Save the Children Responding to the
Needs of Children in Haiti
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Read the THREE MONTHS ON Report on Save the Children's Haiti Earthquake Response
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What is Save the Children doing to help Haiti?
News Update
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (May 10, 2010) — Save the Children has helped reunite a 9-year-old Haitian girl, missing for several months and believed dead, with her mother and sister. See Marie-Ange's story.
Read our three-month report, "Helping Haiti's Children"
Latest Field Report Highlights
- An estimated 553,009 beneficiaries have been reached to date.
- New health clinics and Child Friendly Spaces are being set up for people relocating to Corail from the Petionville Camp
- Health and nutrition teams with mobile clinics in Port-au-Prince, Leogane, and Jacmel are providing health care to thousands of patients daily.
- New babytent sites are operating with more sites being established to provide breastfeeding support, counseling and related care for newborns and mothers.
- Dozens of Child Friendly Spaces have been set up in different cities with thousands of children participating in activities.
- Save the Children is reaching thousands of households with plastic sheets and other materials packaged into “shelter kits” and “hygiene kits."
Save the Children has worked in Haiti since 1978 and currently has about 800 staff on the ground.
Save the Children's Statement on Adoption in Haiti
Save the Children's Statement on Child Protection in Haiti
Past Updates:
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (April 19, 2010) - Families have begun to move out of the Petionville Club camp in order to have a safer location. Save the Children is participating in this move and has set up a Child-Friendly Space for children in the new Corail Cesselesse camp. READ ONE FAMILY'S STORY and view the images of the Child Friendly Space.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (April 5, 2010) — More than two months after the earthquake hit Haiti, Save the Children has reached over 550,000 children and families, delivering lifesaving assistance and establishing Child Friendly Spaces and temporary schools.
People Magazine to feature the Bazilo school supported by Save the Children and described in our blog, "Voices from the Field."
Learn more about temporary schools in Haiti set up by Save the Children and described in our blog.
Field Update: March 5, 2010
4 year-old Leka is going to school in Haiti for the first time! Read her story
- In total, Save the Children has been able to reach over 500,000 people with relief.
- Save the Children food distributions have reached 248,308 people, including 148,984 children to date.
- Save the Children has provided an additional 800 families in Leogane with shelter and hygiene kits. To date, SC has reached a total of 6,825 households (34,125 people) with non-food items.
- Save the Children continues daily delivery of clean drinking water, reaching 62,400 people each day with 312 m3 of water. To date, our water, sanitation and hygiene interventions have reached more than 120,011 people – this includes people who receive clean water daily, people benefitting from 179 emergency latrines, people benefitting from 115 emergency bathing stations, and other water, sanitation and hygiene activities.
- Save the Children continues to run 14 mobile health clinics in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and Leogane, which have treated 16,870 children and parents for diarrhea, respiratory diseases, parasitic infections and other health complaints. Clean delivery kits have been distributed to all pregnant women attending mobile clinics. Additionally, 547 mosquito nets were provided to children.
- Save the Children is the lead agency managing the nutrition intervention for orphans and infants whose mothers are unable to breastfeed. In line with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, Ready to Use Infant Formula (RUIF) has been distributed to three agencies, reaching 320 infants to date.
- To date, Save the Children’s child protection programs have benefitted over 15,400 children, including those participating at daily activities run by 110 community volunteers at 12 child-friendly spaces in PaP and 8 in Jacmel. The Family Tracing Reunification call centre and drop-in centre continues to run - a total of 97 children have been identified as separated or unaccompanied and will go through the Family Tracing Reunification process.
Read Colleen Malone's Blog, Save the Children Canada's Senior Emergency Advisor and Calgary native worked in Haiti during the height of the crisis
Update: February 3, 2010
- Over 202,000 beneficiaries have been reached to date, including medical supplies for about 85,000 in Leogane, Jacmel and Port-au-Prince.
- 8,600 people are benefitting from the non-food items such as blankets and plastic sheeting that Save the Children distributed.
- A cumulative total of 7895 people have been cared for through Save the Children supported health facilities
- Save the Children food distributions have reached over 54,000 beneficiaries thus far. This number will continue to increase as distributions in PAP continue over the next 2 weeks.
- 18 Child-Friendly Spaces were established in Jacmel and Port-au-Prince. Child Protection programs will soon be starting in Leogane as well.
Update: January 31, 2010
- 172,751 beneficiaries have been reached to date, including medical supplies for about 85,000 in Leogane, Jacmel and Port-au-Prince.
- 6,500 people are benefitting from the non-food items such as blankets and plastic sheeting that Save the Children distributed.
- Approximately 16,500 people are receiving clean water
- Our mobile clinic in Leogane continues seeing patients, roughly 100 per day. 70 health workers were trained in Leogane and another mobile clinic was established in Jacmel. Save the Children carried out 2857 medical consultations in the past week, including 660 children under 5 years through the mobile clinics.
- 17 Child-Friendly Spaces were established in Jacmel and Port-au-Prince. Child Protection programs will soon be starting in Leogane as well.
Update: January 20, 2010
6.1 magnitude aftershock rocks the fragile nation of Haiti - read the statement here
Great news from the field - even more is happening to help children in Haiti!
