the earthquake struck, Raymond was staying in a hotel that collapsed during the quake. A survivor of the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Raymond was again personally affected by the disaster:

 

“Both the Catholic churches, where I was baptised

and received my First Communion were heavily damaged

and my grandmother’s house was completely destroyed.

The area is still reeling from more than 500 aftershocks

 – some as strong as the original quake –

that make it hard for the rescue efforts.”

 

Within minutes of the latest disaster, Raymond began activating LWF’s emergency response in close coordination with colleagues from Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and the German Protestant relief agency Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH).

 

“The first steps we took were to gather information,

to advise people about where to find shelter and protection.”

 

DKH/LWF/NCA office staff register earthquake survivors at Camp Perrin in the south of Haiti.

Photo: DKH

 

Working through experienced on-ground partners like LWF, NCA and DCH helps make sure your ALWS aid is targeted, efficient and effective – even when natural disasters create so many challenges.

 

“Now we urgently need money to rebuild water and sanitation facilities

and to distribute hygiene kits. We have a truck with water filters,

a specialised WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) team

and people working in the worst affected communities,

many in remote mountain areas, fixing broken water systems.”

 

Your support is critical in repairing water systems to prevent an outbreak of cholera.

Photo: ACT Alliance

 

Tropical Storm Grace caused further problems for the 650,000 people needing emergency assistance and shelter from the heavy rains.

Situated in a hurricane corridor and on a continental rift, Haiti is prone to natural disasters.

However, Raymond says that climate change is causing worse storms and more unpredictable weather patterns, including increased droughts and flooding.

 

Your support is critical in repairing water systems to prevent an outbreak of cholera.

Photo: ACT Alliance

 

LWF has served in Haiti since 1995, and now cooperates with NCA and DKH in a joint  program to share resources and reduce costs, in a country that ranks as the poorest in the northern hemisphere.

Your help in this earthquake is part of a worldwide response of churches through the ACT Haiti Forum. Funds are urgently needed to start building houses to replace the 80,000 homes that were damaged or destroyed by the quake.

 

“Some people are desperately trying to patch up their houses,

but they run the risk of the buildings collapsing on them.

The good news is that we trained many masons after previous disasters

and are better prepared to obtain the necessary government permits.”

 

People struggle on as best they can in the rubble of their homes. Rebuilding costs are around $6,500 per home in Haiti.

Photo: ACT Alliance

 

There is a strong sense of solidarity among Haitians themselves, Raymond says, with many people responding to a call for blood donations to treat the injured.

 

“I’m a donor myself and I’ve been encouraging others as well.

It’s the least we can do to help those in need –

Haitians helping Haitians, not just relying on help from outside.”

 

Experience shows that girls and women may face increased risk of suffering violence during and after natural disasters. Therefore, a special focus of the LWF team you support is preventing this:

 

“We work to inform people of the risks, to mitigate

by reducing proximity and setting up separate toilets for women.

It is also important to sensitise people to this issue

and let them know how to respond, if necessary.”

 

Your kindness and generosity through ALWS can support the life-renewing work of the LWF team that Raymond leads.

 

Donate now

 

“Donations are really important to us,

as they will make a real difference to people’s lives.

Right now people are scared, and I often feel scared too,

but our work offers hope and dignity, to empower people

and to show how we can live out our faith through action.”

 

Prospery Raymond, director of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) country program in Haiti.

Photo: Christian Aid

 

This update is based on report from LWF/P. Hitchen

 

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UPDATE 4: Monday 23 August 

Tragically, the toll from the 7.2 earthquake in Haiti on Saturday 14 August continues to grow. Latest reports state:

• more than 2,200 people have lost their lives
• 9,900 people are injured
• 332 people missing
• 52,953 houses destroyed
• 77,006 houses damaged

According to the Haiti Civil Protection Agency, more than 600,000 people need humanitarian assistance. Tens of thousands of people are homeless after their houses were destroyed.

Photo: ACT Alliance

 

The Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, has declared a one month state of emergency:

“Haiti is now on its knees. The earthquake

that devastated a large part of the south

of the country proves once again

our limits, and how fragile we are.”

 As a Christian aid agency, ALWS too is on our knees as we seek God’s guidance in how best we take your care to people hurt by the earthquake in Haiti.

 

Donate now

 

ALWS partners with LWF Haiti, working through the ACT Alliance of churches from around the world, joining together to serve people in need.

ALWS has stepped out in faith and plans to commit at least $25,000 to the emergency response in Haiti. Rapid Assessment Teams, like the one you see here, identify the highest priorities for action.

Photo: ACT Alliance

 

Critical needs already identified by ACT Forum Rapid Assessment Teams include:

• shelter
• hygiene kits
• emergency cash & vouchers
• psychosocial support
• safe drinking water
• repair and reconstruction of houses and schools
• repair of water sources

Your help is planned to be delivered as a Survivor and Community-Led Response, including using a community cash grant mechanism.

 

CRITICAL PRIORITY

 Safe water is a critical priority. Ongoing tremors mean people are too scared to sleep inside if their homes managed to survive the quake. Tropical Storm Grace has brought flooding rain, and there is increasing danger of deadly cholera and other water-borne diseases.

 

Protect lives now

 

YOUR PRAYERS ARE PRECIOUS  protect those who are now homeless open transport routes, and ensure safety, to speed the delivery of emergency aid comfort those who have lost loved ones keep people safe from cholera and other water-borne diseases, and COVID-19

 

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UPDATE 3: Friday 20 August 

Your ALWS action to help people in Haiti hurt by the earthquake on Saturday 14 August remains critical. As more collapsed buildings are searched, the hurt to human life grows:

• 1,941 people killed
• 9,900+ people injured
• 600,000 people need humanitarian aid (Haiti Civil Protection Agency)

The Haiti earthquake has destroyed or damaged more than 12,000 family homes. Here in Marceline, 2eme section, you can see the extent of the damage.   
Photo: Agronome Yvener (AHAMESS)

 

ALWS partners with LWF Haiti, working through the ACT Alliance of churches from around the world joining together to serve people in need.

