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WORLD WATCH
A Helping Hand for
Haiti
By Hadley Dyer
Over the last few years, Haiti has seen several
devastating natural disasters — from a string of
hurricanes to the recent earthquake that put thousands
of people in danger. Find out what Canadians are doing
to help Haitians recover and prepare for the future.
Turbulent
Timeline
Read on for the facts about
Haiti’s harrowing recent history
of natural disasters.
WHEN: 2008
WHAT: Hurricanes Fay, Gustav,
Hanna, and Ike
Four storms pummelled Haiti in August and
September 2008. Nearly 800 people died
and more than 100,000 homes were damaged
or destroyed. Electricity was knocked out, and
belongings were swept away.
Most people in Haiti have to grow their
own food, and many lost their crops when
the storms triggered flooding and mudslides.
Houses were submerged by dirty water. When
the floodwaters receded, much of the healthy
topsoil, which contains the nutrients needed
for growing plants, had been washed away.
WHEN: 2010
WHAT: An earthquake that measured
Photos: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters (full page image); Ariana Cubillos/AP Images (flooding);
NOAA/Getty Images (satellite image); STR New/Reuters (collapsed building)
7.3 on the Richter scale
Haiti Fact Box
Country name:
The Republic of Haiti
e of
Background: Haiti is on
es on
the poorest countri
scarce,
the planet. Jobs are
e
th
and more than half
Size: 28,000 sq. km
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th
lf
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les
out
country lives on
(11,000 sq. mi.), ab
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$1 per day. Abou
the size of Nova Sc
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be
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ich
Population: 10
poverty line, wh
gh
ou
en
they don’t earn
bean
pay for necessities
Location: The Carib
77 km money to
island of Hispaniola,
and food.
of Cuba like shelter
(48 mi.) southeast
Capital: Port-au-Prince
12 OWL
Major languages: French, Creole
Atlantic
Ocean
Cuba
HAITI
Caribbean Sea
Dominican
Republic
When hurricanes hit,
flooding isn’t far behind.
Hurricane Belt
Haiti is located in a part
of the Atlantic Ocean
known as the hurricane
belt, which includes
the Caribbean Sea and
the Gulf of Mexico. The
hurricane belt is close
to the equator, where
the air is very hot and
humid. As a storm
passes over the warm
ocean water, it gathers
energy and force. In a
hurricane (also known as
a cyclone), strong winds
blow in a counterclockwise
circle, reaching as much
as 250 km/h (155 mph)!
Heavy rain adds to the
storm’s power.
After the earthquake, many
buildings collapsed.
On January 12 of this year, an earthquake
shook Haiti to its core. Buildings crumbled,
electricity was cut off, and hundreds of
thousands of people were injured or killed.
Many cities and towns were devastated,
including the capital, Port-au-Prince, where
two million people live.
More than 300,000 people were left
homeless. Aid organizations rushed to help.
Some rescued survivors from the rubble,
while others treated injured people or handed
out food, water, clothing, and other supplies.
Richter Scale
The Richter scale measures the strength of an
earthquake on a scale from 1.0 to 9.0 — with
1.0 being the weakest. The scale grows by
powers of 10. This means that an earthquake
measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale is 10 times
more powerful than one that measures 6.0.
Canadian aid worker Catherine Marquis
(far right) stands with volunteers from
the Haitian Red Cross.
Haiti needs lots of help
to recover from disasters.
Flip the page to find out:
three Canadians help
yhow
Haiti respond to disasters
y how YOU can get involved
Caring Canadians
2
People from all over the world are jumping into action to
help Haiti. Meet three Canadians making a difference.
1
Rapid Responder
Canadian Red Cross worker Marilou Poirier is in
charge of sending emergency supplies to countries
struck by disaster. In 2008, she flew to Haiti to help
coordinate the Rapid Response Project (RRP). She
gave OWL a step-by-step guide to running an RRP.
Canadian Red Cross
worker Marilou Poirier.
3
Photos: courtesy of Canadian Red Cross (Poirier); courtesy of International Federation of Red Cross Red
Crescent Societies (IFRC) (warehouse, Haitian volunteer); royalty-free (Dreamstime) (background hurricane)
STEP #2: Take the call
When Haiti put out the official call for help, Marilou left her Ottawa
office and got on a cargo plane bound for Mississauga. Staff loaded
supplies onto the plane, which then took off for Haiti.
