Photo credit: Shutterstock-Arin-Dambanerjee
Another devastating earthquake ravaged southern Haiti on 14 August 2021. This earthquake, with a magnitude equivalent to that of the 2010 earthquake (7.2 on the Richter scale) caused significant damage to buildings and roads and has made many dead and injured (today, 17 August, more than 1,300 dead and more than 5,700 injured have been admitted to hospitals).
The epicentre is located far from Port-au-Prince, near Jacmel, so the loss of life is likely to be much lower than in 2010. However, hundreds of thousands of people are now affected in their flesh, without shelter, water or food. The situation is very serious, made worse by the unprecedented political, social and health insecurity in Haiti. It could get even worse, as a tropical storm approaching the island and likely to hit in the next few days.
Solidarité Laïque has been working with the Haitian population for nearly thirty years, particularly in the south of the island in the departments of Grand'Anse and Nippes, which were the most affected by the earthquake.
Aide et Action has been involved for 13 years in education development projects and after an absence of 5 years is back on the island within the framework of the project "School, a vector of social change in Haiti" financed by the AFD and conducted in partnership under the responsibility of Solidarité Laïque.
Our two organisations would like to show their full support to the people of Haiti and especially to the members of the Solidarité Laïque Caraïbes team who were fortunately unharmed in their flesh, but who were affected in their families and in their property. Our thoughts are also with all our partners, past and present, who make us feel that this tragedy is affecting our own family.
Already, the headquarters teams are working with local teams in the field to to coordinate a support action for the populations of the most affected departments. With the support of our partners, we are working hard to assess the impact of this earthquake and to help provide a fair and effective response in a timely manner
We can already announce that the back-to-school campaign will provide 30,000 pupils with school kits from the end of September, to enable children to return to school in good conditions despite all the difficulties linked to the situation.
For greater efficiency, our two organisations will join forces and coordinate to carry out the necessary solidarity and support actions for the affected populations and launch a joint appeal for emergency donations.
Solidarité Laïque and Aide et Action would like to reiterate their support to the teams on the ground and to the people of Haiti. Beyond the words of comfort that we wish to convey, we wish to commit ourselves to the Haitian people to tell them that we will stand by them to face this situation and to act in solidarity with them.
The Haitian people have always shown immense courage in the face of adversity. We will continue to stand in solidarity with them because we firmly believe that it is only through solidarity that we can meet the major challenges and build a better and more resilient world.
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Anne-Marie Harster, President of Solidarité Laïque
Jean-Pierre Pichaut, President Aide et Action
Alain Canonne, General Delegate, Solidarité Laïque
Charles-Emmanuel Ballanger, Director General International, Aide et Action
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URGENCE HAITI
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Aide et Action
53 Boulevard de Charonne
75545 Paris cedex 11 - France
Tel: +33 1 55 25 70 00
Email : [email protected]
You can also send your donations to Solidarité Laïque.
Solidarité Laïque
22 rue Corvisart
75013 PARIS - France
Tel: +33 1 45 35 13 13
