Topic: Crisis Response

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (January 16, 2010) – CARE warns that pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and young children are at greatest risk after Tuesday’s devastating quake that devastated the capital city of Port-au-Prince left nearly three million people in need of assistance. There is an estimated 37,000 pregnant women among the affected population in urgent need of safe drinking water, food and medical care. Half of Haiti’s population is younger than 18 years old.

GONAIVES, HAITI (January 14, 2010) – CARE has launched a global appeal for US$10 million to help the survivors of Tuesday’s devastating quake in Port-au-Prince. The exact death toll is unknown, but aid groups are estimating that three million people are affected and in need of assistance – one-third of Haiti’s population.

HAITI (January 13, 2010) – A massive earthquake has hit Haiti. Help is urgently needed for the hundreds of thousands likely affected by the disaster, especially for the most vulnerable - women and girls.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (January 13, 2010) – CARE is deploying additional emergency team members to the devastated city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti, where the worst earthquake in 200 years destroyed houses and left thousands homeless. While the exact death toll from the 7.0-magnitude quake is not yet known, it is expected to be catastrophic.

As we arrive at the CARE warehouse, colourful crowds of people are already gathering at the gates. Today is the sixth, monthly round of emergency food distributions to some of the most vulnerable people in Alowa Gora kebele, in Chiro, Ethiopia.

Seated on the floor of the Kuni Town Health Centre, in Gemechis woreda, Halima Dawit shared the tragic story of Khadija’s life. Six months ago shortly after Khadija was born, her mother – Halima’s daughter – died. A happy event had turned to tragedy. Halima took up the role of carer for her new granddaughter, but that was just the start of her struggle.

Twenty-five years ago, during the infamous 1984 famine in Ethiopia, Ebrahim Jemal’s life was saved by emergency food distributed by CARE International. Today he has come full circle, working for CARE to strengthen the livelihoods of people in his community so that they can protect themselves from future emergencies.

The entire country is preparing to celebrate Diwali – the Indian festival of lights. So was Masamma, a 75-year-old grandmother who lives with her son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters. However, fate had other plans for her as all her plans for celebrations have now been washed away along with her modest home.

Mrs Kiang makes her way down to the river with a blue mosquito net hanging over her shoulder. ‘What have you got that for?’ Noi, part of the CARE team assessing the area in Laos, asks her. ‘I found it and am going to wash it in the river and then use it,’ Mrs Kiang replies. ‘How did you know where to look?’ we ask, indicating the rubble all around. ‘That was my house,’ she says, pointing at a huge pile of wood and tree branches we’re staring at.