ActionAid staff in Haiti have been working around the clock to provide life-saving emergency aid.

The team will have distributed food to around 9,000 people by the end of this week and plan to double that amount to 20,000 people in the next few weeks.

So far the distributions have been quite orderly, with well-managed queues of people. Staff are packing food into individual boxes so families can receive it easily and quickly and also reducing the security risk.

ActionAid is sourcing hygiene kits and basic kitchen equipment from the neighbouring Dominican Republic and hopes to be distributing these in the coming week. We will also give out relief material donated by the Italian government.

Up and running again

ActionAid’s Haiti programme was badly affected by the earthquake but the team is beginning to get back on its feet.

Staff have a new office after the old one was left unsafe by the quake. Communications with the outside world are improving. Until now the team has been struggling with just a few intermittently-working telephones and one internet connection, but now more are coming online.

We also have a warehouse now – no mean feat given the destruction – and we’re hiring an extra logistics coordinator to help the team handle the increased amounts of aid.

Dealing with the trauma  

There is a lot of pressure on our staff in Haiti. They are working flat-out and only getting three or four hours sleep per night. Many have themselves suffered in the earthquake, losing homes and relatives, so we are taking extra care to look after them and make sure they take turns in having days off.

We are looking to provide psychological support – both to our team and the people we work with - but this needs to be in French or Creole. Before the earthquake there were only about 20 psychologists in Haiti and a number of these have lost their lives. If we can't get local care then we will look to bring in a French-speaking expert.

Appeal update

The DEC has so far raised over £50million, which will be shared out amongst the member agencies. ActionAid supporters have very generously given over £535,000, much of which will be spent on the long-term reconstruction work which Haiti so desperately needs.

• Donate now to the ActionAid appeal.
• Donate now to the DEC appeal.