The most powerful earthquake in 200 years struck Haiti a year ago, affecting more than a third of the population. Of the 3 million people impacted by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake, 50 percent are children, among the most vulnerable in a community. More than one million people are still homeless.

Even before the earthquake, the people of Haiti did not have adequate access to water, sanitation facilities, education, employment, shelter and food.  So the January earthquake compounded existing problems for Haitians.

“Responding to an earthquake of such strength would be complicated even in the best-resourced nations. The factors that made Haiti so vulnerable to this calamity compound the difficulties of responding to it,” said World Vision International President, Kevin Jenkins.

World Vision, with the support of its donors, including the Australian public, has been able to assist hundreds of thousands of families across Haiti with their basic needs.  The generosity of Australian donors provided $10 million to relief and reconstruction efforts.  Internationally, World Vision raised US$194 million, enabling the organisation to assist communities across five regions.  Main achievements so far have been:

Relief Supplies

350,448 people received urgently needed household supplies such as toilet paper, soap and toothpaste, cooking supplies, bed sheets, blankets, buckets, mosquito nets, foot lockers and mats.

229,763 households received food aid in the first three months of the response.

Food & Water

70,938 children in 454 schools benefited from school feeding programmes between August and October.

More than 180 feeding centres provided food to 49,200 children not in school.

132,153 people were provided with 189.6 million litres of drinkable water.

Protection

5,653 children registered to play, sing, dance and draw in one of 22 Child-Friendly Spaces.

Education

More than 1,150 young children ages 3 through 8 attend one of 15 Early Childhood Development Learning Spaces that provide community-based learning.

Shelter

113,409 tarpaulins and 7,497 tents were provided to families in need.  Transitional shelters were provided for an initial 700 families.

Livelihoods

More than 14,770 people participated in cash-for-work programmes.

1,988 people participated in cash-for-training programmes, learning skills such as gardening techniques, masonry and carpentry.

Health

Five fixed and four mobile health clinics served 11 camps in Port-au-Prince and two mobile clinics served three camps at the border.

Much progress has been made but our work in Haiti is not without its challenges.  Weather, disease, land-use issues and an unstable political climate has made progress difficult.  

About 60% of the US$194 million raised globally by World Vision has been spent, with future projects focused on moving from camp-based help to supporting the renewal of communities and their economic base.  World Vision has committed to at least a five-year emergency response with a goal to empower Haitians to ultimately build a better country – and a better future – for themselves.         

For more on the achievements and challenges of the past year in Haiti, read World Vision’s One Year On Haiti Earthquake Response.