Updated: 4 t h January 2011 Press contact: Beatrice Cami – +44 (0)7525 101 026 – [email protected]A YEAR OF ACTION IN HAITI For more information: www.handicap-international.org.ukAcknowledgements Handicap International would like to thank the tens of thousands of individual donors who have given so generously to support our work in aid of people affected by the earthquake of 12 January 2010 in Haiti. Since January, we have been supported by: - public bodies: Canadian International Development Agency, European Commission, UK Department for International Development, Flemish Government, Grand Lyon, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs, World Health Organisation, World Food Programme, Région Île-de-France, Région Rhône-Alpes, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, USAID/OFDA, USAID/Leahy War Victims Fund, Ville d’Annecy, Ville de Lyon, City of Munich; - private institutions and companies: Aktion Deutschland Hilft, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Friends Service Committee, American Red Cross, Bette Middler Family Foundation, Fondation Abbé Pierre, Fondation EDF, Fondation de France, Fondation Eden, Fondation Groupe SEB, Fondation Soros, Freedom of Mobility Foundation / MV Transportation, Inc., Fundación León Jimenes, Grande Mosquée de Lyon, Hôpital Assistance Belgique, Lycée français de New York, Mutualité française, NPD Group, Inc. Emergency Fund, Rheingold Family Foundation, sanofi-aventis, ShelterBox, T. Rowe Price Foundation.
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8/7/2019 A Year of Action in Haiti - Handicap International
For more information: www.handicap-international.org.uk
AcknowledgementsHandicap International would like to thank the tens of thousands of individual donors who havegiven so generously to support our work in aid of people affected by the earthquake of 12 January
2010 in Haiti. Since January, we have been supported by:- public bodies: Canadian International Development Agency, European Commission, UK
Department for International Development, Flemish Government, Grand Lyon, French Ministryof Foreign Affairs, Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs, World Health Organisation, WorldFood Programme, Région Île-de-France, Région Rhône-Alpes, Swedish InternationalDevelopment Cooperation Agency, USAID/OFDA, USAID/Leahy War Victims Fund, Villed’Annecy, Ville de Lyon, City of Munich;
- private institutions and companies: Aktion Deutschland Hilft, American Academy of OrthopaedicSurgeons, American Friends Service Committee, American Red Cross, Bette Middler FamilyFoundation, Fondation Abbé Pierre, Fondation EDF, Fondation de France, Fondation Eden,Fondation Groupe SEB, Fondation Soros, Freedom of Mobility Foundation / MV Transportation,Inc., Fundación León Jimenes, Grande Mosquée de Lyon, Hôpital Assistance Belgique, Lycéefrançais de New York, Mutualité française, NPD Group, Inc. Emergency Fund, Rheingold
Family Foundation, sanofi-aventis, ShelterBox, T. Rowe Price Foundation.
8/7/2019 A Year of Action in Haiti - Handicap International
On the 12th January 2010, an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale hit Haiti, one of thepoorest countries in the world. Handicap International’s 100-strong team, already working in thecountry, escaped unharmed and launched an immediate response to the emergency. Over the
following weeks, Handicap International rolled out a multi-disciplinary programme to support disabledand vulnerable people affected by the disaster. We are set to continue helping the Haitian peopleover the next three to five years.
The largest programme in Handicap International’s historyIn 2010, the number of people in our teams exceeded 600, including some 80 expatriate staff. Wecurrently have a team of 540 people in Haiti, including 60 expatriates.
During humanitarian emergencies, Handicap International’s first responsibility is to support the mostvulnerable and excluded groups in society, and particularly people with disabilities. Given theirextensive needs, this group is easily forgotten and left behind during aid operations. Haiti has a longhistory of excluding people with disabilities, commonly known as “kokobés” (“good for nothings”). It is
essential to prevent people with disabilities from being severely marginalized, despite their largenumber and the exceptional circumstances.
Handicap International’s activities in Haiti centre on three key areas:- long-term case-management and assistance of the injured, amputees and paralysed people in
the fields of rehabilitation and psychosocial support;- meeting the specific needs of the most vulnerable people, including targeted distributions and the
supply of transitional shelters;- managing a transport logistics platform in support of the aid community.
Since October, we have also supported the work of international organisations responding to thecholera epidemic.
