EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES IN HAITI

HAITI SEVEN YEARS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE

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RESILIENT AND EMPOWERED COMMUNITIES, BUILT BY AND FOR HAITIANS

When Haiti was hit by a deadly earthquake on January 12, 2010, the Canadian Red Cross was already present and immediately broadened its scope of intervention in order to assist the Haitian Red Cross gain greater autonomy in its efforts to support the population and respond to disasters.

Haiti has faced new challenges in the seven years since the earthquake, namely a cholera epidemic, Hurricane Sandy and most recently Hurricane Matthew. The destruction and physical trauma brought on by these disasters have had a lasting psychosocial impact on the people affected. When a society’s infrastructure and social fabric are severely damaged such as this, almost everyone is impacted. Even the most resilient are left without the means to help the most vulnerable.

Various programs have been developed and implemented over the past seven years in order to tackle these issues while at the same time empowering communities to increase their resilience to future disasters. To do this, the Canadian Red Cross has collaborated with Haitian authorities, such as the Ministry of Public Health and Population, the Haitian Red Cross as well as their various Canadian and Haitian partners.

The Canadian Red Cross has helped survivors rebuild what was destroyed during the 2010 earthquake by providing thousands of families with new homes that meet or exceed seismic zone standards and are also hurricane resistant. The Canadian Red Cross also implemented a health care program to improve access to quality health care for mothers, infants and children as well as carried out violence prevention and risk reduction activities. To this day, the Canadian Red Cross continues to support the Haitian Red Cross build its’ capacity to respond in case of future emergencies as well as implement programs in communities that increase the resilience of survivors. These programs have a direct impact on their day-to-day lives in tangible and sustainable ways.

We are proud of what we have been able to achieve with the help from our partners. We would not have been able to assist the people of Haiti affected by the earthquake without the generous contributions from the Government of Canada and the innumerable Canadian citizens who made donations and continue to support the Canadian Red Cross.

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EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES

SHELTER

Safe, durable houses in affected communities

CAPACITY BUILDING

A stronger society and Red Cross

VIOLENCE PREVENTION

Empowerment through respect

HEALTH

Essential and accessible health care and first aid in communities

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Finding housing was a priority in the aftermath of the earthquake with so many people left without safe places to sleep. The Canadian Red Cross designed hurricane and earthquake-resistant houses in collaboration with affected communities and the Haitian Red Cross. These houses struck a balance between urgency and durability, being able to be built quickly but also made to last.

Communities were present and actively involved every step of the way, from the initial phase of the identification of vulnerable people, through the construction phase and lastly, to the handing over of keys. Over 3000 Haitian workers were hired and trained to build the houses. In total, over 7500 houses were built in the Jacmel and Leogane areas.

After Hurricane Matthew: Solid Homes and Satisfied Owners

On October 4, 2016, Hurricane Matthew tore through Haiti, leaving several departments heavily damaged, including the South-East department, where 1000 houses had been built following the earthquake. At the end of October, a Red Cross team carried out an assessment of the houses in the aftermath of the hurricane.

The team visited houses situated in Gaillard, in the Cayes Jacmel commune, as well as in the La Vallée commune. None of them had suffered major damage and they were in excellent shape overall, apart from a few cases of water infiltration. All the owners were thankful their homes had kept them safe during the hurricane. Several had taken it upon themselves to expand, adding more rooms in order to house a larger part of their family.

The assessment team also examined four water points built by the Red Cross, which are all working normally with no visible damage. According to the people using them, the water is still safe to drink.

“My house and my health will last. If you only give me food, there won’t be anything left once the meal is over.”

Fedner and Brigitte, from the La Vallée area, are among families who received a new home.

Facts and Figures

Autonomy begins with a home:

• 7,500 homes were built in the Jacmel and Leogane areas in collaboration with locally trained workers.

• 2,125 displaced families received cash grants to cover rent for a year or to resettle in the province of their choice.

• In total, donations from Canadians helped provide safe shelter solutions for over 19,000 families, by building new houses, supplying rental assistance and arranging for families to return to the area where they were living prior to the earthquake.

