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AmeriCares Aid Delivered to Victims of School Collapse
AmeriCares aid worker Lisa Frantzen was recently in Haiti overseeing the arrival of an emergency airlift for hurricane survivors. Lisa works with AmeriCares partners on the ground to ensure medicines and medical supplies are delivered quickly and safely to hospitals and clinics throughout the country.
Reflecting on the devastating collapse of two Haitian schools, Lisa also speaks to how education is critical to giving health care, and hope to Haiti’s children.
REUTERS/ Evens St-Felix
The mother of a student who was injured reacts near the scene of a school that collapsed in Port-au-Prince November 12, 2008. A two-storey school partially collapsed in Haiti’s capital on Wednesday and at least nine people were taken to hospitals, five days after another school collapse that killed 95 people, officials said.
Just a few weeks ago, when I was in Haiti, hurricane survivors who had been temporarily living in schools were moving to more permanent living quarters so the school year could begin. I remember seeing a group of little girls who were all smiles in matching uniforms and pig-tails with big bows.
The whole Haitian community heaved a sigh of relief as “back-to-school” meant “back-to-normal” after four back-to-back storms pummeled the island earlier this fall, leaving hundreds dead and thousands of people homeless. Education plays a big role in health care delivery for Haiti’s children. School is where many of them get meals, as well as health and hygiene education, as part of their regular classes.
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But their hopes of returning to life as usual were dashed when yet another tragedy struck. A school attended by 700 children collapsed on Nov. 7, killing more than 80 people including several students. Pain medicines donated by AmeriCares were immediately used to treat some of the survivors of the first collapse this month. These back to back tragedies impact an already vulnerable population. Haiti is vulnerable from both a humanitarian and geographic perspective. It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, situated in the Caribbean, which leaves them open to being disproportionately impacted by tropical storms and hurricanes. The Haitian people have also been affected by escalating food prices and food shortages throughout the island nation.
Even under the best circumstances, traversing Haiti’s unpaved, mountainous roads is treacherous for aid workers. But in the wake of recent flooding traveling is more difficult than ever. The storms washed out roads and the barren landscape leaves the region prone to mudslides, further complicating the delivery of critical medicines of supplies.
Although working amid these dangerous conditions can be complex, AmeriCares has the proven ability to help people wherever it’s needed, whenever it’s needed. Despite their heartbreaking difficulties, the Haitian community still has a dream for a better tomorrow and I believe that AmeriCares can help. I look forward to my next visit with these hopeful people.