The importance of coordinating actions with other stakeholdersFollowing the earthquake, organising aid efforts was made more difficult by the destruction ordisorganisation of decision-making centres and by the multiplicity of operators on the ground.However, we have established excellent working relationships with numerous stakeholders, includingdirect partnerships1, as well as working with numerous international2 and Haitian3 organisations.
1 Chistoffel Blindenmission (CBM), Healing Hands for Haiti, the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population, the Haitian Secretariat of
State for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities (SEIPH) and World Food Programme (WFP).2 ACTED, Action against Hunger, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Deutschland (ASB), Chaînede l’espoir/Alima, Red Cross, Douleurs sans Frontières, Médecins du Monde, Médecins sans Frontières, Merlin, International Organisationfor Migration, Oxfam, Partners in Health, ShelterBox, Solidarités International, Terre des Hommes… 3 Civil Protection Communal Committee (CCPC) in Petit-Goâve and Grand-Goâve, health facilities and associations.
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Since 26 January 2010, the UN and the WHO haveentrusted Handicap International and the Germanorganisation Christoffel-Blindenmission (CBM) with jointly coordinating all rehabilitation actions forinjured people across Haiti, the fitting oforthopaedic devices and the provision of
assistance to people with disabilities. HandicapInternational and CBM have been working with theHaitian Ministry for Public Health and Population(MSPP) and the Secretariat of State for theInclusion of People with Disabilities (SEIPH) tocoordinate international and national aidstakeholders operating in disability-related fields.
On 1 December, in order to hand back responsibility to Haitian authorities and allow a sustainableapproach, Handicap International transferred this coordination role to the MSPP, while remaining anactive member of the “Rehabilitation, inclusion and disability” working group.
Earthquakes, bad weather, cholera, violence... a catalogue of disasters The earthquake of 12 January was the most violent to hit the region in 200 years. Its epicentre waslocated 9 miles from Port-au-Prince and exacted a heavy toll on human lives: 230,000 people arethought to have been killed (as many as during the 2004 tsunami) and more than 300,000 injured.
1.5 million people lost their homes. According tothe International Organisation for Migration(IOM)4, at the end of November around 1 millionpeople were still living in 1,200 temporary camps.More than 661,0005 others were displaced to theprovinces, most often finding shelter with host
families. The spring rainy season revealed theprecarious living conditions of the earthquake’svictims. At the end of the hurricane season, on 5November, Hurricane Tomas, despite itsrelatively limited impact, caused widespreadpanic and highlighted the absence of structurescapable of responding to a new natural disaster.
At the same time, a cholera epidemic spread across Haiti, killing more than 2,000 people, with 40,000requiring hospital treatment, according to the government.6 The epidemic is set to spread further overthe coming months.7 The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on 26 November that thecholera epidemic could affect up to 400,000 people. As a result, almost a year after the earthquake,Haiti is once again in the grip of a major emergency.
Since November, Handicap International has adapted its activities to achieve three goals related tothe cholera epidemic:- ensuring the security and continuity of our work to avoid doubly penalising the most vulnerable
people;- performing complementary prevention activities to ensure that people we assisted are not
marginalized in general prevention activities and know how to avoid contamination;- making an effective contribution to combating the epidemic nationwide, by enhancing the logistics
platform it manages in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), in order to supplydedicated humanitarian equipment to organisations working to fight the disease.
4 International Organisation for Migration, Displacement Tracking Matrix of 9 December 2010. 5 Haitian government. 6 Health Group (Haitian Ministry for Public Health and Population and WHO), 8 December 2010. 7 Haitian Ministry for Public Health and Population, 3 December 2010.
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The outbreak of this cholera epidemic, along with a tense electoral situation, has given rise tooutbreaks of violence. The first round of voting in the presidential and parliamentary elections on 28November stirred tensions across the country. This insecurity represents an additional obstacle toimplementing solidarity actions. Political conflict between the first and second rounds of voting, withthe second round scheduled for 16 January 2011, could lead to prolonged bouts of violence.
Three to five years of action ahead We are planning our activities into long-term projects to allow Haitian stakeholders to build theircapacities and eventually take over the management of the projects. Our activities form part of athree-to-five year emergency/rehabilitation/development continuum in Haiti, which is a classic modelof international development.
