Raymonde Francois, 49, adopted two children after their mothers died in childbirth.

One – four-year-old Neliejelaine Jean – was the child of one of her neighbours. The other  - Milles Xavier Francois, 8, is her brother’s son.  Both of them have been ActionAid sponsored children for two years.

Raymonde’s house was destroyed by the earthquake so she and Neliejelaine and Milles Xavier and her three other children are sleeping on the pavement with only bedsheets to protect them from the elements.

“We are all feeling the bad effects of having to sleep outside,” she said. “I am not feeling well because of the dirt and dust everywhere. Milles Xavier has diarrhoea and I am worried about him. Shelter and food are the most important things for us now.

“We managed to save some pots and pans and clothes and sheets from our house, but that was all.

“ActionAid has come to give us food, thank god, because no one else from the government or other organisation has come to help. But it has nearly run out.

“Thankfully my husband has been able to go back to work this week. He is a mechanic, but his garage was closed since the earthquake so he was unable to earn any money. Now at least he will be bringing in money.”

ActionAid will be distributing food in Bodlo again in the next week and will be helping families with shelter and help to get back to work.

(Photo: Charles Eckert/ActionAid)

Anjali Kwatra, Head of news

I went outside of Port au Prince for the first time today, to talk to ActionAid sponsored children in Lascahobas – a district in eastern Haiti close to the border with the Dominican Republic.

The drive through the mountains (known as Goat Mountains – though I didn’t see any goats) usually takes about an hour and a half but took far longer than that because of the traffic on the way out of the capital. There are so many vehicles on the road carrying water, food and other supplies to camps that Port-au-Prince is one big traffic jam at the moment.

In Lascahobas the earthquake damage is not obvious. Most houses did not fall down here, but that doesn’t mean that people are not feeling negative effects.

One woman I talked to usually lives and works in Port-au-Prince selling juice on the streets. The day of the earthquake she was lucky to be visiting her children who live with their grandmother in Lascahobas. But her house in Port-au-Prince and all her juice-making equipment was destroyed so she can no longer work and is finding it very difficult to feed her four children.

Another woman’s husband works as a mason in Lascahobas, but most building work has stopped there because they cannot get any cement (prices have gone up and supplies are being diverted to Port-au-Prince for building work there). So again her family has no income at the moment.

All the people I spoke to also complained that the prices of food and everyday supplies have risen hugely since the earthquake. Rice that used to cost 30 Haitian dollars (about 4 US dollars) is now 45 to 50 Haitian dollars because of a lack of supply. Some women and children I spoke to were also too scared to sleep inside in case of another earthquake - especially those whose houses were damaged - and spend their nights in the garden.

So although the people of Lascahobas did not lose their lives and their houses are mainly still standing they are also facing huge problems in the aftermath of the earthquake. It shows the extent of the task of getting Haiti back to normal. And it will not just be about giving out food and shelter, but about getting people back to work as quickly as possible.

Anjali Kwatra, Head of news

Everyone I have met in Haiti in the past few days knows someone who died in the earthquake. Many lost several family members. But some of the hardest stories to hear are those of children who have lost one or both parents. Today at a camp in Mariani where ActionAid has been distributing food supplies I met a family who is looking after a six-month-old baby who lost his mother.

Jhonnley Joseph was in his mother’s arms when she died after a wall of their house fell onto her. Miraculously the baby was completely unhurt and was rescued from the collapsed building by his father. However his father, overcome by grief and trauma, has been unable to look after his child.

Jhonnley is being looked after by his mother’s sisters and of course they were happy to take him in and care for him like one of their own children. In the case of two-month-old Neita Jean, who is living in the same camp, it was a neighbour who took her in after her mother died. Her father is alive but was injured and has gone to the Dominican Republic for treatment.

People in the camp told me that both children were orphans, but in fact they both have one parent alive. Even though they can’t look after them at the moment they may come back for them one day. It shows how important it is that if orphans are to be adopted, proper checks are made to make sure that they really have lost both parents. But it also shows that extended families and even neighbours will step in to look after children and bring them up as their own. Community ties are extremely strong in Haiti and it is rare for a child here to be completely alone in the world.

(Photo: Charles Eckert/ActionAid)

 
The earthquake in Haiti has left thousands of people injured and many of them will be left with permanent disabilities.
There have been huge numbers of amputations since the earthquake, with just one hospital reporting that a quarter of their 200 amputations had been on young children.

Itson Darius, 4, had his leg amputated below the knee, nine days after the earthquake.

His mother, Maryse Lindor, 40, was selling clothes on the street when the earthquake happened.

“As soon as it happened I ran towards the house where I knew my five children were. The four older ones had run away from the house when the earthquake happened and I didn’t know where Itson was. We thought he was dead – killed by the falling rubble.

“Then four days later someone heard him crying and an American team came and dug him out. I cried and screamed when he came out alive. I had thought him dead for all that time.”

Maryse is now living in the grounds of a hospital in Port-au-Prince with Darius, who lies in a make-shift bed.

“Where else can we go? I don’t have a house – it was destroyed. And Darius has to see the doctor every day and how can we take him anywhere when he cannot walk. At the moment he cannot even sit up.

“He had just started school this year. Only god knows if he will be able to go back.”

Maryse has not been able to start working again since the earthquake as she lost all her stock of clothes. Luckily Itson’s hospital treatment is free, but she has not been given any information by the doctors on what long term care Darius will need. 

ActionAid will be focussing on the most vulnerable in its emergency response programme in Haiti. As well as women, children and the elderly this will include people with disabilities.

Harjeet Singh, ActionAid ‘s Emergencies Advisor said: “There are hundreds of people who have had limbs amputated or have developed some kind of disability. They will need treatment for a long time and once the free treatment is over the medical care will become very expensive for them.

“ActionAid will work with such families to develop a plan to provide post operative medical care and also psychosocial support to overcome the trauma. We will also work towards getting these children back to school and getting them the appliances and therapies they need, as well as supporting their families with shelter and getting back to work.”

Pushparani Kayal at a public hearing organised by ActionAid in Kolkata, India. Over 4,000 people demanded the government provide jobs and wages for poor people.

Sarah Gillam, ActionAid International

Immacula Jeanty, 42, whisked up a meal within seconds of receiving our supplies, feeding her children a local dish known as la bouille made of flour, sugar and water.

Her son, three-year-old Peterson, was going for it, downing spoonful after spoonful, scraping drops off his trousers, not stopping once. And when he was done, he flopped back on to a cushion. That boy was hungry.

Immacula's been in this temporary shelter on the hillside in Mariani for the last two weeks with Peterson and her eight-year-old daughter Jessica.

Her husband went out on the day of the earthquake and she hasn't seen him since. She looked traumatised.

"When the earthquake happened, even if I could find food, it wouldn't go down," she said. "I just tried to eat, so as not to die.

"When my neighbhours cooked, they brought me a bowl of food because I didn't have anything."

"I used to have everything a woman needs. Now look at my living conditions."

She was one of 381 families receiving food that day.

People in this camp had organised themselves in advance, with coupons, ready to receive food.. People are watching eagerly as the food is distributed but they're orderly and calm. 

The family next to Immacula are busy hammering together some wood they've just found. Others are washing. A child laughs.

The camp is cramped - everyone is cheek by jowl and the sound of generators, radios and children fills the air. 

There are women sitting around in curlers, men shaving, others playing dominoes, signs of normality in stark contrast to their surroundings.

Discussions will have to start soon on how people can begin to get back on their feet again. The future is unimaginable - the sheer scale of help needed enormous but today at least one little boy went to bed having had some food.