14 January 2009 – CARE Australia has launched an emergency appeal to support the survivors of the worst earthquake to devastate Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 200 years.
CARE already has 133 staff on the ground and is deploying emergency team members to start emergency operations immediately.
The biggest challenge staff will face in Haiti is getting to survivors to deliver relief. Debris and abandoned vehicles have littered the streets, making roads impassable, and the aftershocks will further damage already unstable buildings.
‘CARE’s initial priority is to provide essential food, water and shelter to the survivors. We know that people will be sleeping, washing, cooking and eating out in the open, to be as far from unstable buildings as possible’, says CARE Australia chief executive, Julia Newton-Howes.
The enormous scale of economic losses in an already impoverished country will require huge resources to rebuild infrastructure and services such as hospitals.
CARE has already started its emergency response with food distributions using stocks of high-protein biscuits from its warehouses in Haiti.
‘The UN building has been destroyed, and there are UN staff and aid workers missing. Many aid agency and embassies have been destroyed or damaged. Many aid workers are trying to take care of their families. The phone lines are still down and communication is very difficult. All this is making coordination more of a challenge’, said CARE’s Country Director in Haiti, Sophie Perez.
Once more information about the damage and needs of survivors is known, CARE will rapidly scale up its response.
CARE Australia has launched an emergency appeal to support survivors and help is urgently needed.
Donations can be made at www.careaustralia.org.au or by calling 1800 DONATE / 1800 020 046.
CARE staff already on the ground have extensive experience responding to disasters. Many of our current staff include emergency personnel who were part of the response to the devastating Hurricane Hanna in 2008. CARE began working in Haiti in 1954 to provide relief assistance after Hurricane Hazel. Today CARE's work in Haiti includes projects in HIV and AIDS, reproductive health, maternal and child health, education, food security, and water and sanitation.
Media contact:
Amelia Poxon
amelia.poxon@careaustralia.org.au
Phone: + 61 419 567 777
+ 61 3 9421 5572
CARE Australia has launched an emergency appeal to support survivors. Your help is urgently needed, especially for the most vulnerable - women and girls.
Your donation allows emergency response teams to distribute food, safe water, temporary shelter and emergency supplies to families affected by the earthquake.