January 28, 2010
Tens of millions spent or committed for key priorities of food, water and shelter
WASHINGTON, Thursday, January 28, 2010 — In an operation that has involved more emergency response teams than any other single-country disaster in global Red Cross history, the American Red Cross has so far spent or committed more than $67 million to meet the most urgent needs of earthquake survivors in Haiti.
The American Red Cross is currently focusing on three areas through its emergency responders and partners:
- Sending food to those in need, including 3 million pre-packaged meals and funding for World Food Program efforts that will enable them to feed up to 1 million people for a month.
- Providing clean drinking water, including 3.5 million liters distributed to date in 68 settlements. Each day, the Red Cross is distributing enough water for 100,000 people.
- Distributing shelter items, such as blankets, tarps, sleeping mats and tents, to families who have been left homeless.
The Red Cross is also meeting the health needs of Haitian survivors and providing support to Haitian families in Haiti and the US. This includes providing relief supplies, shipment of blood products, family linking services and providing Red Cross volunteers to the USNS Comfort, which have been in Haiti for one week.
To date, 79 percent of the funds have been committed or spent on food and water; 18 percent on shelter items; and the remainder on health and family services.
More than 49 flights carrying Red Cross aid have arrived in Haiti. Additional planes, ships and trucks carrying Red Cross humanitarian assistance are en route. For example, yesterday, 15 trucks of relief supplies arrived from Santo Domingo. A new Red Cross warehouse with more than 50,000 square feet of capacity is also now operational in Port-au-Prince, which means that relief supplies have a safe place to be stored ahead of distribution.
Although the current focus is on addressing urgent needs, the American Red Cross is also looking ahead and applying experience gained after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. For the past five years, the American Red Cross has been working with partners in Southeast Asia to construct water and sanitation systems, provide emotional support and health care, build shelters, restore livelihoods and prepare communities for the next disaster. The American Red Cross plans to offer a similar level of support in close collaboration with Red Cross partners and other international and local aid organizations in Haiti.
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Haiti earthquake (Jan. 2010) | Tagged: aid, American Red Cross, donate, earthquake, food, haiti, help, relief, shelter, supplies, water | 
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Posted by amrecro
January 25, 2010
Relief supplies are arriving more frequently and in larger quantities, and, although some bottlenecks still remain, aid is reaching the survivors in the capital city and outlying areas.
So far, more than 38 flights carrying Red Cross aid have arrived in Haiti. Additional planes, ships and trucks carrying Red Cross humanitarian assistance are expected every day.
Shelter remains an urgent need on the ground. Together with relief partners like the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Red Cross is helping meet temporary shelter needs, whether in camps or in spontaneous settlements, and is working to provide support for host families sheltering the displaced. This immediate relief includes providing family-sized tents and kits with tarps, ropes and tools to construct shelter. At the same time, we are developing a strategy to meet long-term housing reconstruction needs.
The American Red Cross and its partners are distributing other relief items – such as hygiene kits, blankets and water containers – for up to 1,000 families (5,000 people) each day.
Approximately 3 million pre-packaged meals from the American Red Cross have left Miami via ship and will arrive later this week in Haiti, where we will partner with the UN’s World Food Programme to distribute them.
On Friday, nearly 70 American Red Cross Creole-speaking volunteers joined the USNS Comfort offshore in Haiti. While aboard, they are serving as interpreters for patients receiving medical care from the U.S. military.
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Posted by amrecro
January 25, 2010
Leave a Comment » | Haiti earthquake (Jan. 2010) | Tagged: aid, American Red Cross, distribution, donate, earthquake, food, haiti, help, relief, supplies, support, water | Permalink
Posted by amrecro
January 22, 2010
Logistical bottlenecks remain, but American Red Cross volunteers on the ground say that “Haiti is coming back to life.”
Red Cross leaders are working with the U.S. government to find ways to get much needed aid through the bottlenecks and into the hands of the Haitian people.
Despite all of the logjams, supplies are slowly getting through. The pipeline to get resources into Haiti was a straw following the earthquake; it’s now a garden hose, but it needs it to become a fire hose.
So far, more than 32 flights carrying Red Cross aid have arrived in Haiti. Additional planes and trucks carrying Red Cross humanitarian assistance are expected every day.
Next week, approximately 3 million pre-packaged meals from the American Red Cross will arrive, and we will partner with the World Food Program to distribute them to the survivors.
