The Haiti Earthquake Emergency Appeal

Recognition for our top Haiti fundraisers

11 May 2010

Two of our top fundraising schools in Melbourne and Sydney recently received a visit from Dr Unni Krishnan, Disaster Response Policy Co-ordinator for Plan International, SchoolAid's appeal partner in Haiti.

Students from Deepdene Primary School in Melbourne and PLC Sydney listened to Dr Krishnan in awe as he shared stories of working on the ground in Haiti to help rebuild lives after the earthquake. The kids were particularly impressed by the incredible, touching stories about kids just like them who had lost basics like family, food, shelter and laughter, but were incredibly pleased to hear about the support that Plan is providing, thanks to their fundraising efforts.

Deepdene's SRC Co-ordinator, Ms Wendy Chang talks about the impact that Dr Krishnan's visit had on the kids.

In the Spotlight

1 April 2010

Thank you to all the schools who have sent us in letters, letting us know about your fundraising activites and ideas.

We wanted to showcase a fundraising idea that was sent through to us, which is absolutely unique, showing incredible initiative and creativity. 

This proposal was thought up by a class in Year 4 of Presbyterian Ladies College in Sydney, who approached the Principal directly for her approval on the below cookbook idea. 

GREAT IDEA GUYS! KEEP UP THE FABULOUS WORK! 

Support Haiti and WIN!

25 March 2010

Thanks to our friends at Etiko FairTrade we are thrilled to be offering some great prizes to the top fundraising schools in our Haiti Appeal!

The top ten fundraisers will receive a Jinta Sport Fairtrade sport pack valued at $100 for your school!

Register online and start fundraising NOW for your chance to win. 

About Jinta & Etiko FairTrade 

Created by the good folk at Etiko Fair Trade, Jinta Sport is the sports brand for people who want good quality, ethically produced and well priced sports gear.
 

Each ball is certified fairtrade, meaning that they're made by consenting adults (not a kid in sight) who enjoy healthcare, safe conditions and a living wage. All Jinta Sport balls are hand stitched so you know they're going to last, and we insist on using only safe, environmentally sound polyurethane. Finally, the purchase of Jinta Sports balls helps fund sports programs for kids on remote communities in Central Australia.

For more information including pricelists / order forms / education kits contact Etiko Fair Trade info@etiko.com.au

Faces of Haiti - Andrise

9 March 2010

Over the coming weeks, SchoolAid will be following the stories of children in Haiti who are being helped by our programs.

Meet Andrise Robellaird, nine years old from the neighbourhood of Bayajour in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In the earthquake which devastated her neighbourhood, Andrise lost neighbours, family and friends. "We lost everything," she says, "Our house is nearly destroyed."

Because of the structural damage to their house, Andrise and her mother are now staying in a makeshift camp with other members of their extended family.

SchoolAid will update you regularly on the progress of children we are helping and how your donations are helping them rebuild their lives.

 Video courtesy of Save the Children

Latest Update from Haiti

24 February 2010

To date, 12 Child Friendly Spaces have been set up in Port-au-Prince and seven in Jacmel, with an average of 3,038 children participating in activities each day. 

A Family Tracing and Reunification call center and drop in center has been set up at the UN logistics base, managed by Save the Children in coordination with UNICEF, the International Rescue Committee and the ICRC. 50 trained community outreach workers started registration of separated and unaccompanied children, starting with the hospitals in Port Au Prince. To date, 158 children have been identified as separated or unaccompanied and will be followed through the FTR process.

SchoolAid has been informed that Save the Children in Haiti has been invited to support the minister to develop their education strategy. The cluster has established 5 working groups (teachers and teacher training, psychosocial support, curriculum, temporary construction, ECD) who will be working closely with the ministry as part of capacity building.

Rebeca La Rose's house was destroyed during the earthquake and she is currently living in a temporary shelter made out of the sheets her family could salvage.  Rebeca (pictured right courtesy of Louise Dyring / Save the Children) used to go to school but it was severely damaged in the earthquake and she has not been able to return. When asked about her school she said:  "I like to share and play with my friends at school.  I miss school because now I can't see my friends anymore. I hope to be a teacher when I grow up."

Recent Haiti Report

12 February 2010

Through SchoolAid's partnership with Save the Children and Plan International Australia, we can report that Haitian school teachers and directors shared their concerns with on-the-ground staff as part of assessment activities. What remain very much a current priority are:

• Support to unaffected schools which will absorb children from damaged neighbourhood schools.
• Assessment by engineers to determine the safety of schools so they can assure parents it is safe to send children.  
• Psychosocial support for children, teachers and parents. Children expressed that they would like to return to school but do not feel secure being inside buildings.
• Help to address the specific needs of children who face long-term physical injuries or disabilities as a result of the earthquake.

To date, child protection programs have benefitted over 15,000 children through 18 Mobile Child Friendly Spaces in Port-au-Prince and Jacmel. The program has also involved 110 community volunteers.

