Latest from Haiti
Issued by CBM Ireland, June 23, 2010
Just a few days after the earthquake that devastated Haiti in January, CBM acted immediately to assist the many people affected, with a focus on children with disabilities and injuries. Ben Gobin, Overseas Program Manager of CBM Ireland, has recently returned from Haiti and witnessed the conditions first hand. He observed that despite the recent acceleration in the clearing of the debris, the long term effects of the devastation remain evident in every street and corner of the city. The tent camps that sprang up in any available space in the aftermath of the quake are now facing the harsh reality of the rainy seasons. Torrential rains and an increase in mosquitoes are causing living conditions to rapidly deteriorate even further. Food distribution to people who are blind by CBM partner
Ben believes that “it is of course, extremely difficult to restore some kind of normality, given the disaster is still present in the bodies and minds but it is important to begin the first steps of moving forward and attempting to overcome the difficulties posed. It is imperative that those affected are receiving the support they need and the structures needed for the general population (i.e. food, health, education, shelter, sanitation…) are being rebuilt as quickly as possible. The need to reset these structures should not be overlooked; If this challenge is missed, another disaster is in the making.”
CBM Ireland is supporting Haitian organizations in providing immediate support for those in need. The focus is on helping our partners to recover and rebuild capacity so that they can become operational as quickly as possible.
Ben assesses that “Today, the top priority for CBM is to make sure that our local partners who have been affected can resume their operations as quickly as possible. Indeed, we have been alarmed by the recent closure of some medical facilities in Port au Prince. It is unacceptable after such a disaster, given the numbers of people who have been injured on such a large scale, that the facilities that have survived are on the verge of closing. CBM will work relentlessly to ensure that our partners who provide essential services are able to continue their work without disruption…”
Issued by CBM Ireland, February 26, 2010
The situation
On January 28, we arrived safely in Port au Prince, the capital of Haiti. It was a long journey with little sleep, but it actually went fairly smoothly. We had a stop-over in Santo Domingo and spent a night at the guesthouse of the CBM-supported Eye Hospital. Here in Port-Au-Prince we are staying with a very nice Haitian family who have offered the top floor of their house to us and other co-workers.
CBM’s emergency coordinator has been here in Haiti since 4 days after the earthquake. She has done an incredible amount of work, visiting some of the CBM partner organisations and coordinating the emergency response with different NGO’s.
The city of Port-au-Prince is in a mess. About 50 per cent of the buildings have collapsed or are severely damaged and beyond repair. In most cases, the ground floor of multi-storey buildings has completely disappeared while the concrete slabs of the higher levels are sandwiched on top of each other. Indeed, you had a higher chance of survival if you were on the top floor. Some streets smell like an abattoir.
The acute phase is now all but over: the people who are still under the rubble are dead, the injured have had their emergency treatment and most surgical teams are pulling out. Now the phase of recovery and rehabilitation starts. An incredible amount of work lies ahead.
Hospital snapshot
Many patients have lost limbs; we have an estimation of around 2000 – 4000. Many more patients have fractures. As there were not enough plates and screws for internal fixation, many patients have external fixators. In two weeks time more than 250 doctors and surgeons rotated through this hospital. Post-operation rooms and stores were changed into operating rooms and the conditions under which the surgeons had to do their work were very poor. More than 100 surgeries per day were done and they worked around the clock.
The hospital is full of patients who need post operative treatment. The hospital needed to create space inside and many patients are now in tents outside on the parking and driveway waiting to be discharged. But where can they go? Many have lost their house and they can only go back to a heap of rubble. Before discharge they need wheelchairs, crutches and other walking aids, of which we do not have enough. There are hardly physiotherapists in the country, so they need to be recruited from outside. Handicap International and CBM are doing that. The first physiotherapist for CBM will arrive on Sunday and soon more will follow.
We have seen situations where patients have been discharged without proper walking appliances and instructions for weight bearing, essential for good bone healing. We also see infected stumps, and stumps that need to undergo surgery again at a higher level. We can only do so much. It is a desperate situation for many of these patients. But the few that did get some attention appreciate it if you spend some time with them, exercise with them, and make them actually stand up and walk with crutches or a walking frame. A glimmer of hope and a smile to say “see you tomorrow”.
Community snapshot
CBM went out with a group of community workers to assess the situation of patients who were discharged. We went to Bourdon, a slum area where many houses were destroyed. The people who lived in the destroyed houses were either still in hospital or had moved to tent camps or to the rural areas to join their families there. So we found very few injured people there. In the tent camps, we found more patients, who were often discharged too early, still having wounds and plaster casts.