Shelter remains an urgent need on the ground. Together with relief partners like the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Red Cross is helping meet temporary shelter needs, whether in camps or in spontaneous settlements throughout the capital city, and is working to provide support for host families sheltering the displaced. This immediate relief includes providing family-sized tents and kits with tarps, ropes and tools to construct shelter. At the same time, we are developing a strategy to meet long-term housing reconstruction needs.
While we still need to reach many more people, in two days (Wednesday and Thursday), the American Red Cross and our partners on the ground were able to provide 1,900 families (9,500 people) with basic supplies like tarps, hygiene kits, water purification tablets and blankets.
On Friday, nearly 70 American Red Cross Creole-speaking volunteers joined the USNS Comfort offshore in Haiti. While aboard, they will serve as interpreters for patients receiving medical care from the U.S. military.
The American Red Cross is also coordinating shipments of blood and blood products to Haiti at the request of the Pan American Health Organization.
Leave a Comment » | Haiti earthquake (Jan. 2010) | Tagged: aid, American Red Cross, donate, earthquake, food, haiti, help, shelter, supplies, support, water | Permalink
Posted by amrecro
January 22, 2010
Please click through for caption and courtesy information. You may use these photos but please provide proper attribution.
All American Red Cross photos from Haiti.
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Posted by amrecro
January 22, 2010
Here’s an example of what your donations to the American Red Cross for Haiti relief will buy:
- $5 provides a water container to store clean drinking water
- $10 provides a blanket that is appropriate to the climate and culture of the disaster-affected area
- $25 provides a family of 5 with a kitchen set giving them the ability to cook and serve food (a disaster can destroy even the most basic family possessions and restoring family’s self-sufficiency is essential). This includes two cooking pots, a frying pan, bowls, plates, cups, and utensils.
- $30 provides essential hygiene materials to 5 people for one month (ensuring adequate hygiene after a disaster is essential in promoting the health of those affected). This includes items like a toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo, body soap, laundry soap, toilet paper, sanitary pads, a razor and a towel.
- $60 provides tarps, rope, wood and tools for a family of five to build a temporary shelter. (2 tarps, rope, hoe, machete, tin snips, handsaw, roofing nails, shovel, long nails, tie wire, claw hammer)
- $100 provides a cooking set, hygiene pack, blankets, and water containers for one family of five following a disaster.
- $500 provides a family tent for a family of 5
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Posted by amrecro
January 21, 2010
The American Red Cross is in Haiti as a part of the broader and coordinated Red Cross and Red Crescent network.
* We all have our roles; we all have our expertise, and we’re all working together. That is a very powerful engine for relief.
* For example, Red Cross responders from seven countries are treating injuries and performing surgery at hospitals and medical centers throughout the capital city.
* Red Cross teams from Latin America and Asia, trained in urban search and rescue, are supporting local authorities.
* Others are focused on purifying the water supply available in the country and expect to deliver clean drinking water to 200,000 people (17 settlements) each day by truck.
* Local Haitian Red Cross volunteers are providing emotional support for traumatized survivors and providing first aid support.
* The ICRC family links Web site (www.icrc.org/familylinks), designed to help reconnect separated families, has received 23,900 registrations since the earthquake. Yesterday (Wednesday), the Red Cross helped more than 340 people in Haiti make international phone calls to their families to say they are safe and well as well as register an additional 178 on the site.
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Posted by amrecro
January 21, 2010
People in Haiti are still in need of basic items like food, water and medical care. It is frustrating for humanitarian organizations, like the American Red Cross, that also wish aid would arrive faster.
* It is still difficult to get planes carrying humanitarian aid into the Port-au-Prince airport. The roads are heavily congested, and travel by road from the Dominican Republic has increased to an 18-hour journey.
* We are working with the U.S. government to discuss how these issues can be alleviated, and we applaud the U.S. Armed Forces, which are on the ground and doing a great job.
* Despite all of the logjams and bottlenecks, supplies are slowly getting through. The pipeline to get resources into Haiti was reduced to a straw following the earthquake; we have graduated to a garden hose, but really need it to become a fire hose.
* So far, more than 100 tons of Red Cross aid has arrived in Haiti. Planes and trucks carrying Red Cross humanitarian assistance are arriving in the region every day.
* Yesterday (Wednesday), the American Red Cross and our partners on the ground were able to provide 2,700 people with basic supplies like tarps, hygiene kits, water purification tablets and blankets.
* As the pipeline to get to the people in Haiti widens, the American Red Cross will provide large tents for an initial 14,500 people and is working around the clock to find and send more.