In addition to our response to the cholera epidemic, which should give rise to additional projects inearly 2011, we are developing the post-emergency phase of our work. After setting up a temporaryemergency orthopaedic-fitting service, we now produce permanent prostheses in our fitting centre inPort-au-Prince. We have begun specific activities to provide liveable, hurricane- and earthquake-resistant temporary accommodation accessible to isolated and vulnerable victims of the disaster.
Our transitional development actions are set to continue until at least the end of 2012. A morecommunity-based approach is being taken to rehabilitation activities, through the involvement of thepatients’ relatives, and a greater emphasis is being placed on local health facilities. Initial intensivetraining in rehabilitation and orthopaedic-fitting activities for Haitian staff will be organised along withcapacity-building for local partners. Our support for and rehabilitation of injured people is expected to
gradually focus on the most complex cases, particularly paralysed people.The long-term development phase will begin in 2011. It should mainly focus on supporting Haitianoperators, health facilities and partners in providing assistance to people with disabilities. We areimplementing a skills-transfer programme, which includes the setting up of a diploma-basedprosthetics & orthotics training course in the near future, in compliance with international standards.The aim is to help create resources and overcome non-existent or inadequate capacities in Haiti tohelp the country recover from its ordeal and plan for its development.
Health and protection- Helping hospitals case-manage injured (until July 2010).- Supplying orthopaedic devices, mobility aids and specific equipment.
- Fitting orthopaedic devices (prostheses and orthoses).- Assisting & protecting vulnerable people, particularly people with disabilities.- Psychosocial support at community level.- Preventing cholera.
Meeting basic needs - Distributing tents, food and essential items to
survivors, particularly the most vulnerable (untilAugust 2010, then during the storm of 24th September and hurricane Tomas).
- “Cash for work” activities (May- August 2010).- Setting up transitional hurricane- and earthquake-
resistant shelters accessible to people with reducedmobility.
Humanitarian logistics - Transporting humanitarian aid and managing an
inter-agency logistics platform for the World FoodProgramme.
- Supporting NGOs in the fight against cholera.
Key figures
Human resources - Team of 540 people, including around 60 expatriate staff.- Since 14th January 2010, 170 expatriates from over 20 different countries8 sent to Haiti.- More than 600 Haitian staff trained since January 2010.
Health activities - More than 10,000 beneficiaries.- 82,000 basic care and rehabilitation sessions performed.- 5,600 technical aids (mobility aids, orthopaedic devices and specific equipment) distributed.- Prostheses: 426 beneficiaries recorded (fitted or currently being fitted).
- Orthoses: 465 recorded beneficiaries.Psychosocial assistance
- Some 25,000 beneficiaries, including 500 provided with regular follow-up care.
Logistics/distributions/“cash for work”- 20,000 tonnes of aid transported since 14 January 2010 for around 100 organisations.- 5,000 tents distributed to more than 26,000 people.- 30,000 items of equipment distributed to over 43,000 people.- 36 tonnes of food supplied to more than 10,000 people.- More than 4,000 people have benefited from “cash for work” activities.- More than 80 transitional shelters have been supplied to 330 beneficiaries.
8 Including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, El Salvador, France, Finland, Japan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Nicaragua,Pakistan, the Philippines, Switzerland, Togo, the United Kingdom and the USA.
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Handicap International’s health activities are performed in coordination with the Haitigovernment and other key national and international stakeholders. Our health team currentlyconsists of 149 people (including 22 expatriate staff) working in two fitting and rehabilitationcentres, six disability focal points9 and nine mobile teams. Our Haitian staff are mainlyrehabilitation professionals and community workers.
300,000 INJURED PEOPLE
The Haitian government estimates the number of people injured in the earthquake at over 300,000.Humanitarian aid operators have been facing a challenge of historic proportions, given the lack ofcare capacity in Haiti following the disaster.
A very high number of amputations During the weeks following the earthquakeonly the most serious cases were admittedto hospitals. Some patients with closedfractures had to leave without treatment.Many patients who had not received carethe first time round arrived in hospitals at alater date with complications and seriousinfections. As a result, amputationsrepresented an exceptionally largeproportion of the surgical operationsperformed. Some amputations performed
under extremely difficult circumstancesrequired corrective surgery.