There are around 590 camps now in town. CBM has been to several of them. Some camps are quite organised, for example in a mission compound, while other camps have sprung up completely spontaneously, with people making tents out of any material they could find. The smell around one of the biggest camps near the collapsed presidential palace is almost unbearable, with refuse hardly collected and very few portable latrines.
It is unimaginable what a task it is to clear all the rubble. More and more you see groups of youngsters trying to move rubble, in a food or cash-for-work program of USAID and other organizations, but they hardly have tools. Everyday again we look in amazement at the destruction; big concrete buildings collapsed as if they were made of cardboard.
CBM Partners
CBM went to assess some of the existing Partner organisations. One of them is the Eye Clinic in the University Hospital. The head of department, Dr. Cadet, showed them around the building. A big part needs to be destroyed, as it has structural cracks in the walls and it is not safe anymore. The doctor described how, during the earthquake, a patient who was in surgery rolled off the table. The nursing school collapsed completely. He and a colleague managed to pull two students out of the rubble, but 200 of them died.
Another CBM partner, the School for Special Education, also had their buildings damaged and declared unsafe and equipment was looted. Fortunately the children were not in the buildings at the time of the earthquake, but one staff member lost both her legs while she was at home.
The way forward
To respond to the enormous need for follow up in the community, CBM and Handicap International, together with the 'Secretariat d’état pour l’integration des personnes handicapees', are setting up nine focal points for patients, providing information about services, simple wound treatment, mobilisation advice/physiotherapy and mobility devices (crutches, wheelchairs, prostheses etc). These centres are called ‘Antenne Handicap’. Tents will be placed in the compounds of hospitals that have treated many injured patients in the emergency period after the earthquake. At a later stage they will be moved to the communities. Expatriate physiotherapists will move from centre to centre.
These will also work in about 20 different hospitals in the city to meet the needs for post-operative treatment and follow-up. Local staff will be employed; some 42 community workers have already been recruited by Handicap International and CBM will interview groups of nurses for the Antennes. Besides that we are starting with Child Day Care centres for children with disabilities, who are especially vulnerable in emergency situations. Their parents do not have time to look after them because they are looking for food, water, shelter and work, so the children are in danger of being neglected. If the parents can bring them to the Day Care Centre they will have their hands free during the day to try and care for the family.
Michiel Steenbeek and Marieke Dreise
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, February 2010
CBM says Port-au-Prince residents expected to be asked to return to Province of Origin
Issued by CBM Ireland, January 20, 2010
CBM Haiti Appeal Details:
Call 1800 225 225, or log on to www.cbm.ie
Media Interviews from Haiti:
Valerie Scherrer, CBM Emergency Coordinator, based in Port au Prince. For an interview call Brenda Clerkin, CBM Ireland at (086) 354 5494.
The government of Haiti is expected to announce that all residents of Port au Prince must return to their region/province of origin, according to a CBM aid worker located in Port au Prince.
CBM Emergency Co-ordinator Valerie Scherrer said that the hope is that if they get people out of Port-au-Prince it will decrease the stress on the city while enabling them to find food, water and shelter with family outside the city.
She said that work is also underway to assess the suitability of a 100,000-person temporary shelter site.
“The immediate priorities for the wider humanitarian response in Port au Prince continue to be medical assistance, corpse management, shelter, water, food and sanitation.
“Fuel remains a huge issue. There are plans to move 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel per day from the Dominican Republic, with a further link planned with Panama.”
She added that getting aid to people remains a challenge: “I have never seen anything like this. The damage sustained by the airport is limiting in-coming aid flights, the closure of the port means aid shipments are being redirected, and ground transportation is taking at least twice as long as normal from the Dominican Republic. All these infrastructure challenges mean it is taking much longer to get aid into Haiti and ultimately onto those who need it most.”
CBM in Haiti
CBM has been working in Haiti since 1976 on several disability programmes, including five in the worst effected area of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. The majority of its work in Haiti concentrates on children with disabilities who live in rural and slum areas.
Further Information
Brenda Clerkin, Director of Fundraising and Communications, CBM Ireland. (086) 354 5494. Ronan Cavanagh, Montague Communications: (086) 317 9731.
CBM Says Fuel Shortage a Major Problem Facing Port-au-Prince
Issued by CBM Ireland , January 18, 2010
CBM Ireland Appeal Details
CBM Ireland is running a special appeal to respond to the crisis in Haiti. Call 1800 225 225, or log on to www.cbm.ie
Media Interviews from Haiti
The following CBM staff are working in a hospital in Port au Prince: Martin Ruppenthal, CBM Latin America Regional Director and Valerie Scherrer, CBM Emergency Coordinator. To set up an interview with them call Brenda Clerkin, CBM Ireland at (086) 354 5494. The earlier in the day you ring the better to secure network coverage.
