Concern Blogs

One of the first houses completed at Concern site, Tabarre Issa in Haiti. Photo: Ed Kenney, Concern Worldwide

Since I arrived in Haiti three days after the January 12^th earthquake, I have spent nearly four months on the ground there.  Part of my time was spent working in my normal capacity as a Communications Officer, shooting video, writing reports and case studies, and liaising with journalists and photographers.

I also spent two months on the front lines of Concern’s emergency response as part of the distribution team, bringing tents, essential relief supplies and supplementary nutrition rations to communities throughout Port-au-Prince, as well as our rural operation areas, Saut d’Eau and La Gonave.

I recently returned to Haiti for a week to report on the progress of Concern’s work.  It was extremely satisfying to see Concern’s country program shifting much of its energy and resources from the initial emergency response phase to the next crucial stage of Haiti’s recovery – transitional shelter. Read the rest of this entry »

By Elke Leidel

Concern is building transitional shelter for 2,500 people at a new site it designed at Tabarre Issa.

(PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—July 12, 2010) It was a hot afternoon on Jan. 12, the day that marked the beginning of the toughest, most agonizing stretch of my professional career.

Fast forward to today, the six-month point after the quake. The UN and an army of aid agencies have provided emergency shelter—in the form of tents and tarpaulins—to 354,573 households, which actually accounts for more than 1.7 million people. Survivors are scattered across 1,100 camps, their shelter being precarious at best now that the hurricane season has begun. The work for the longer haul is now underway.

Along with other NGOs, Concern is entering the medium to long-term phase of the earthquake response: to provide displaced families with durable housing for the coming couple of years, pending the construction of permanent residences. This will absorb a significant portion of the billions of dollars raised and pledged worldwide. The real hard work has now begun—there are plans to construct a total of 125,308 transitional shelters, at least 1200 of which will be built by Concern. And yes, there are lots of obstacles. The government is still in the process of reorganizing itself and not much will change until after the fall elections. Read the rest of this entry »

Mothers enter one of Concern's newly set up baby tents. Photo: Ed Kenney, Concern Worldwide.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – I was scheduled to travel to Haiti early in the year to visit Concern’s USAID funded Child Survival Program, but the January 12 earthquake changed all that. I finally arrived in Port-au-Prince May 24 after my flight the day before had been cancelled. I began to wonder if I would never get there.

My first impression is that Haiti seems, on the surface at least, similar to West Africa. There is such vibrancy here and resilience among the people—but, just under the surface, there must also be a lot of pain and loss. That was evident as I visited the neighborhoods where the Child Survival Program is still functioning to some extent.

I visited the community center near the rubble in St Martin, hidden among many of the buildings still standing, where new mothers meet to discuss their health concerns, as well as encourage and support each other during this challenging time. Read the rest of this entry »

A soccer stadium just four months ago, this tent settlement at Place de la Paix in Port-au-Prince is now home to 8,000 people.

By Mark Jafar – Vice President of Corporate Communications at MTV Networks – for Concern Worldwide

Walk around the edges of the sunken tent settlement at Place de la Paix in Port-au-Prince, and it’s nearly impossible to tell that this was a soccer stadium just four months ago.

The grass is gone entirely, replaced by bare earth and debris.  There are no goal nets or benches, just shelters made of tarp, cardboard, and rusted scraps of sheet metal.

And where kids and adults once gathered to watch soccer matches or to kick a ball across the field, an estimated 8,000 displaced people are now living in shocking, unsanitary, overcrowded conditions, often with nothing but a few pieces of plastic sheeting to shelter them from the rains, which are heavy this time of year. Read the rest of this entry »

Concern paves the way for the newly built settlement in Tabarre Issa, which can accomodate more than 500 families. Photo: Haiti, Concern Worldwide

By Mark Jafar – Vice President of Corporate Communications at MTV Networks. Mark is currently visiting Concern’s emergency operation in Haiti.

Bourdon Valley, Port-au-Prince – Tucked into the hills that rise above central Port-au-Prince lies Bourdon Valley, an enclave of beautiful, verdant forest flanked by the eastern suburbs of Delmas and Canape Vert.

Read the rest of this entry »

60 year-old Camila Avril sits outside her newly erected tent with daughter Lucienne Dorci, 34 and granddaughters Dudmicah Aladin, 6 months, and Esdrac Dorci, 17.

“The house jumped!” 60 year-old Camila Avril is describing what happened to her home on January 12, the day of the earthquake that devastated parts of Haiti.

Since then, she and the members of her household pictured here have been sleeping in the crudely fenced yard of a neighbor.

Read the rest of this entry »

Child is treated for malnutrition at Concern's stabilization unit. Photo: Ed Kenney, Concern Worldwide

We know that distributions are only part of the answer and in our focus group discussions, women made it clear: jobs are a priority and work is seen as freedom. ‘If you work, you can have a house and not depend on others … you can eat regularly … Without work you are still a slave,’ said one. Read the rest of this entry »

82nd Airborne provide security at a distribution in the Place de la Paix camp. Photo: Tom Dobbins, Concern Worldwide.

I have just spent the day visiting Concern’s emergency team in the poorest areas of Port-au-Prince. It was a long, hot day—but it was a great day.  I feel very energized and excited about what we have been able to achieve in the past few weeks, and also excited to be able to tell you how  your support is allowing us to make a real and immediate difference here.

We have a great team of more than 250 staff now working in Port-au-Prince; 230 of them are Haitian, and we are recruiting more every day.

Read the rest of this entry »

Typical scene in informal slums of Haiti. Some 42 percent of Haitians had no access to clean drinking water even before the earthquake. Photo: Megan Christensen, Concern Worldwide

I arrived in Haiti the end of 2009, when the earthquake had not yet devastated the capital of Port-au-Prince. Initially, I was intimidated by the robust presence of the United Nations police and peacekeeping forces. But, according to Concern’s Haiti staff, the UN presence had played a major role in stabilizing this island nation and improving the security situation for the people living here.

At that time, Haiti’s streets were vibrant and full of life and despite the many challenges people seemed happy and hopeful about a more prosperous future.

According to reports from my colleagues in the field, that resilience has not been hampered by the recent disaster. Read the rest of this entry »

Supporters of Concern Worldwide Michael Londra, Susan Finucane (Concern worker), Patty Mulvihill McMenamin and Kathy Adler attended a pre-event celebratory reception for the 2010 Women of Concern Brigid Awards. All proceeds will go to Concern's relief efforts in Haiti.

I was obliged to return to base in New York last week in order to fulfil my role as Program Officer. It was a difficult decision to make as I felt like I was abandoning the team and the people in need in Haiti, but our programs in other fields beckon, and sadly, time waits for no man. Read the rest of this entry »