- Save the Children conducted training for 50 social workers and animators on psychosocial and Child-Friendly Space activities and child protection policies
- 24 staff were trained as either Water/Sanitation technicians or Hygiene promoters today. They will begin constructing latrines and water points in sites around Port-au-Prince tomorrow as well as promoting good hygiene practices
- The mobile clinic in Leogane continued seeing patients, roughly 100 today
Update: January 19, 2010
The Canadian Government has just approved $2.1 million for Save the Children to continue making a big difference in the lives of children affected by the earthquake. Save the Children will focus on water, sanitation, kits for newborn babies, kitchen supplies and setting up 50 child-friendly spaces in displacement sites so that children can be safe and begin the process of healing.
Update: January 18, 2010
Charlie McCormack, CEO of Save the Children USA, is now in Haiti and viewing first-hand the distribution of aid and assessing the needs of the Haitian people:
"It was very helpful to see first hand the situation in Port-au-Prince and Haiti and observe the resilience of the people of Haiti and the commitment of the SC staff on the ground."
He tells us that people are hopeful, and that distribution is going well.
Update: January 15, 2010
This in from Annie Foster, Team Leader in Save the Children's response:
“Starting last night, Save the Children’s response team began distributing IV (intro-venous) solutions and medicines to 14 hospitals and clinics throughout the Port-au-Prince region. We are seeing dazed, dehydrated parents walking the streets with their children, searching for clean water and food.
"Many are starting to congregate in open spaces, setting up make-shift camps. They are particularly fearful of being in or near buildings, as strong after shocks are continuing – one at 5 am this morning.
"Save the Children will be starting safe space areas for children in these camps, and also beginning child tracing programs to reconnect children who were separated from their families during the emergency.”
Update: January 15, 2010
Kate Conradt, Media Officer for Save the Children, arrived in Haiti yesterday and has sent us information about the current situation in Haiti. We were relieved to hear some good news:
"We are bringing in a truck from the Dominican Republic with hygiene kits and food and water today. We - working through a local partner - delivered medicines and supplies to two hospitals last night and are doing more today.
"Small markets have opened amid the rubble near the Save the Children office, which is a good sign. Lee Nelson, Haiti's Country Director, says this is especially good because people are clearly not afraid to open them.
"People were sleeping in the streets - literally - last night. They were lying perpendicular in the narrow streets, with boulders demarcating where they were, away from buildings that might collapse. Spontaneous IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps are forming. The government wants us to set up formal camps. We are involved with other organizations in the coordination of that."
Update: January 14, 11:00 a.m. - Donations by Canadians to be matched by Canadian Government!
Canada's minister of International Cooperation, Beverley Oda, announced Thursday that Canada will match dollar-for-dollar any donations they make to registered Canadian charities to support humanitarian and recovery work in Haiti, up to a total of $50 million.
"Many Canadians are deeply concerned about the suffering and loss of life as a result of this catastrophe in Haiti," said Oda. "Canadian citizens have shown time and again their generosity with countries in urgent need, and our government is prepared to match their contributions dollar for dollar."
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will distirbute these funds to Canadian and international humanitarian and development organizations.
Donations made between Jan. 12 and Feb 12 will be matched through the CIDA-managed Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.
Read more on CIDA's Website
Save the Children Assesses Widespread Damage in Haiti, Organizes Emergency Relief for Children and Families
TORONTO, On. (Jan.13, 2010) — Amidst continuing aftershocks, Save the Children staff in Haiti Wednesday assessed damage and the needs facing children and their families after the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Tuesday.
Staff surveyed damage by foot and on motorbike, because many roads remain impassable in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Rubble and collapsed buildings line the streets, and in many neighborhoods half of the homes may be destroyed, Save the Children staff reported.
“The destruction is everywhere and it’s still hard for emergency responders to reach many injured people at this point. Countless children and families need safe places to stay as well as basic household items to help them meet their immediate needs,” said Ian Rodgers, Save the Children’s emergency response adviser, who is currently in Haiti. “This is a major disaster that will require an intensive long-term response.”
Save the Children is working quickly to distribute relief kits to families. Hygiene kits will contain such items as toothbrushes, towels and soap, and family kits will include blankets, mosquito nets, and storage containers for water. Once shelters have been established, Save the Children will create safe child friendly spaces where children can play and recover from what they’ve experienced.
Save the Children is committed to addressing the immediate and long-term needs of children and families in the wake of the earthquake. We have been working in Haiti since 1980 and provided emergency relief and assistance to Haitian children and families following various recent disasters, including hurricanes and floods.
Support the Save the Children Canada appeal by donating here.
January 12, 2010 - Earthquake Strike Haiti
TORONTO, On. (Jan. 12, 2010) — Save the Children is verifying the safety of staff just hours after a major 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, near the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
Houses are down in the area surrounding the Save the Children office, which was also damaged in the quake, according to Ian Rodgers, the agency's Emergency Response Advisor, who is currently in Port-au-Prince.
An estimated 1.8 million residents were violently shaken by the earthquake and aftershocks affecting the densely populated areas near Port-au-Prince.
Save the Children has worked in Haiti since 1985, primarily in the capital city of Port-au-Prince and the Central Plateau region, providing health, education, protection and food security programs to vulnerable children.
Right now, Save the Children is assessing staff and program safety, which will be complicated by the onset of evening. Employees who were in the office at the time are uninjured, though about half of program staff were elsewhere. The agency plans to deploy emergency teams and begin relief efforts soon.
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