ACT Alliance partners in Haiti have extensive experience working with local communities, including after previous natural disasters. The house you see below was part of an ACT Alliance effort after deadly Hurricane Matthew in October 2016.

House rebuilt by ACT Alliance partners after Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
Photo: ACT Alliance

 

As you can see, the ACT Alliance-built house survived last week’s 7.2 earthquake …

… and in fact is one of many such ACT Alliance houses now offering shelter to neighbours whose homes were destroyed.

Your ALWS action to help earthquake survivors is welcome – DONATE NOW

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UPDATE 2: Tuesday 17 August 

As the world focuses on the crisis in Afghanistan … and as Australia battles COVID-19 and faces extended lockdowns across the country … it’s vital the people of Haiti aren’t forgotten.

By reading this update, you show your care for those who have lost so much – thank you!

EARTHQUAKE IMPACT 

• 7.2 earthquake Saturday 14 August 
• 1,297 people killed (toll still rising) 
• 5,700 people injured 
• 7,639 homes destroyed 
• 4,852 homes damaged 
• Tropical Storm Grace bearing down 
• Flash flooding and landslides feared 
• Danger of water-borne diseases 
• Haiti poorest country in northern hemisphere 
• President assassinated six weeks ago 
• Gangs control many transport routes 
• Haiti one of the last countries in the world to make COVID-19 vaccine available (first shipment only arrived at start of August)

Devastation in Haiti caused by 7.2 earthquake

Image: ACT Alliance

 

YOUR ALWS ACTION 

• ALWS hopes to commit $25,000 to aid efforts 
• implementing partner: LWF Haiti (Lutheran World Federation) 
• LWF in Haiti for 25 years 
• working through ACT Alliance (Action by Churches Together) 
• ACT Forum in Haiti meets Tuesday 17/8 to plan next steps 
• Reports so far indicate LWF staff safe

Devastation in Haiti caused by 7.2 earthquake

Image: ACT Alliance

WHAT IS NEEDED NOW 

ACT Forum in Haiti undertaking Rapid Needs Assessment to plan action: 

• Survivor and Community-Led response 
• use a community cash grant mechanism 
• shelter 
• Hygiene Kits 
• emergency cash & vouchers 
• psychosocial support 
• safe drinking water 

 

Devastation in Haiti caused by 7.2 earthquake

Image: ACT Alliance

 

REHABILITATION NEEDS 

Repair, construct and reconstruct: 

• houses 
• schools 
• water sources 
• infrastructure 

Your support is a blessing now, and ALWayS. Thank you.

 Donate now

Images: KORAL

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UPDATE 1: MONDAY 16 AUGUST 2021

A devastating 7.2 earthquake that happened Saturday morning in Haiti.

Early reports put the death toll at over 700.

However, this quake was stronger than the one in January 2010 that killed more than 200,000 people. So, fears are the toll will rise.

 

Devastation in Haiti caused by 7.2 earthquake

Image: contributed by ACT Alliance

DONATE NOW

 

High priority needs

Our ALWS partner in Haiti is LWF (Lutheran World Federation).

LWF is part of the ACT Haiti Forum (Action by Churches Together) who met Sunday 15 August to assess the best way to help. The most urgent needs already identified include:

• tents and tarpaulins (temporary shelters)
• flashlights
• emergency power generators
• hygiene kits
• clothes
• safe water
• food
• first aid kits
• Health Workers
• rescuers (at least 10 people per municipality affected)
• fuel, vehicles
• mobile phones + SIM cards

 DONATE NOW

Your ALWS action

ALWS has stepped out in faith and hopes to commit at least $25,000 for the Lutheran-supported team to respond as soon as the Haiti Government seeks help in the disaster.

Already the ACT Forum in Haiti :

• tents and shelters have been installed at the OFATMA Hospital
• volunteers are helping with rescue operations
• teams are assisting to assess the damage

What you may not know is that Haiti is the poorest country in the northern hemisphere.

Even before the earthquake, six million people

struggled to survive on less than $4 a day.

 

Increasing the danger now is the fact that Haiti is regularly vulnerable to tropical-storm-force winds and heavy rain, which can trigger life-threatening flash floods and landslides.

 

Heart for Haiti

LWF has worked in Haiti since 1995.

LWF played a vital role in response to the 2010 earthquake, putting to work more than $560,000 worth of aid from the ALWS family in Australia.

The LWF team’s heart is for the people, their professional skills are proven, and their commitment evident in their hard work. They will again play a lead role in the worldwide churches’ response through ACT Alliance.

The LWF Haiti team has supported those in most need with:

• micro-loans to women to develop businesses
• reforestation
• food production

Following in the footsteps of Jesus, focus is on those in danger of being forgotten by the world.

 

 

You help with practical care: Your donation is directed to the planned ALWS commitment of $25,000 to support disaster response, preparedness and recovery in Haiti. Any money raised beyond what is needed in Haiti will be used in other ALWS aid and development projects to help people hurt by disaster, poverty and injustice. Information in this communication is based on data correct at time of writing, and may change. Funds and other resources designated for the purpose of aid and development will be used only for those purposes and will not be used to promote a particular religious adherence or to support a political party, or to promote a candidate or organisation affiliated to a particular party, or to support welfare activities as defined by DFAT. For more information, call: 1300 763 407