Haiti Earthquake Disaster - Healthy Life Essex

As many viewers are aware, the Caribbean nation of Haiti was struck on the 12th January with a colossal earthquake that measured a disastrous 7.0 magnitude. The extent of the devastation is becoming clearer day by day, but statistics are still very inaccurate but the Red Cross has estimated that around three million people have been affected by the quake.  Haiti’s worst quake in two centuries hit south of the capital Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, wrecking the presidential palace, UN HQ and other buildings.

Now, 9 days later, the recovery process has begun  but will take months, most possibly years, to recover from Haiti’s worst earthquake in two centuries.  Workers are carving out mass graves on a hillside north of Haiti’s capital, using earth-movers to bury 10,000 people in a single day. Clinics have 12-day waiting lists for patients, untreated injuries are festering and makeshift camps in parks and vacant lots now house an estimated 300,000 people, many in need of food, water and medical care. At least 51 sizable aftershocks have jolted the city, sending nervous Haitians fleeing repeatedly into the streets — and keeping many sleeping in the open. Quakes of magnitude 4.9 and 4.8 followed in quick succession just before noon Thursday, prompted rescue crews to briefly abandon work on precarious, ruined buildings, though there were no reports of casualties or damage.

UNICEF has sent teams from around the region and aid is getting through, but more supplies are urgently needed. The situation for Haiti was already sparse before the earthquake happened due to struggling to recover from years of violence, insecurity and massive natural disasters and this earthquake has just added pressure onto the country’s finance ten fold. Many companies and retailers are now joining with Earthquake support groups to pass off a percentage of their profits to Haiti Earthquake funds but this still is not enough. UNICEF are urgently pleading for any donations, anything from £1 to £100, anything you can spare. Please help to rectify a matter which has damaged so many families, lives, companies and overall, an already declining nation.

To donate, click this link (and follow the Haiti banner): http://www.unicef.org.uk/