Blog: On the ground in Haiti

• Haiti: Two years on...

  Wednesday, 11 January 2012

  World Vision Australia Communication staffer, Meg Sattler lives in Port-au-Prince and has the privilege of hearing the stories of Haitians who survived the January 12, 2010 earthquake.
  
  Last time I flew into Haiti, I was reading Hemmingway’s ‘The old man and the sea’. I finished it just as the plane hit the tarmac of broken down Port-au-Prince airport, and as I closed the book I looked up and realised why it had resonated. The ...

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• Reflecting on the Queensland floods, from Haiti

  Tuesday, 18 January 2011

  Meg Sattler, Communications Officer, World Vision Haiti - Emergency Response

  When disaster is your reality, sometimes your view of Australia can become a little skewed. It’s easy to see Australia as untouchable, a kind of haven away from the rubble, the endless poverty here in Haiti.

  Of course, deep down you know that isn’t true. Australia is prone to all kinds of natural calamities – drought, floods, fires, hurricanes. The Black Saturday bushfires affected my own ...

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• 12 Months On: Still Trying

  Thursday, 13 January 2011

  I’ve been in Haiti for a few significant events so far. I was here for the national elections and their aftermath, when street protests had me keeping a low profile at home. I thought of women and kids in camps as things heated up on the streets, and unwittingly learned a couple of pop songs by Haitian pop star ‘Sweet Mickey’, running for office, as his supporters blared them from their cars.
  
  I experienced ...

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• Three months later: Hope for Louis Chris Noel

  Monday, 10 May 2010

  Laura Blank, Communications Specialist - World Vision United States

  I first met 6-year-old Louis Chris Noel 3 months ago when he walked into the World Vision clinic at Bremont camp with a head wound that he’d suffered in the midst of January’s earthquake. He looked anxious and barely said a word to the nurse as she dressed his wound, carefully unwrapping the old bandage, cleaning his forehead with antiseptic, and applying a new dressing. I ...

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• Rains bring concern for health of Haiti's children

  Wednesday, 31 March 2010

  Laura Blank, Communications Specialist - World Vision United States

  It hasn’t rained here for more than a week, but it rained again in Port-au-Prince last night.  Not that torrential, heavy downpour this Caribbean nation is used to experiencing during the rainy season in April and May.  Just a steady, slow kind of rain.  But it doesn’t matter.  The camps are already crowded, difficult places to live.  Rain only makes it worse. 

  Earlier this week, I ...

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  Tags: Haiti, Emergency

• Leaving Haiti

  Friday, 12 March 2010

  Madeline Wilson, Communications Specialist - Humanitarian & Emergency Affairs

  My mum wrote a really simple yet powerful comment on my last blog that encapsulates how I am feeling about leaving Haiti: "Tears in heaven, angels on earth".
  
  I couldn't have said it better. Surely a disaster of this magnitude must have caused tears in heaven. And the angels on earth are those dedicated responders working tirelessly to keep people alive. In the month that I ...

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  Tags: aid relief response disaster earthquake

• A visit to La Gonave

  Tuesday, 23 February 2010

  Madeline Wilson, Communications Specialist - Humanitarian & Emergency Affairs

  On Friday I went to an island called La Gonave off the west coast of Haiti. This is the island where the Australian sponsorship programs are located. I was relieved to hear directly from the World Vision regional coordinator that very few children across the island were directly affected, and no children sponsored by Australians had lost their lives during the earthquake, even though the island ...

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  Tags: aid aid distribution Haiti, Emergency children distribution earthquake

• Good days and bad days

  Monday, 15 February 2010

  Madeline Wilson, Communications Specialist - Humanitarian & Emergency Affairs

  You have good days and bad days when you are working on an aid response. Some days you feel motivation and pride because you know your work and the work of your organisation is making a difference. And other days you feel overwhelmed and emotional about the enormity of the situation and the needs of the people affected. These are the days when you realise that ...