SHELTER : SAFE, DURABLE HOUSES IN AFFECTED COMMUNITIES

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The Canadian Red Cross implemented a $35M integrated health program in the Sud-Est department. The program is designed to facilitate access to quality services for mothers and children as well as to improve community health and first aid. It focuses on four key elements: community health, health centres, the reconstruction of the St-Michel Hospital and the training of its staff, and the strengthening of public health institutions. It was set up with support from Haitian and Canadian expert partners who had been involved in Haiti for several years: the Ministry of Public Health and Population, the Haitian Red Cross, the Canadian Red Cross, the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre, the University of Montreal International Health Unit and the Montreal Health and Social Services Agency.

Training saves lives.

“I attended emergency and CPR training sessions, which enabled me to save the lives of infants. The first one could not breathe when he was born, and, thanks to the knowledge I acquired, I was able to resuscitate him. My community and I will never stop thanking the Canadian Red Cross and its partners for the health program implemented in the South-East.” Miss Florestal, head of the Marbial Health Centre.

HEALTH : ESSENTIAL AND ACCESSIBLE HEALTH CARE AND FIRST AID

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Improved community health education: a proven track record

The Red Cross assessed the effectiveness of the program in 2015, one of the key components being the training of volunteers responsible for promoting healthy habits in the heart of their communities. According to the families interviewed, there has been a decrease in diarrheal

disease in areas where Red Cross community agents have operated. Sanitary practices and tips to promote proper hygiene, such as setting up water points, using latrines and hand washing, have all had positive impacts on family health.

Facts and Figures

Long-term community recovery:

• Reconstruction of the only departmental hospital in the South-East.

• Construction of a community health centre and the conversion of three rural dispensaries into health centres, thus improving access to health care in remote areas.

• Continued training and support for personnel of these establishments.

Marked improvement in sanitary practices:

• Over 700 volunteers and supervisors were trained in community-based health and first aid as well as in prevention and health promotion activities.

• Each month, 10,000 households were educated on health matters by community agents who shared information regarding family planning, hygiene and sanitation, the prevention of diarrhea and malaria as well as first aid.

• 4,500 latrines were built, in collaboration with the Netherlands Red Cross.

• Mother leaders: In hard to reach areas, groups of Haitian women were trained to educate their community on health practices like the use of latrines, water treatment and good food-handling techniques.

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“We can do things on our own! Young people must continue to go to school to build a better future for themselves. It is so important!”

Youth participant at a Red Cross forum on violence

The Red Cross’ initiatives against violence have targeted mainly youth and women through community action, partnerships with local organizations and training after a number of assessments made following the 2010 earthquake revealed that violence in displaced persons camps, especially sexual violence, represented a major humanitarian threat. The risk was highest for women and childen, both boys and girls.

VIOLENCE PREVENTION : EMPOWERMENT THROUGH RESPECT

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The Haïti en Scène project is an example of how the Red Cross works towards providing people with the tools necessary to enable them to find solutions to prevent violence and to protect themselves from it. This local initiative was implemented in ten displaced persons camps and supported by both the Canadian and French Red Cross. The project is based on a psychosocial approach that uses discussion, theatre, sports and engagement activities. It enables youth to acquire skills while at the same time connecting with others.

An external evaluation of the project demonstrated that those who participated had a better opinion of themselves and greater confidence in their futures after these activities. The project helped them better understand the causes of violence and how it can be prevented and addressed. Today they are much less likely to accept violence as a way of solving problems.

Facts and Figures

• More than 420,000 people were reached through violence and abuse prevention programs.

• Support to Fanm Deside (Committed Women) : promotion of the rights of women and young girls in three communes.

• Haïti en Scène project: forums, sports activities, as well as dance, theatre and music workshops for children and teenagers living in displaced persons camps.

• Discussion groups in the South-East department.

• Capacity building and support for 125 teachers in 43 schools.

• “À l’écoute” (Active Listening) project: listening to children’s and youth’s vision of protection against violence.

• Training on safety and violence within the Haitian Red Cross.

• Red Cross community facilitators conducting violence prevention activities reaching thousands of households per month under the community healthcare program.

• Radio broadcasts on violence prevention and non-violent conflict resolution.

Promoting respect and non-violence

“People accept violence without even realizing they are victims or perpetrators. Violence is trivialized, and the cycle takes hold. We end up believing that certain people deserve it, and we find excuses to justify it…”

Max Renaud Lubin, Senior Coordinator, Violence Prevention Program, Haitian Red Cross

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Rebuilding lives and communities also means ensuring the Haitian Red Cross is able to become better prepared to respond to future disasters. The 2010 earthquake and cholera epidemic, Hurricane Sandy (2013) and Hurricane Matthew (2016) attest to the importance of having a strong National Society that can count on its trained volunteers.