In Petionville, Port-au-Prince, Save the Children education staff conducts a quick field assessment in the vicinity of a school almost completely demolished by the earthquake, amongst the the children who are playing in the rubble and on the swings in the playground. (above right image courtesy of Save the Children)

Youth volunteers take action to help the children of Haiti

9 February 2010

As the rebuilding effort gets underway in Port au Prince, the youth of Haiti take action to help other young people affected by the earthquake.

Click here to watch stories of young Haitian people making a difference in their communities. (Video and photograph courtesy of Plan International Australia)

Marie-Soyne's Story

9 February 2010

The sound of children's laughter in Haiti lifts the spirit of an entire community. In a small yard in a village near Croix-des-Bouquets, for a few precious hours, more than 100 children are forgetting about the horrors of the earthquake.

Led by a group of young volunteers, the children sing and dance, receive some basic school lessons and tell each other stories.

One of the volunteers, bright, energetic and highly articulate Marie-Sonyne, was one of 42,000 children sponsored through Plan International Australia, one of SchoolAid's partners in Haiti. When she decided to become a teacher, Plan's sponsorship program helped the 22 year old with tuition fees, and when her university studies were interrupted by the earthquake, she decided to use her skills to help her community get back on its feet.

"After the earthquake, the children came to us and said: The schools are closed, what can we do now? So eight of us formed a committee to do something for them," she says.

The first session was held just four days after the earthquake and they now meet twice a week. At first, 30 children showed up and the numbers have steadily grown as more families have moved to the area after their homes in Port-au-Prince were destroyed.

Around 30 volunteers not only play with the children and teach them with the help of simple, colourful posters but also encourage them to share how they experienced the earthquake.

"We ask them where they were at the time -- at home, with their mum or at school. Afterwards we give them a piece of paper and ask them to draw how they see themselves," says Marie-Sonyne.

Some of the older children, mainly girls, sit on makeshift benches, making pink flowers out of tissue paper and a bit of string.

"Pink symbolizes hope for Haiti. We want to show them that although they have lost a lot and there is no school, there is still hope."

(Photograph courtesy of Plan International Australia)

Haiti Latest Update

4 February 2010

Through SchoolAid's partnership with Save the Children, we are pleased to inform you that approximately 16,500 children are receiving clean water at present.  A cumulative total of 7895 people have been cared for through SchoolAid and Save the Children supported health facilities.  In addition to this, 31 nutritional and 109 health agents from the commune of Leogane have been trained as breastfeeding promoters and a number of these are now being trained as breastfeeding counselors.  Child protection remains a strong focus, with 18 Mobile Child Friendly Spaces up and running in PAP and Jacmel. Child Protection programs will soon be starting in Leogane as well. Food distributions have reached over 54,000 beneficiaries thus far. This number will continue to increase as distributions in PAP continue over the next 2 weeks.

Young volunteers are also being trained by Plan International Australia, and staff have reported the sight and sound of children roaring with laughter in Haiti, lifting the spirits of an entire community. In a small yard in a village near Croix-des-Bouquets, for a few precious hours, more than 100 children are forgetting about the horrors of the earthquake.  Led by a group of young volunteers, the children sing and dance, get some basic school lessons and tell each other stories.

"After the earthquake, the children came to us and said: The schools are closed, what can we do now? So eight of us formed a committee to do something for them," says Marie-Sonyne, one of the volunteers trained by Plan Haiti.

They organized the first session just four days after the earthquake and now meet twice a week. At first, 30 children showed up and the numbers have steadily swollen as more and more families have moved to the area with relatives after their homes in Port-au-Prince were destroyed.  The volunteers not only play with the children and teach them with the help of simple, colourful posters but they also encourage them to share how they experienced the earthquake.

Andrise Robellaird (pictured right - courtesy of Colin Crowley / Save the Children), nine, descends a concrete stairway as she leaves the house she used to live in before the earthquake.

Latest Update from Haiti

29 January 2010

While we return to school after our summer holidays, the children of Haiti are suffering from the catastrophic impact of the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks.  It is tragic that your school communities will commence the year in the wake of such an horrific event. 

Staff are working on the ground in Haiti to rescue and support kids in the wake of this horrific natural disaster. The death toll is estimated at 200,000, according to Haitian government figures relayed by the European Commission, with 80,000 buried in mass graves. U.N. officials say an accurate count of those killed in the quake may never be known.  Tens of thousands of children have lost one or both of their parents. Priorities for assistance remain medical assistance, food, water, shelter, as well as fuel and transportation equipment to support the relief operation.  (Photo on the right courtesy of Adriana Zehbrauskas/Polaris).    

"APPA is urging you to get behind the SchoolAid Haiti Earthquake Emergency Appeal. Your students will want to take action and help other children who have been affected by this catastrophe.  Wouldn't it say something if every Australian primary school registered? Come on, we can do this!"