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  Tags: child friendly space Haiti, Emergency response relie earthquake

• The realities in Port-au-Prince

  Monday, 8 February 2010

  Madeline Wilson, Communications Specialist - Humanitarian & Emergency Affairs

  Since my last post I have left Hinche and been in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince for 3 days. And I continue to be blown away by the extent of damage the earthquake has caused, and the impact it has had on a nation.
  
  I have now seen the area in the city of Port-au-Prince that was most affected by the earthquake. The only way I can think ...

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  Tags: aid distribution Haiti, Emergency emergency_response emergency earthquake emergency_relief

• Arriving in Haiti

  Friday, 5 February 2010

  By Madeline Wilson, Communications Specialist - Humanitarian & Emergency Affairs

  Today was my first day in Haiti. I arrived here after stopping over for a day in the Dominican Republic, the country that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. I spent the day in the Dominican Republic recovering from my 30 hour plane journey, and trying to adapt to the time zone here.

  I flew into Port-au-Prince, on a light plane with five others. ...

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  Tags: aid aid distribution relief Haiti, Emergency disaster earthquake

• Did you feel that one?

  Monday, 25 January 2010

  By James Addis.

  I must be remarkably insensitive to after-shocks. Colleagues keep saying ‘did you feel that one?’. Where were you at “X” pm? or “Y” am? Did you feel it?

  I must confess I haven’t felt a darn thing since the really big one a few days ago. I think my biggest concern is a really big quake in the dark. I’ve been sleeping with a flashlight in my hand. The thought of fumbling ...

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• The Aftershock

  Thursday, 21 January 2010

  By James Addis

  Well, a heart-stopping moment this morning when a powerful after-shock, just after 6am had me making a hasty exit out of my hotel.

  I was soon joined by the rest of the World Vision, staff, mostly in pyjamas.

  Once we had recovered our breath, the conversation quickly turned to how many more fragile buildings might have been brought down.

  The whole thing maybe lasted six or seven seconds. I’m writing at 6.30 ...

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  Tags: earthquake

• First distribution of aid

  Monday, 18 January 2010

  By James Addis

  The last time I was deployed to a humanitarian emergency I had no wife and no children. This time I have a wonderful wife, Sharon, a daughter, Nicole, 3, and a young son Michael, 6 months.

  In previous emergencies I never got homesick. Now the tug of home hits more powerfully than ever. I keep needing to pull myself together. "For goodness sake man you have only been here a few days."...

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  Tags: humanitarian emergency_response emergency children earthquake

• The most shocking I have ever seen.

  Sunday, 17 January 2010

  By James Addis.

  I’ve been deployed to many humanitarian emergencies. For me, this is the most shocking I have ever seen. I will never forget the corpses piled outside the city morgue.

  Travelling back to a modest hotel at 2am last night we drove past hundreds, maybe thousands, who would have no shelter that night and perhaps not for many nights to come. Some slept under vehicles. Some on sidewalks. Some dangerously on the road. ...

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• From Hinche to Mirenbalais

  Friday, 15 January 2010

  By Ruth Mlay.

  Yesterday morning we moved from Hinche to Mirenbalais, 1 hour out of the capital, hoping to get closer to Port au Prince to do an assessment. As we drove through the small town of Hinche, we saw cars queuing at petrol stations waiting their turn hoping to get some of the dwindling fuel. Today we heard there is no fuel in Plateau Centra. Port au Prince is bound to follow suit shortly....

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• Haiti arrival

  Thursday, 14 January 2010

  By Ruth Mlay.

  I arrived in Haiti on Sunday 9 January and went straight to Hinche, Plateau Central, 3 hours out of Port au Prince, to carry out training on community vulnerabilities and capacity assessment.

  We had to stop the training as the tremors were too strong.

  In the last 24 hours we have felt at least 6 aftershocks. This morning the Haitian radio was urging people in Port au Prince not to go ...

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  Tags: emergency_response emergency earthquake