Handicap International’s health team in Haiti produced a report in January estimating the totalnumber of amputations at between 2,000 and 4,000, with at least 1,000 people requiring a lower-limbprosthesis. This conservative estimate was based on direct visits to 17 hospitals and data gatheredby phone and email from most of the country’s health facilities and from the relevant authorities. Thisevaluation has not been challenged since and is supported by most operators in the field. It has notbeen possible to reassess these figures due to problems collecting data at national level andvariations in data collection criteria applied by organisations.
Assistance to hospitals Between the 17th January and July 2010, we supported 20 hospitals and medical facilities in Port-au-Prince and its suburbs. Our aim, particularly with post-operative rehabilitation care, was to preventinjured and/or paralysed people from developing permanent disabling after-effects. Our staffperformed 25,000 rehabilitation sessions for more than 1,800 patients and distributed over 1,200items of equipment (eg: crutches, wheelchairs). Our work in hospitals was scaled-down beforecoming to an end in July as far fewer patients injured in the earthquake, many of whom had returnedto live with their families, were turning up for treatment. We were able to intensify our actions withincommunities as a result.
9 Disability Focal Points enable us to provide the most vulnerable populations and people with disabilities with a local reception point toidentify their needs and supply them with responsive aid.
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FITTING OF ORTHOPAEDIC DEVICES & FUNCTIONAL REHABILITATION
Fitting limbs from March
In partnership with the Healing Hands for Haiti association, Handicap International set up a fitting andrehabilitation centre in a former warehouse near the Champ-de-Mars. The centre’s team consists of48 people, 14 of whom are expatriate staff, including a team from the University of Don Bosco in ElSalvador. Six members of Healing Hands for Haiti have also joined the team. Ten Haitian fitting andrehabilitation staff are currently attending training courses at the centre.
Since the centre opened in early March, 883 patients have been registered, 426 of whom have been
fitted with a prosthesis and 465 with an orthosis10. Some 4,500 rehabilitation sessions have beenperformed.
Initially, emergency temporary prostheses were supplied to lower-limb amputees. An essential stagein the orthopaedic-fitting process, these temporary prostheses enable patients to stand up againrapidly, prepare them to be fitted with a permanent prosthesis and promote their swift reintegrationinto society.
The production of permanent prostheses, which take longer to produce but which are more aestheticand longer-lasting, began in April. They are designed to last three to five years for an adult, but needto be changed every six months for a growing child. The production of temporary prostheses endedin September. In January 2011, we plan to start the orthopaedic-fitting of upper-limb amputees.
10 An orthosis is a device that corrects a limb or spinal impairment, such as a splint, collar or corset. A prosthesis replaces a missing limb.
8/7/2019 A Year of Action in Haiti - Handicap International
“There are some magical moments at the fitting centre” Pascal Kodjo Agbegnedo is a Prosthetics & Orthotics trainer from Togo.
I work in a fitting workshop in Port-au-Prince for amputees. I produceprostheses and orthoses adapted to each person’s morphology. I fit themand adapt them, and my physiotherapy and occupational therapycolleagues perform rehabilitation activities appropriate to the patient’slifestyle. Some days are magical, like when we fitted a 17-month old babywith a prosthesis. He walks better than anyone else now!
We train Haitian staff on-site. It’s an essential part of ensuring the long-term future of our actions, particularly the follow-up of people fitted withdevices. The prosthesis needs to be changed, repaired or adaptedthroughout the patient’s lifetime.
Two mobile fitting teams
The fitting centre has two mobile teams who visitcommunities and focal points. After delivering theprostheses and orthoses, they perform thetechnical follow-up of people fitted with devices,perform adjustments and make minor repairs.Home visits allow teams to study the beneficiary’senvironment, assess their needs, distributetechnical aids and basic equipment, and referpatients to the psychosocial team. The mobileteam in Petit-Goâve takes measurements andcasts the stumps of the amputees followed-up atlocal disability focal points. The team returns with
the prostheses made at the orthopaedic-fittingcentre to try the devices on patients. Thetherapists at the focal point then provide patientswith long-term rehabilitation care.
A second rehabilitation and fitting centre Handicap International Belgium began work in Haiti on 18th January to provide physiotherapy in threehospitals run by Médecins sans Frontières Belgium. From March, the team concentrated its efforts onSarthe hospital. Since then, the organisation has been active in this hospital, managing arehabilitation and fitting centre there. By mid-September, 3,489 patients had been managed at thecentre. The team consists of some 30 people, including 8 expatriate staff.
