LAC Newsletter March 2010 - Focus on Homanitarian Aid, Food Security & Disaster Response

USAID supplies are stacked at an airstrip in the Dominican Republic awaiting transport to Haiti

January 12, 2010 was the day that Haiti’s Enriquillo-Plaintain Fault shifted and changed the lives of Haitians forever. The result was a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that devastated the capital city of Port-au- Prince and surrounding areas. How can you describe the power a magnitude 7.2 earthquake delivers? Dr. Roger Searle from the Department of Earth Science at Durham University in England put it in perspective when he said that an earthquake of this magnitude “releases the energy equivalent of several nuclear bombs.” Two hundred and thirty thousand people lost their lives. Seven hundred thousand lost their homes. In all, 3 million people are affected. And the United States Agency for International Development stepped in.

This was the second day Carleene Dei, the new Mission Director in Haiti, had been in the country. It was the second week on the job for the new Administrator, Dr. Rajiv Shah. If ever USAID’s capacity to do its work was tested, this was the time. The relief and recovery efforts in Haiti began. Over 800 million dollars (plus the $300 million more from other USG entities) of aid have gone to the Caribbean nation in the form of help ranging from search and rescue to water, food, temporary shelter, medical intervention, and sanitation. It’s estimated that it will take five years or more for Haiti to recover. And USAID will be there.

Haitians cheered as USAID-supported Disaster Aid Response Team workers pulled survivors from the rubble. The efforts of the Agency in this incident are praised by many. But the special, impactful work performed by USAID and implementing partners is all part of what we do daily in the countries we serve.

Documents

• March 2010 LAC Newsletter [918.37 KB | 2010-03-01]