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While the Caribbean hurricanes have subsided, the devastation in Haiti
is widespread and recovery is slow, painful and expensive. Our Friends
at Hands Together have been particularly hard hit. The report from
Father Tom and Doug describes the destruction and Hands Together's
plans to rebuild.
Hurricane Response Plan
Father Tom Hagan, Doug Campbell,
and Joe Taylor drove to Gonaives, Haiti on September 15 to assess
firsthand the devastation caused by hurricanes Hannah and Ike, and to
work with Fr. Gerard on an immediate response/recovery plan.
What We found
Driving to Gonaives proved almost impossible.
With the bridge at Montrious (near St. Marc) washed out and under
repair, we forded the river in two Toyota land cruisers stocked with
clothing, medicine, sheets and blankets.
The only road open to Gonaives skirts to the west of Route National
(which was completely flooded under 6 to 10 feet of water), and through
the villages of Guimby and Brunette. It saddened us to witness the
destruction of the goat farms and crops that we worked so hard to
cultivate.
But the most devastating and disturbing area is the city of Gonaives
itself. We witnessed people slogging through mud and water, streets
filled with filthy, contaminated water and mud, thousands of families
living on top of two and three story homes, vehicles buried in mud,
dead animals and utter destruction. Only a handful of vehicles moved
about – in a city that is usually jammed with traffic. People lack
fresh water, and food is scarce. All of the schools are closed and
thousands of homes are filled with foul mud and unclean water. Mothers
carrying sick children walked around in a daze, waist deep in filthy
water contaminated with garbage, sewage and decaying animals.
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The Hands Together office in Gonaives suffered serious destruction
from both Hannah and Ike. Father Gerard described the Sunday night
terror when the rains pounded for 24 hours straight, and the vehicles
and construction equipment at our complex were, as he put it, "dancing
in the water." In the neighborhood Fr. Gerard heard many families
crying out for help during the night, and he put many of them on our
second floor and roof area. The Sisters in Trou Sable called him in the
middle of the night and he asked them if they wanted him to drive over
and help them, and they replied, "Father! There is no way you will be
able to leave the second floor of your office!"
Response Plan
We drove back to Port-au-Prince with Fr. Gerard
and created an immediate response plan to help those hardest hit by
these hurricanes and to resurrect the Hands Together's Gonaives office
and projects.
Repair Vehicles and Office Buildings
We cannot help many people until we establish a secure base and make our construction equipment and vehicles operational.
Food
We will organize neighborhood food distribution in areas
where we can safely provide rice, beans, and oil. We will distribute
food to 9,000 families for 30 days.
Clean up and Work
People desperately need help removing
water, mud and garbage from their homes, and schools and businesses.
Following a model we developed during the 2004 Jeanne hurricane, we
will organize students into work teams to clean areas, street by
street, and pay them tuition money after 15 days of work. The student
teams will remove mud from houses and treat them with antibacterial
solution. They will also repair the roads to the agricultural center
and the office in Chatelaine.
Water
We will provide fresh drinking water to many
neighborhoods by filling our commercial water truck from our water
wells near the Bassen road, and we will hand out 350, five gallon
buckets that can be filled with drinking water from our truck. Our
water truck will circulate four days per week in Gonaives and three
days per week in Port-au-Prince. The water truck will also hose down
streets and houses after cleanup efforts.
Health and Medical
We will convert several classrooms in the Holy Family School in Trou Sable to serve as emergency medical treatment areas.
Home Repair and Construction
Thousands of homes need repair
or new construction and we realize that we cannot make much of a dent
in this problem. However, there are many people that work for our
projects or live in areas where Hands Together plays a very active role, that need
our help. We will provide funds, $500 grants, and materials to restore
and repair 100 family homes.
The effort and expense to execute this plan is immense. Hands
Together estimates that this program will cost over $220,000 to
execute. If you would like information on how you can help, please
contact Karl Holtsnider at Holy Family at (626) 403-6139 or
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Please keep Father Tom, Hands Together and the people of Haiti in your payers.
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