* The American Red Cross is also sending approximately 3 million pre-packaged meals to Haiti, and will partner with the World Food Program to distribute them to survivors over the weekend.
* Today (Thursday), nearly 70 American Red Cross Creole-speaking volunteers have left Miami to join the USNS Comfort offshore in Haiti tomorrow. Once aboard, they will serve as interpreters for patients receiving medical care from the U.S. military.
* The American Red Cross is also coordinating shipments of blood and blood products to Haiti at the request of the Pan American Health Organization.
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Posted by amrecro
January 21, 2010
In just the first week of the Haiti response effort, the American Red Cross already has spent or committed $34 million (approximately 25 percent of what has been pledged or received) as of Thursday, January 21.
* The infrastructure of Haiti is severely damaged-airports are clogged, roads are treacherous, and there is no large seaport available. This is causing bottlenecks and making it very difficult to get aid into the hands of survivors. Despite those problems, aid is starting to slowly make its way to those who need help.
* We want aid to move faster, too. But it’s going to take government and relief agencies working together quickly to establish security and expand and repair, airports, roads and seaports to get the relief supplies moving.
* We know this relief effort will take place in two phases: The short term relief effort is underway now and will continue for many weeks. We are starting to plan for a long term recovery effort that will continue for months, if not years.
* In just the first week of the short term relief operation we’ve committed and spent funds in three basic areas: food and water, relief supplies and logistical and support services.
* 50 percent of what has been committed or spent is being used to bring food and water to earthquake survivors. The American Red Cross is providing more 3 million pre-packaged meals, more than 1 million water purification packets and thousands of jerry cans so people can collect and transport clean drinking water.
* 30 percent of what has been committed or spent so far is purchasing and distributing relief supplies. This includes items such as blanket, tarps, soap, hygiene supplies, kitchen sets and first aid supplies.
* 20 percent of what has been committed or spent is providing the logistical support and other items needed to keep the relief effort running. This includes the purchase of vehicles to deliver relief supplies, warehouse space, gasoline, transportation costs and the deployment of our relief specialists. This category also includes the costs associated with the training and deployment of nearly 70 Creole speaking volunteers to the USNS Comfort.
* The American Red Cross is one part of the international relief operation in Haiti. While many of these items are being distributed by our own workers on the ground, we are also providing supplies, food and logistical items to other Red Cross societies and groups, such as the World Food Program to assist in their efforts.
* This is only the beginning of the American Red Cross relief and recovery effort for Haiti. Over the next several days and weeks, as the international relief effort will grow so will the monetary commitment of the American Red Cross. Right now, it’s important to get relief there as quickly as possible, but also be thoughtful and responsible in how we spend the funds the American people have entrusted to us.
* We want to ensure that we manage our money wisely so we can ensure that long term relief is available as well. We are already looking at how the American Red Cross can help meet longer term needs such as providing reliable shelter, water and sanitation systems.
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Posted by amrecro
January 21, 2010
Good morning. I was in Haiti on Tuesday and I can tell you that this is a devastating disaster with widespread extensive damage. Many buildings are pancaked flat, the streets are filled with rubble and people. The infrastructure of the country is in severely damaged – airports, ports and roads – making it very difficult to get aid in.
It was one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever seen in my life.
But there are glimmers of progress. Despite all of these logjams and bottlenecks, things are getting through. But it’s slow. The pipeline of getting materials into Haiti was a straw only a few days ago, and now it’s a garden hose, but we need it to become a fire hose.
Even with the challenges, we are truly making a difference.
I saw American Red Cross staff, armed with first aid kits, going out to treat people. They have a truck and a door that they were using as a stretcher, and they were taking injured to a field hospital run by Red Cross. Every time a Red Cross truck would go through the streets, the people would clear the way to let it pass.
The American Red Cross is in Haiti as part of the broader and coordinated Red Cross and Red Crescent network. We all have our roles; we all have our expertise, and we’re all working together. That is a very powerful engine for relief.
But what struck me most were the people of Haiti. In the area we visited, several hundred families were living under makeshift tents of sheets, blankets, plastic – anything they could drape over something for a little shelter
They were patient, not pushing for water or food. But they need our help.
I feel like I left a piece of my heart in Haiti, and please know that the Red Cross is going to do whatever we can to help the people of Haiti, both in the short term but also as part of what we know will be a vast and long-term recovery for this nation and its people.
Leave a Comment » | Haiti earthquake (Jan. 2010) | Tagged: American Red Cross, earthquake, haiti, president, relief, supplies, support | Permalink
Posted by amrecro
