Concern Blogs

In Cite Okay neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, poor sanitation and water quality have been a major threat to the health of the community. Concern has been working with local organizations, youth volunteers and health committees to clean up neighborhoods and promote clean, litter free environments.

It is difficult to imagine that just 700 miles from United States soil, mothers are still dying in childbirth and children continue to pay the ultimate price for contracting such preventable diseases such as diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition.

For Haitians, the health situation is the worst in the western hemisphere. To make matters worse, the country is threatened by extreme weather conditions including major hurricanes and tropical storms that are destroying infrastructure and uprooting livelihoods.

Cycles of political instability and violence further contribute to the severity of the situation for Haitians. Indeed, for many here, the  struggle for survival is very much a daily reality.

As I board a direct flight, three and a half hours from New York to Port-au-Prince, I can’t help but wonder what the more than 9 million people of this island nation, comparative by size to the state of Maryland, endure each day. I am travelling to Haiti to meet with Concern’s Child Survival team for a three-day annual review workshop to discuss major accomplishments and challenges of the program over the past year.

This is a rather unique project because our efforts are concentrated in the urban slums of Port-au-Prince. As more individuals and families migrate to urban centers, rapid, unplanned urbanization poses major health and development consequences. Haiti is no exception; clean water is scarce and lack of sanitation and poor hygiene compounds an already fragile health situation.

Hopefully this blog will provide insight to the lives of the people in Haiti, tell their story and illustrate how the work of Concern is benefiting the people.