The Canadian Red Cross has been supporting the Haitian Red Cross for more than a decade as they develop programs to both better prepare and respond to disasters as well as reduce the risks and vulnerabilities of people living in some of the most hazard-prone areas.

“We were cut off from everything. It was impossible to get water and everyone was outside. The 2010 earthquake made me realize how fragile and vulnerable my community is. I wanted to help my loved ones and I instantly thought of joining the Red Cross.”

Kesnel Tondreau is a Red Cross community agent in the remote region of La Vallée

“Kesnel is part of the family. Around here, people know him and follow his health advice.”

Philippe Boussicot, La Vallée, father of 11 children

CAPACITY BUILDING : A STRONGER SOCIETY AND RED CROSS

Facts and Figures

Minimizing risks linked to potential disasters:• Assessments have shown that the Haitian Red

Cross’ level of disaster preparedness has greatly improved since the 2010 earthquake.

• 276 members of 9 vulnerable communities received training and adapted tools.

• Over 12,000 schoolchildren learned about disaster preparedness and risk management.

• 163 trained volunteers educated the population on various cholera prevention measures.

Responding quickly during emergencies:• Two warehouses were built and equipment was

distributed to 3 regional emergency operations centres.

• 230 Haitian Red Cross staff and volunteers were trained in disaster management and 60 volunteers in search and rescue techniques.

Strengthening the capacity of the Haitian Red Cross:• An office was built in Jacmel, in the South-East

department, and the Nippes office was renovated.

• People received training in financial management, human resources, logistics and community health.

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The Canadian Red Cross has received $226.64 million from generous individuals, corporations, provincial and local governments and the Government of Canada to support Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. Of this total, American Red Cross is contributing $10 million USD to Canadian Red Cross’ efforts to rebuild the hospital in Jacmel.

The cost of fundraising for the Haiti Earthquake Appeal was 2.2 %.

FINANCIAL UPDATE2010 HAITI EARTHQUAKE APPEAL AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

EMERGENCY RESPONSE PHASE

Support to Red Cross Red Crescent Movement emergency activities

Contributions to IFRC and ICRC emergency activities are part of the larger Haiti earthquake response (e.g. relief item distribution, emergency shelter items, medical assistance, family reunification, and water and sanitation activities).

$ 26.86 million

Emergency relief items 2.00 million

Emergency Response Unit hospital 3.12 million

Relief support to internally displaced persons in Port-au-Prince 1.02 million

Deployment of relief and recovery staff 2.22 million

Cholera outbreak response 3.45 million

$ 38.67 million

RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION PHASE

Canadian Red Cross shelter program in Jacmel and Léogane $ 64.96 million

IFRC shelter program 25.17 million

Camp resettlement program 4.02 million

Disaster Risk Reduction program 8.59 million

Health programs 34.80 million

Other recovery programming and support, including violence and abuse prevention and National Society development 36.11 million

$ 173.65 million

CANADIAN RED CROSS SPENDING

Total spent as of September 30, 2016: $ 212.32 million

Future spending $ 9.32 million

Cost of fundraising $ 5.00 million

Total funds: $ 226.64 million

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The Canadian Red Cross has developed plans to spend these funds over a ten-year period (2010-2020) to best support communities to recover and rebuild.

In addition to spending to date, the funds received will be used to continue supporting community-based health, violence prevention, and disaster preparedness programs. It will also be used to strengthen the disaster response capacity of the Haitian Red Cross.

The bulk of donations will be spent during the recovery phase, where careful planning and community engage-ment is vital to ensuring a sustainable result. Of the remaining funds to be spent for 2017-2020, $9.3 million has been committed. These spending projections are based on current assessments and may change based on needs.

Projected Spending

HEALTH PROGRAMS:

63% $5.83 million

CAPACITY BUILDING & DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

37% $3.49 million

For more information about Red Cross efforts in Haiti and to follow our progress, please visit redcross.ca/haiti/stories

WE CONTINUE TO WORK CLOSELY WITH LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND THE HAITIAN RED CROSS. EVERY DAY, OUR COLLECTIVE EFFORTS FOSTER EMPOWERED AND RESILIENT COMMUNITIES – BUILT FOR AND BY HAITIANS.

SEVEN YEARS ON,