FOOD ASSISTANCE TO 145 FAMILIES AFFECTED BY THE EARTHQUAKE

On 14 August 2021, a terrible earthquake once again devastated Haiti, seriously affecting the Grand’Anse area, where the Marist communities and schools are located. Many of the houses in the area were destroyed or seriously damaged, further impoverishing the families, who lacked basic necessities, including food. The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, coupled with the pandemic and exacerbated poverty, has exacerbated unrest and insecurity, further complicating the situation of the earthquake-affected inhabitants of the Grand’Anse region. The eartquake was felt in Port-au-Prince (the Capital of the Country) and in the Dominican Republic. It was among the strongest eartquakes to hit the Caribbeans since the one of 2010 that killed more than 250,000 people and destroyed houses and crops. Haiti is one of the most economic vulnerable Countries in the world and earthquakes worsen an already drammatic situation. 

AIM OF THE PROJECT:

The Marist Brothers acted immediately to help the population, identifying 145 families in a state of serious vulnerability – a total of 580 people – who, thanks to the support of FMSI in collaboration with Maristen Solidarität International (Germany) and the Marist Province Mediterránea, received food items for a period of one month. The Marist Brothers of Haiti distributed the food parcels in Dame Marie, Les Cayes and Latibolière.

Some of the displaced families were housed in Marist structures or in the immediate vicinity: 35 of them in the Alexandre Dumas College in Latibolière, others in makeshift accommodation around the Marist houses of Jeremie and Dame Marie, while fifty families belonging to a community reachable only on foot, could not receive help from the Government or other organisations because it was isolated. The emergency project provided concrete help in meeting the basic needs of the population, while giving the beneficiaries hope for the future.

The objective of the Project was to provide food and health support to the identified beneficiaries in the emergency situation. The support included the distribution of basic food parcels containing food (rice, oil, lentils, wheat, powdered milk, salt, sugar) and hygiene items (masks and cleansing soap). Food parcels and hygiene kits were distributed in the four localities where the Marist Brothers operate, for a total of 580 people assisted, and 145 families who had to leave their homes or were living in their own homes partially destroyed by the earthquake. The food assistance allowed the use of the beneficiaries’ personal economic resources – however meagre – for the reconstruction of their homes and for the economic support of their families in the aftermath.