STEP #3: Distribute supplies
Marilou distributes
s
supplie in Haiti in 2008.
STEP #4: Find those in need
Red Cross workers visited each village and distributed coupons
to people in need. People then exchanged the coupons for
emergency kits at local schools, where supplies were held.
STEP #5: Provide support
In addition to supplies, the Red Cross sent aid workers
with serious technical smarts, such as engineers who
offered advice on reconstructing roads and buildings.
STEP #6: Prepare for the future
The Haitian Red Cross has created a program called Kouri Di Vwazen
(Run and Tell Your Neighbour) that teaches people what to do before and
during a storm. Volunteers go from village to village to share important
advice, such as pointing out tree branches that could fall on houses and
alerting neighbours when a storm is coming.
A Haitian Red Cross volunteer
distributes biscuits to children at a
shelter in Cabaret, Haiti, in 2008.
A warehouse in
Port-au-Prince
stocked with
Canadian supplies.
Johanna
With IBBY’s help, OWL talked to
Haitian students Herlancie, 11, and
Johanna, 15. After the hurricanes
of 2008, both were left without a
school to go to.
Fantastic Fundraiser
Thirteen-year-old Bilaal Rajan of Toronto —
the youngest spokesperson for the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) — already
has a long history of fundraising. Now he’s
challenging kids across Canada to help Haiti
by each donating $100.
OWL: How has the IBBY program
helped you?
Herlancie: Books help me a lot.
I feel better when I read.
Johanna: I like when the monitors
read for us. It sounds good.
Bilaal first got involved with UNICEF Canada
in 2004, when he issued the same challenge
to help the victims of the tsunami that swept
across South Asia after an earthquake.
“Some people were a little skeptical when I
said my goal was for kids to raise $1 million,”
I know it’s hard
he says. “But we raised millions of dollars.
to
put
ourselves in other
We’ve already proven that’s possible.”
people’s
shoes,
but we have to.
Bilaal has promised to shave his head in
It’s our duty to help other kids
honour of the school or student who raises
because, as Canadians, we
the most money for Haiti. The principal at
have so much and
Bilaal’s school will also be sacrificing his hair
others don’t.
to the cause.
Bilaal Rajan meets kids
while representing UNICEF
in Tanzania, Africa.
YOU Can Make a Difference!
Follow these steps to raise funds and help the Haiti relief effort.
• Visit UNICEF Canada at unicef.ca
• Get inspiration from UNICEF’s cool fundraising
ideas, like the “Dare to Wear Challenge”
Canadian International
Development Agency
• S
et up your own fundraising page, where you
can collect pledges, and post pictures and
videos from your fundraising events
Agence canadienne de
développement international
Feature undertaken with the financial support of
the Government of Canada provided through the
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Canadian
International
Agence
canadienne de
Click It!
can
For more on Haiti and how you
oom,
bring the cause to your classr
site
visit the OWL World Watch web
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at owlkids.com/owl/worl
Photos: courtesy of IBBY (Aldana, Herlancie, Johanna); courtesy of Unicef Canada (Rajan)
The Red Cross stores $1 million worth of supplies in a warehouse in
Mississauga, Ontario. Shelter kits have hammers, nails, rope, and other
tools to help clear debris and reconstruct homes. Kitchen and hygiene kits
contain utensils, toothpaste, and soap.
Herlancie
Patsy‘s organization created the
Children in Crisis fund, which supports programs
that use books to help heal the wounds caused by
conflicts and natural disasters. In the past, trained
volunteers have gone into hard-hit areas in Haiti
to share poems and stories. Selected schools also
received 100 new books to create new libraries.
STEP #1: Stock up
The plane landed in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. From there,
the emergency kits were delivered to villages throughout the country.
“Time is ticking,” Marilou says. “Often, the hardest to reach are
those most in need. We send supplies by truck, horse, or on foot.”
Helpful Healer
Canadian Patsy Aldana is the
president of the International
Board on Books for Young
People (IBBY).