Fuel shortage is a major problem now facing aid and rescue work in Haiti, according to CBM Emergency Co-ordinator Valerie Scherrer.
“The available fuel is being concentrated on running generators for the hospitals. We are hearing that there is only 1-2 days worth of fuel available in the city and then it will be gone. This will shut down operations and procedures at the hospitals.
“Fuel is now one of the main concerns. We understand that more is on the way early this week, but there is no distribution mechanism in place. The result of this fuel shortage is also that there is a shortage of fuel for transport to move aid and aid workers around Port-au-Prince.”
She added that security and access to supplies are also major problems in the city. “Port-au-Prince is very insecure with lots of looting. The only time people venture into the city centre is to try to buy supplies, but there is concern about people attacking you to get your supplies.”
CBM internationally has pledged in excess of €200,000 to the relief effort and has launched Haiti appeals in multiple countries across the world including Ireland.
CBM in Haiti
CBM has been working in Haiti since 1976 on several disability programmes, including five in the worst effected area of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. The majority of its work in Haiti concentrates on children with disabilities who live in rural and slum areas.
For further information please contact:
Brenda Clerkin, Director of Fundraising and Communications, CBM Ireland. (086) 354 5494. Ronan Cavanagh, Montague Communications: (086) 317 9731.
People with disabilities are most vulnerable in Haiti earthquake
Issued by CBM Ireland, January 14, 2010.
For interview, please call Ben Gobin, Programme Manager, CBM Ireland who has worked on the ground in Haiti: (087) 244 3939. CBM should have a media contact available from Haiti tomorrow, plus some photographs.
People with disabilities are the most vulnerable in the Haiti disaster and require immediate assistance if they are to have any fighting chance of survival – aid organisation CBM highlighted today.
Reports show a very high level of injuries and trauma suffered by the survivors, many of whom require immediate orthopaedic surgical intervention and rehabilitation. Physiotherapy, mobility aids, and psycho social support are required in the longer term to prevent further disabilities.
CBM has been working in Haiti since 1976 through several disability programmes, including five in the worst effected area of the capital city, Port-au-Prince.
CBM has been unable to communicate with two of its projects who are understood to have suffered severe destruction to their infrastructure. Among these is the Eye Department of the University Hospital, located near the presidential palace, which is not responding to communications. CBM is also trying to confirm reports of casualties among its own staff. An additional team of CBM workers left on Wednesday in order to assist field staff and coordinate the relief operations.
The majority of its work in Haiti concentrates on children with disabilities who live in rural and slum areas. CBM said it is likely that many of these children have been killed or injured and they will need urgent assistance.
CBM Ireland Programme Manager Ben Gobin, who has worked in the field in Haiti, said reports he had received from the ground were that CBM and other aid organisations were ”working in close collaboration with partners on the ground and concentrating on immediate interventions such as re-establishing surgical capacity and assessing immediate basic needs such as providing shelter, blankets, clothing, food, water and medical care.”
Ben Gobin continued: “Haiti is the poorest nation in the Americas, the major destruction occurred in the lower part of Port au Prince where hundreds of thousands of the most destitute people live in slum areas. Among them people with disabilities are the most vulnerable, often finding it difficult to find essential help and care.”
“Much more disability is caused during times of disasters and emergencies due to severe trauma causing multiple fractures. These cases require urgent and expert intervention immediately in order to prevent disability in the future. We hope, once order has started to return to Haiti and the emergency has passed, to help the reconstruction and continue our long term support for people with disabilities to lift themselves out of poverty. After decades of political instabilities, civil unrest, extreme poverty and environmental degradation, the country was already on it’s knees before this terrible event.”
The magnitude of the disaster is still unknown but a statement by the Prime Minister has said that that as many as 100,000 have died and over three million victims are in need of immediate assistance.
For further information please contact:
Brenda Clerkin, Director of Fundraising and Communications, CBM Ireland. Tel: 047 71820 / (086) 354 5494
Ben Gobin, Programme Manager, CBM Ireland: (087) 244 3939.