Training of Haitian staffOur goal is to create and coordinate the country’s long-term capacity to provide rehabilitation andfitting services by training Haitian staff to ensure future success. Expatriate technicians are working incollaboration with Haitian and expatriate staff from the Healing Hands for Haiti association for thetime being, before other Haitian staff are provided with training. Six people are already being trainedto become orthopaedic-fitting technicians. Four Haitian rehabilitation assistants have also beenreceiving training since October.
In partnership with Healing Hands for Haiti, we are set to provide Level Two training for Prosthetics &
Orthotics technicians in 2011, over a period of 2.5 years, in compliance with recognised internationalstandards. This training for 20 Haitians will be taught by teachers from the University of Don Bosco(El Salvador). These newly-trained technicians are expected to be able to take over from the teamssent to Haiti and provide long-term follow-up care to patients fitted with orthopaedic devices.
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The six Disability and Vulnerability Focal Points (four in Port-au-Prince, one in Petit-Goâve and one inGonaïves) were set up in partnership with the German organisation CBM and the Secretariat of Statefor the Inclusion of People with Disabilities, and with the support of Haitian disabled people’sorganisations. The Focal Point teams now have a staff of 101, including 8 expatriate staff. Thesefocal points aim to improve the protection and service access conditions of people with disabilitiesand other vulnerable people, including the elderly, sick and isolated. Six mobile care teams use thefocal points as a base for their visits to the capital’s districts and suburbs, including Carrefour,Delmas and the Champ de Mars, and work in a camp housing more than 40,000 people in Pétion-Ville.
As we are present in communities, we can provide basic careand rehabilitation to people with disabilities, offer psychosocialsupport and distribute mobility aids and equipment for day-to-day activities, such as mattresses. People with specific needsare identified and referred to appropriate facilities, such as
organisations responsible for targeted food distributions tomalnourished children.
Home care team for paraplegics and quadriplegics
Many Haitians live in extreme deprivation. Paraplegicsand quadriplegics, with their specific and continuouscase-management needs, are particularly at risk.Set up in June 2010, a mobile team (with aphysiotherapist, an occupational therapist and a
community worker), provide rehabilitation care, directpatients to medical facilities when necessary, assesstheir needs in terms of technical aids and basicequipment, and distribute aid. The mobile team is alsodeveloping cholera awareness-raising and preventionactions targeted at these patients, who are rarelyincluded in mainstream prevention activities.
PSYCHOSOCIAL ASSISTANCE
The recreational events and discussion
groups organised by the Disability FocalPoints enable visitors to share theirexperiences with other victims and providean initial response to the psychologicalsuffering caused by the earthquake.Psychosocial workers from each focal pointalso visit families in the community toassess the family’s level of distress, identifypossible family conflicts and refer people forindividual support if necessary. They also
evaluate the level of inclusion of people with disabilities, where necessary, and raise the awarenessof their family and friends.
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Amputees benefit from individual consultations with psychosocial workers in fitting centres toevaluate each patient’s psychological condition. They are provided with follow-up care throughout thefitting process and once they have returned to their communities.
As part of a long-term strategy, Handicap International is a member of two working groups, “Mentalhealth” and “Inclusion, rehabilitation and disability”, which bring together Haitian and international
operators. In this way, we are able to contribute to the national plan on mental health issues and thenational plan on the inclusion of people with disabilities.
PROTECTIONThe protection of vulnerable people in crisissituations represents a major challengeduring any emergency. In situations ofextreme deprivation, heightened tension andsocial instability, vulnerable people, inparticular people with disabilities, must be
protected from the risk of violence,exploitation and abuse. HandicapInternational therefore monitors theimplementation of specific protectionmeasures and takes part in internationalcoordination processes dedicated to theseissues.
We intervene in the most difficult cases of psychological, physical and sexual violence. We identifyand target vulnerable individuals in local communities to improve referrals to other institutionsinvolved in protection activities (eg: domestic violence, child protection) and to ensure that allavailable services are accessible to people with disabilities.
