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Mar 2010: Haiti Reflections
Bella Lam, Program Manager for Canadian Feed The Children, left
for Haiti on Feb 21 to assess community needs and monitor our
community response with our Port-au-Prince-based Country Representative,
Madsen Gachette. She emailed a few entries about her experience
that we are proud to share with our donors who have helped bring
relief and support to the children of Haiti. Read Bella's journal now.
Feb 2010: Our Response in Haiti
Thanks to our supporters, we have provided all our community partners
affected by the earthquake funding for critical items such as
food and water.
At the OMES Health Clinic in Carrefour, we have supported the distribution of emergency food aid, including rice, beans, corn, cooking oil and dried pasta.
Our ongoing rebuilding efforts will include:
- Contributing to the reconstruction of dormitory at Grace Children's Hospital
- Contributing to the reconstruction of hospital ward at Grace Children's Hospital
- Ongoing food and other urgent aid in the short- term for relief, and livelihood support for earthquake victims for the medium to long-term
- Possible collaboration with CIDA on rehabilitation programs
In late December 2009, we sent a shipment of medicines that included:
- General and local anesthetics
- Anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic medicines
- Penicillin
- Anti-bacterial and anti-fungal drugs
- Anti-malaria pills
- Disinfectants and antiseptics
- Oral re-hydration salts
- Multi-vitamins
Canadian Feed The Children in Haiti
Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Only 34% of children are immunized against preventable diseases.
45% of all children are undernourished or malnourished. 71% of
all people are unemployed.
Many families are faced with little or no clean water, lack of access
to food, no money for health care and medicines, dangerous sanitation
conditions.
For more than 10 years, Canadian Feed The Children has:
- facilitated local food access and nutritional
intake
- provided health care, medicines and education
- improved the environment through reforestation
and sustainable agriculture
- helped families create
economic opportunities
Current Projects
Health care and nutrition at Grace Children's Hospital,
Port-au-Prince
Grace Children’s Hospital is the main pediatric hospital in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. About 18 per cent of the admitted children are HIV positive and suffer from malnutrition and extremely poor health.
Our project provides food and health care to newborn babies whose mothers have HIV, as well as inpatient HIV-positive infants and children.
Planned activities for 2010:
- Purchase nutrient rich food (meat, dairy, vegetables) for inpatient children
- Provide social and psychomotor stimulation for inpatients
- Organize recreational activities for children staying at GCH
- Offer educational sessions for parents and tutors of children on hygiene, nutrition, prevention and treatment of diarrhea and malaria
- Train parents and tutors on psychological support for the children
- Train nurses aid on infection prevention and waste management
- Provide immunization against Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza Type B for HIV exposed and infected children
Sanitation and Preventative Health Care in Goyavier
This program through our community partner SOE offers preventive health care to pregnant women and women responsible for children suffering from acute malnutrition. We are also reinforcing the economic capacities of parents whose children are enrolled in the nutritional program. Community members are invited to attend training sessions on hygiene, women’s health and children’s nutrition.
Planned activities for 2010:
- Provide nutritional supplements to malnourished children
- Distribute mineral and vitamin supplements to pregnant/lactating women
- Sensitize community members on preventative health, hygiene and sanitation
- Facilitate information sessions on STDs, HIV and AIDS
- Construct latrines for targetted households
- Construct cisterns for targetted household
Health and sanitation in Gressier communities
We support three important programs through our community partner OMES. In the community of Cameau, our main goals are to reduce the impact of malnutrition on children, to provide medical care to children and their parents, to improve food security of families and to provide education support to children in sponsorship program.
In the communities of Thor and Carrefour, our main goals are to provide medical care to children and pregnant/lactating women, reduce the impact of malnutrition on children and provide potable water to the community of Courjolles, Cabaret.
Planned activities for 2010 in Thor and Carrefour:
- Purchase and distribute medicines for the clinic
- Purchase and distribute supplies including lab reactant, dental materials, mosquito screens, and water treatments
- Vaccinate children under 12 and pregnant women
- Purchase and distribute AK-1000 and enriched milk
- Provide vitamin A and micronutrients to targetted children
- Select site for well
- Construct well and install water pump
- Train water committee on maintenance and proper water treatment
Planned activities for 2010 in Cameau:
- Distribute AK-1000 and enriched milk to malnourished children
- Provide vitamin A and micronutrients supplements to vulnerable children
- Organize 6 mobile clinics to offer health care services to the community of Cameau
- Distribute mosquito nets and water treatments
- Sensitize patients on nutrition, maternal health, hygiene, HIV and AIDS
- Distribute farming inputs (plantain plants, watermelon seeds, fertilizers)
- Provide agriculture extension services
- Distribute school supplies (bags, books, pencils, etc.)
Education and nutrition to Maison d'Espoir (House of Hope) orphanage
We are providing daily food for 200 children living
in the orphanage, and school supplies (books, benches) for
those attending the orphanage school. Orphanage staff receive nutrition and hygiene training and 50 older children are trained in cooking.
Planned activities for 2010:
- Provide three rations of food daily to children at HOH
- Renovate the kitchen with a new sink, two stoves, and new kitchen cupboards
- Stock household and sanitary supplies for the orphanage
- Repair six toilets
- Construct a laundry facility
- Install water treatment system
- Purchase clothes and shoes for children at HOH
- Pay salaries of teachers at HOH school
- Distribute school materials (Books, notebooks, pens, etc.)
- Distribute school uniforms
- Rehabilitate school building with new doors and windows
- Provide training for teachers
Past Emergency Response:
- Canadian Feed The Children sent a 40-foot container with hospital
supplies, hospital equipment, school materials, bicycles and
seeds to our project sites in early 2004
- We airlifted 80 boxes of antibiotics and
other vital medicines to local hospitals and medical clinics,
and purchased thousand of kilograms of high-nutrient food that
was used to help 2,800 children and 3,450 women in the aftermath
of tropical storm Jeanne
- In 2006, we received $220,000 federal project funding from
CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) to rebuild,
increase water and food access and improve sanitation conditions
after the devastating floods caused by tropical storm Jeanne
- Another project funded by CIDA began in July, 2007 to help farmers increase their food crop and address environmental damage. Read more.
- In August, 2008, Haiti was devastated by the effects of Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna and Ike, and Tropical Storm Fay. Our donors responded with generosity and we were able to send more than $40,000 to our community partners to help distribute food and medicine and address other vital needs in the hardest-hit villages we support.
For more information, e-mail
Canadian Feed The Children's program manager for Haiti.
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