Ronan Cavanagh, Montague Communications: (01) 830 3116 / (086) 317 9731.www.cbm.ie
Information on CBM for Editors
CBM is an international Christian organisation, committed to improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities in the poorest countries of the world and has an Irish section which is based in Monaghan. See www.cbm.ie
What We Do
CBM acts upon the needs and rights of people with disabilities and supports the provision of more than 900 projects in over 90 countries. It is estimated that CBM reaches out to over 16 million people worldwide across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and South America.
Wherever possible, it is the aim to provide these services within the communities and therefore Community-Based Rehabilitation programmes are provided where possible to leave communities with a legacy of skills.
Cause & Prevention
CBM’s focus is on the prevention and treatment of diseases wherever possible, and on education and rehabilitation so that people with disabilities can be included into their society as equals and lead a largely independent life. CBM always works in partnership with national and local organisations and provides an important advocacy link between people with disabilities and their respective governments.
Emergency: multiple disasters strike in South East Asia
UPDATE: Monday, October 5th, 2009
The cost from the natural disasters across Asia Pacific continues to rise with the loss of human life expected to reach the thousands.
Right now, CBM and its partners are providing emergency medical care, physiotherapy and non-food relief aid such as blankets and hygiene kits to the areas hardest hit.
In the Philippines, the devastating effects of back-to-back typhoons has destroyed homes, hospitals and schools and tragically claimed more than 300 lives. A staggering 4,000,000 million people have been directly affected with more than 400,000 living in emergency accommodation.
In Indonesia, the island of Sumatra continues to recover from the massive earthquake that has killed 603 people and flattened almost 180,000 homes. Three emergency response teams have left for the regions affected, taking with them wound and suture kits, hygiene and baby kits and two electrical generators in case of major power outages.
Off the Filipino coast, the ominous build-up of storms continue to threaten the nation while vulnerable low-lying poorer communities face the growing risk of flash flooding and landslides.
“That’s where the rain collects. People sometimes are chest high in water.” says CBM’s Peter Häemmerle, who is based in the Manila office.
In disasters like these, it’s the people with disabilities that are most at risk. In the lengthening queues for support they are pushed to the end of the line– the first to be forgotten but the last to get the help.
CBM stands in the midst of the crisis, but need your help to meet the overwhelming need. To support CBM’s work to reach the most vulnerable, please click here.
Most of CBM’s projects in the Philippines continue to be affected by the flooding rains that dumped more than 30cm of rain on Manila in just 6 hours.
“I was trying in vain to get to the office of the project. The roads were not passable but because they are partially under water. The office building was washed away in part and computers were destroyed." said Häemmerle.
We thank you for your prayers during this difficult time, but as the floodwaters subside, the reality of the situation will become clear as CBM begins to help rebuild the lives of people with disabilities.
To lend your support at this critical time, please click here.
Please take a moment now to pray for the safety of CBM, and for strength to the many people with disabilities.
Sources: 1.National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) 2.United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
CBM Clients and Staff Flee for Lives from Typhoon Ketsana
October 1, 2009 - At least five of cbm’s Community Based Rehabilitation areas in the Philippines have been greatly affected by Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy).
More than 150 clients with disabilities and 15 volunteer workers have been left homeless in the municipalities of Los Baños, Bay, Victoria, Pila and Calamba City. Most of CBM’s clients are now staying in evacuation centers as high water levels destroyed their homes.
Torrential rains from Typhoon Ketsana, which swept through the Philippines on Saturday has left more than 280 people dead and over 685,000 persons homeless. Forty-two people are still missing.
Operation Compassion, a CBM supported Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) program in Metro Manila is currently undertaking relief operations in two of the most affected areas. They have been distributing food to people with disabilities since the day after the tropical storm hit the Philippines.
CBM received dramatic first-person accounts from staff who fled for their lives with their families from the major flooding caused by the tropical storm:
Rose Carillo, a CBM staff member who has a visual disability, lived in Marikina with her husband and two sons. As the water levels rose, the family evacuated their home by crossing several rooftops. They are now safe and staying with friends in another part of the city.
Mayta Banday, PR-officer of the National Federation of Cooperatives of Persons with Disability (NFCPWD) and her two-month-old little girl had to evacuate her home and move to her neighbours’ who live in a higher part of the house. Dengue fever may be the next threat for the families in Manila as mosquitos love the hot, damp climate and the flood has washed away the protective nets.
People are now desperate for food, clean water, dry clothes and shelter. Please continue to pray for CBM’s staff, clients and volunteers as "super-typhoon" Parma, a level 4 storm, is expected to hit northern Philippines on October 3. The typhoon is expected to be much bigger and stronger than Typhoon Ketsana, which damaged more than 10,000 homes.
You can help by supporting CBM’s work here.