CHOLERA PREVENTIONThe outbreak of cholera (first identified on 19 th October) seriously impacted on our work. Welaunched an awareness-raising campaign on 26th October targeted at the most vulnerable groups.Each individual, along with their relatives and neighbours, is provided with information tailored to theirpersonal situation.
20 teams across Haiti ensure that people understand the dangers of cholera and ways to prevent it.Awareness-raising activities also aim to avoid the stigmatisation of sick people. Hygiene and cholerapacks11 are being distributed, initially to 400 families in Gonaïves. Lastly, we are also producing 100beds adapted to cholera treatment centres in Petit-Goâve, Grand-Goâve, Miragoâne and Les Cayes.
Psychosocial activities have been temporarily suspended to raise the awareness of a maximumnumber of people. The teams will nevertheless continue to identify those with specific support needsfor referral to the psychosocial unit. Some Disability Focal Points are temporarily closed to the publicbut will provide a base for informing visitors on prevention measures. The mobile rehabilitation teamsand the team dedicated to helping people with spinal cord injuries (paraplegics and quadriplegics) arecontinuing with their activities.
We have also been making recommendations for including people with disabilities in themanagement of the response to the cholera epidemic, particularly to stakeholders working in thefields of health, protection and camp management.
11 Packs contain a plastic bucket with a lid, a bag to keep belongings dry, a fleece blanket, a bath towel, a sponge, bars of soap, waterpurification tablets, and oral rehydration solution sachets.
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Faced with a population deprived of everything, Handicap International contributes tologistical aspects and coordination of the relief effort. We manage a humanitarian aid
transport platform. Since October, this logistics chain has formed part of the response to thecholera epidemic. Meeting the basic day-to-day needs of Haitian victims includes thedistribution of aid, “cash for work” activities and the construction of transitional shelters forvulnerable and isolated people.
MANAGEMENT OF THE INTER-AGENCY LOGISTICS PLATFORMAfter Haiti was hit by a series of hurricanes in 2008, Handicap International managed a logisticsplatform for the transport of humanitarian aid, in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP).Our logistics team in Haiti now numbers 160 people (including 5 expatriate staff) spread over fouroperational bases (Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien, Gonaïves and Jacmel). We manage a fleet of 70lorries, including 50 six-wheel drive all-purpose vehicles each capable of transporting 3.5 tonnes ofgoods to areas difficult to access. We also coordinate some 20 flatbed lorries capable of transporting8 tonnes of freight, which are used mainly in urban areas. We also managed two massivewarehouses from February 2010. The first closed in June and the second in September.
Since 14th January, HandicapInternational has transported almost20,000 tonnes of aid, including 9,000tonnes of food for some 100organisations12, of which 15 Haitianorganisations13. Between 22nd Octoberand 4th December, we transported 394tonnes of aid for 15 organisations
involved in preventing and treatingcholera.
DISTRIBUTION OF EMERGENCY AID AND “CASH FOR WORK”Our distribution activities take into account the specific needs of disabled, vulnerable and elderlypeople, particularly in terms of facilitating their access to aid and meeting their mobility needs.
Petit-Goâve and Grand-Goâve
Located 10 km from the epicentre, the two areas were 60% destroyed, with 50,000 people affected inthese regions alone. Relief was harder to transport as these areas are surrounded by mountains.
12 They include UN agencies, Action Against Hunger, Caritas, Red Cross, Food for the Poor, Fraternité Notre Dame, Médecins du Monde,Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Pompiers sans Frontières, Plan, Première Urgence, Save The Children, Secours Islamique and World Vision. 13 Including Acrecom, Haitian Red Cross, Dinepa, Espoir de l’Horizon, Meyer, Ministry of Public Health and the Population, Santo 19 andSigneau.
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More than 1,000 ShelterBoxes were given by ShelterBox to Handicap International, and wedistributed them in the most affected rural areas. ShelterBoxes are plastic boxes containing a 10-person tent and equipment suitable for daily life in this type of shelter for several months, including afloor mat, blankets, a stove, cooking utensils, jerrycans, a water purification system, a saw, an axe, ashovel, rope, a mosquito net, and activity packs for children.
