Haiti

On January 12^th 2010, an earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. Approximately a quarter of Haiti’s population were concentrated in the slums of Port-au Prince prior to the earthquake. Tens of thousands of people were killed and over a million displaced, with much of the capital and the wider area devastated, prompting a major international aid effort.

Ten months later, with the country still struggling to recover  from the earthquake, an outbreak of cholera added to Haiti’s troubles, killing over 2,000 people and infecting over 100,000.

Haiti was already the poorest country in the Western hemisphere with 67% of the population living on less than $2 a day. There exists widespread unemployment and underemployment with more than two-thirds of the labour force not having formal jobs.

WJR’s emergency appeal supported the provision of: 715 shelter tarpaulins and 278 bulk food packages; 20 large family tents and 142 family water kits; 5 medical kits, each providing healthcare for 10,000 people for 3 months; 286 hygiene kits and 24 child support kits and the construction of 4 water storage tanks providing a total of 54,553 litres of drinking water to over 3,000 individuals.