Muslim Hands (HEALTH CLUSTER) - 2010 Haiti Earthquake (DIST: FOOD/WATER - TEMP. CAMP SCHOOLS - MEDICAL TEAMS/FIELD HOSPITAL)
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Available here 12
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Shelter, Activities, Children's Activities in a Shelter Setting, Volunteer Services
Temporary Schools set up in camps
Needed here 0
No needs are listed.
Campaigns 1
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About this facility
- Mission
- Established in 1993, Muslim Hands is an international NGO working in over forty countries worldwide to help those affected by natural disasters, conflict and poverty. We are a UK Registered Charity (No. 1105056) and a signatory to the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Muslim Hands' trustees, who are all volunteers, form the governing body of Muslim Hands and are legally responsible for all of the organisation's activities under the Charities Act.
- Service
- Temporary
Notes
Even almost a month after the earthquake, there are so many people here who are struggling to get even their most basic needs met. You don’t hear about it on the news anymore and the people here are scared that many have forgotten about them.
I sat with the UN teams as we looked over where the worst-hit areas were. They roughly fell into the areas of Delmas-40b, Delmas-95, Canapevert and the major Caribbean supermarket area.
All around the streets you see orphaned children walking around- some with extended family, others with adults who have decided to keep an eye on them until they can be guaranteed a safe place to be.
The earthquake has orphaned tens of thousands of children and it is important we put steps in place to give them some security. MH teams here set up temporary schools because this is one of the best ways to keep children in a sense of routine and avoid any shock and trauma they may be in after losing a parent.
The camp sites the children stay in are completely overrun and lacking water. We managed to supply many thousands of litres of safe drinking water to camp sites and this simple act was quite literally, save lives Alhamdulillah.
Many aid agencies have moved in to provide medical treatment to the earthquake survivors, but you see a tiny number of professionals who simply cannot cater for the thousands of people who need their help. We set up field camp hospitals where MH medical teams worked alongside other doctors who flew in from other countries to join in the relief efforts.
One major problem here is that many of the larger hospitals are a considerable distance from the camp site areas and so people struggle to get to them. To cater for this, we have set up an ambulance service to take more seriously injured survivors to hospitals further away.
As well as taking care of those who are living, a massive clearing operation has begun to sift through the rubble and remove corpses of those trapped in buildings. There is a serious risk of contamination and the spread of illness so we are working round the clock with the World Economic Forum to try to stem this as soon as we can.
Although work is in progress, it is clear to see that the needs of the Haitians left behind still remain formidable. As Muslim Hands is despatching further aid teams to help with the short and medium-term aid efforts, it is important we continue to pull together in order to give Haiti and chance to stand again.