We have also distributed 4,500 tents to over 23,000 beneficiaries, as well as 36 tonnes of food tomore than 2,000 households (equivalent to 10,000 people) and almost 30,000 items of equipment toover 8,000 households, reaching more than 42,000 beneficiaries. The non-food aid distributed mainlyconcerned items essential to every day life, such as plastic sheets, rope, jerrycans, cooking andhygiene packs, mattresses, blankets, mats and mosquito nets.
In Haiti’s particularly inaccessible mountainous regions (the Mornes), Handicap International and itspartners distributed aid most often by helicopter, or by lorry whenever possible.
Port-au-Prince and the surrounding urban area In Port-au-Prince, where national and international aid is concentrated, we have set up a database of
particularly vulnerable people, such as families with disabled members. The data is supplied by ourhealth teams and our partners. We target this particularly fragile population through distributions andthe provision of shelters.
More than 660 tents have been distributed, providing shelter for 3,000 people. More than 1,300 itemsof equipment have also been distributed to more than 430 households, reaching over 2,100beneficiaries. This includes the meeting of day-to-day needs. 45 shelters were built between May andAugust 2010. These temporary shelters have a wooden framework, plastic sheeting or plywood wallsand a corrugated roof. Each of these shelters is made accessible to people with reduced mobility.The distribution of tents and the construction of shelters are sometimes accompanied by small-scaleclearing projects, mostly performed as part of “cash for work” schemes.
“Cash for work”“Cash for work” projects supply the population with asource of income through occasional work, generallyas part of manual clear-up operations. The workersare paid the Haitian minimum wage - 200 gourdes (4euros) a day. Between May and August 2010,Handicap International set up three “cash for work”programmes involving more than 600 people for atotal of 4,000 direct beneficiaries: the renovation ofthe Route de Palmes, at the top of the Mornesmountain range in Petit-Goâve and Grand-Goâve,the demolition and clear-up of houses in Petit-Goâve,
performed in conjunction with the Civil Protectionservice, and the setting up of a centre to producetemporary shelters in Port-au-Prince.
Impact of the hurricane season Following the storm that hit Haiti at the end of September, Handicap International evaluated 500beneficiaries, considered to be among the most vulnerable individuals, at Disability Focal Points.Each person was contacted to identify their needs in terms of tents and plastic sheeting. Distributionswere performed to meet specific needs. The emergency shelters built in Port-au-Prince, which have awooden framework, walls made from plastic sheeting, corrugated roofing and a cement base, stoodup well to the storm. In preparation for the passage of hurricane Tomas on 5 November, we ranidentification and prevention activities aimed at the most vulnerable groups and ensured that theweakest among them were transported to secured shelters.
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Handicap International has begun building 1,000 transitional, hurricane- and earthquake-resistanthomes accessible to people with reduced mobility. These shelters are designed primarily for the mostvulnerable people. Between now and September 2011, 5,000 people will have been provided withaccommodation in Petit-Goâve, Grand-Goâve and the surrounding mountainous areas.
These shelters are designed to last between three and five years. However, if properly maintained,they can last longer as they are designed to resist bad weather. They have a wooden framework andwalls of woven wooden slats, with a roof designed to stand up to strong gusts of wind. The floor ismade from wooden planks or a raised concrete slab to protect occupants from humidity during therainy season. These shelters are fitted with a ramp when needed.
Offering a living area of 18 sq.m. and a 6 sq.m. covered terrace, each shelter is designed for a familyof five. Modules of different sizes will be available to suit each size of family or construction area.These prefabricated shelters are prepared in packs which are then transported to the area inquestion before being assembled with families to foster full “ownership” and to ensure they are ableto keep the shelter in a state of repair.
By the end of October, the first 80 transitional shelters had been delivered, providing accommodationfor more than 330 people. Several others have been delivered to Grand-Goâve where Médecins duMonde will convert them into health centres, in conjunction with the Haitian Ministry for Public Healthand Population.
AccessibilityHandicap International provides several other organisations with its expertise in the field ofaccessibility. We are also part of several working groups formed by humanitarian operators present inHaiti. We promote the accessibility of existing buildings (eg: medical facilities, latrines in camps) andensure the requirements and principles of accessibility are taken into account in rebuilding projects.We advocate for and raise the awareness of our partners, NGOs and medical facilities to the need toinclude people with disabilities at each stage of an emergency response and to help them access aid.
All of Handicap International’s projects, particularly transitional shelters, take accessibilityrequirements into account.