Click here to read the full call to action from Australian Primary Principals Association, Leonie Trimper.

Through SchoolAid's partnership with Plan International Australia and Save the Children, extensive work is being carried out on the ground in Haiti, including the earthquake ravaged areas of Jacmel and PAP.  It can now be confirmed that to date, an estimated 114,800 children have been reached through Save the Children, with the initial focus being on health, nutrition, food and protection.  This includes the construction of 20 latrines, 8 bathing areas, 8 medical consultation sites, 16 Child Friendly Spaces (providing activites for over 8000 children over the past 9 days) and 4650 children have been reached through food distributions.

Plan International Australia confirmed that 10 teams are in the process of completing rapid needs assessments on areas such as water and sanitation, health, food, shelter and nutrition.  In addition to this, 5,800 kits have been assembled and distributed to those families affected.

Breaking News from Haiti

25 January 2010

A baby girl called Winnie (photo right courtesy of Colin Crowley / Save the Children) was pulled from the rubble on Friday afternoon, days after an earthquake flattened much of Port-au-Prince. Winnie, not yet 2 years old, was rescued with help from an Australian news crew filming near Save the Children's offices. Medical experts determined the little girl to be dehydrated, but expect her to recover well. Unfortunately, Winnie's parents were killed in the collapse of the family's home. Her uncle, Frantz Tilin, arrived to find her after losing his own wife in the earthquake

An update

21 January 2010

Another large aftershock, measuring 6.1 in magnitude, struck Haiti in the early hours of this morning. SchoolAid has been working closely with Plan International Australia and Save the Children staff who are on the ground in Port-au-Prince.  It has been reported that staff heard already weakened structures collapsing, making the threats to and fears of children in the disaster zone undiminished. 

"Children and families are still sleeping in the open, among the rubble. They are very vulnerable - this aftershock would have terrified them. We are working flat out to assist them, bringing in supplies and rolling them out to the people who need them as fast as we can," said Annie Foster, Save the Children's team leader in Port-au-Prince. (photo above right courtesy of Antonio Bolfo / Getty for Save the Children)

The January 12 earthquake and multiple aftershocks created enormous devastation and loss of life in the heavily populated city of Port-au-Prince.  SchoolAid is working closely with Save the Children and Plan International Australia through continuing on-the-ground assessments and the design of a vigorous response strategy.

(above photographs courtesy of Plan International Australia)

The national telecommunications system has been partly restored, but without access to fuel, the mobile network will be cut off within days, which will have serious implications for the humanitarian operation.

The Haiti Earthquake Emergency Appeal

14 January 2010

Act now! In response to the tragic earthquake in Haiti, SchoolAid has launched The Haiti Earthquake Emergency Appeal in partnership with Plan International Australia and Save the Children.

Staff are working on the ground in Haiti to rescue and support kids in the wake of this horrific natural disaster on the 13th January. The immediate focus will be the provision of shelter and relief items to the children, followed by taking active measures to ensure safe water supplies, sanitation and the psychosocial needs of the traumatised children.

This catastrophe will impact up to three million people, with the death toll likely to be in the tens of thousands. A key issue is the fact that Haiti is an extremely impoverished country (with almost 50% unemployment), with poor building standards.  There is currently no electricity and telecommunications have been cut off. Many children are still trapped beneath the fallen rubble and they have lost parents, family and friends - the huge scale of this loss is unimaginable to us.

Officials said schools, homes, hospitals and important govenment buildings including the presidential palace, have been destroyed with crowds of screaming families and crying parents swarming the ruins in the aftermath searching for their children and relatives beneath the rubble and blocks of concrete.

René Préval, the president of Haiti has described the devastation as "unimaginable". He also described how he had been forced to step over dead bodies and heard the cries of those trapped under the rubble. "Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed."

In the true spirit of kids helping kids we urge your school to get involved:

• Turn your compassion and concern into action by clicking here.
• Send your Message of Hope to the kids in Haiti impacted by this catastrophic quake- your thoughts and wishes mean so much to them in this time of incredible loss and suffering.

Through SchoolAid's partnership with Plan International Australia and Save the Children, we are pleased to report the following programs and actions already underway for the children affected in Haiti:

• SchoolAid and Plan International Australia's priority is assisting children and their families and getting people at risk into safe accommodation wherever possible. Ensuring children are protected and emotionally supported will also be a key activity. Addressing the emotional and mental impact upon children, which is not as obvious, will be a crucial element of this response with an already existing reach over 43,000 affiliated children and their communities.
• SchoolAid and Save the Children are conducting a needs analyisis and focusing on meeting immediate needs for shelter and relief items, and the focus to then be that of water and sanitation as well as child-focused programs to address to psychosocial needs of the affected children.

Please keep checking this page for updates on progress being made.

Please register here to receive regular updates and feedback for your students so that they can be aware of the tangible outcomes of their contributions.