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HISG is Helping Earthquake Victims with Food, Water and Shelter

The HISG/IDRN team unloading bundles of food for the refugee camp.

After assessing the initial damage caused by the Haiti Earthquake on January 12, HISG has focused our efforts on the city of Carrefour, a poor community west of Port Au Prince that was receiving very little assistance of any kind. There were 20,000 people forced out of their homes by the earthquake, and they had no food, no water and were living in makeshift tents made out of bed sheets and old tarps.

HISG identified and obtained permission to use a partially finished children’s hospital as an operations center to meet the needs of these homeless families. Two of HISG’s partners responded almost immediately to address the need for clean water. Water Missions International installed two high-capacity water purification systems, and Texas Baptist Men assisted by repairing damage that had been done to the wells at the hospital.

Next, HISG pulled together a cooperative response to provide food for the thousands of people who were desperately hungry. HISG worked closely with the Columbian Red Cross, which had supply ships docked just minutes away from the hospital, to provide enough food, including baby food for small children, for the entire camp. Nearly three weeks after the earthquake, the camp finally received adequate food supplies. The delivery was met with loud cheers, grateful tears, and hundreds of people rushing out of their tents to say thank you.

Finally, HISG worked with Doctors Without Borders to bring in tarps for the entire camp. Shelter from the coming rainy season was one of the last remaining urgent needs. Twenty thousand people, who were neglected, hungry, and nearly hopeless, now have food, water, and shelter. HISG, through our participation in the International Disaster Response Network, was able to connect key resources to meet this camp’s most desperate needs.

HISG helped form the International Disaster Response Network, and has trained thousands of individuals around the world to respond to disasters just like the earthquake in Haiti. In the last 12 months, the International Disaster Response Network has responded to catastrophes in Brazil, the Philippines, Indonesia and Haiti, and is able to leverage the individual strengths of the entire network for a more capable and comprehensive relief effort. There is more information online at www.IDRN.info.