Scouts Sprint into Action in Haiti
The Haitian National Civil Protection Agency (DPC), one of the many stakeholders collaborating with the Scouts of Haiti, has reported that 1.4 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. More than 120,000 families have lost their homes, with seven out of 10 geographical departments and at least 90 communes affected. The official provisional death toll stands at 473.
Scouts have been mobilised in all affected departments. One of the worst-affected, Grand’Anse is home to seven Scout Districts. In its Dame Marie Commune, one of the most remote areas devastated by the hurricane, Scouting is flourishing! In that small locality alone, 22 Scout groups have been active for the past few years. Members of these groups have been helping the population since day one when it was completely cut off from the rest of the world, a situation which lasted for several days. Currently, about 2,000 Rovers and leaders are volunteering throughout Dame-Marie, Jérémie and other surrounding communities.
In an emergency response, a rapid assessment is important to improve the quality and speed of response and ensure that aid is directed to where it is most needed. Since Hurricane Matthew struck, Scouts have been helping with situation and needs assessments in communities they know very well since they are members of those communities. They are surveying the population in many affected localities and providing the much-needed figures to aid agencies, enabling their work.
In all affected areas, Scouts are also helping with the taking of victims’ census, clearing of roads, cleaning of houses, distribution of food and non-food items and providing crucial communication assistance to over 20 humanitarian organisations and other stakeholders which comprise the Haitian Government, DPC, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), World Food Programme (WFP), International Organization for Migration (IOM), Caritas Haiti, Aid Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) and ActionAid.
Teams of Scouts have been reaching out to isolated communities with satellite telephones provided by Telecom Sans Frontières to collect and transmit data to other organisations as well as to connect families. Over 500 households have benefited from the free talk time provided to help them restore contact with loved ones in Haiti or abroad.
You can help too by sharing our updates or by donating at www.scout.org/scoutaidhaiti.
Every little action counts!
