Barbara J. Fraser, a 2010 Egan Award winner, traveled to Haiti to see CRS relief work and wrote. The following is excerpted from a story she wrote for The Catholic Sun.

In one earthquake-ravaged neighborhood beside a steep ravine, residents are turning rubble into riches.

Not only are they using debris from damaged buildings to make concrete for new construction, they are also earning a living and learning to run what they hope will become a thriving new community business.

Next to a brightly painted, prefabricated wooden shelter, two women crank the flywheel of a small machine that grinds chunks of broken concrete into gravel or sand, which can be recycled into building material.

“Rubble is of no value until it is broken down into something that does have value,” said Kevin Osborne of the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Relief Services, who manages a rubble-recycling project. “There is a lot of rubble in Port-au-Prince that has to be disposed of or reused. It doesn’t make sense to dump it somewhere” instead of using it to rebuild.

Read the full story here.

A cholera outbreak in central Haiti has left 250 people dead and more than 3,000 ill. Haitian president Rene Preval confirmed the outbreak on Friday, October 22, after first reports of the illness and deaths were made in St. Marc in the southern Artibonite department, the center of the Cholera spate about 60-miles northwest of Port-au-Prince.

Health officials now fear the spread of the disease to the camps of Port-au-Prince, where more than one million displaced people still live. Poor sanitation and hygiene in the settlements make people there particularly vulnerable to the disease, which causes diarrhea and vomiting so severe that it can kill a person within hours. The Associated Press stated that five cholera patients have been reported in Haiti’s capital, but government officials said Sunday that all five apparently contracted cholera outside Port-au-Prince.

Catholic Relief Services mobilized a massive response just 1 day after the cholera outbreak was confirmed. CRS and partner staff went tent to tent in 12 camps in Port-au-Prince, distributing three bars of soap each to more than 10,000 families (more than 50,000 people) and reaching as many people through an information campaign (simple flyers in Creole) that promotes hand washing and personal hygiene.

CRS’ health team, with colleagues from the University of Maryland, has also been working to help 7 CRS supported hospitals around the country prepare to respond to a possible influx of cholera patients.
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An outbreak of Cholera began in Haiti’s Artibonite region earlier this week. The most recent reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) are of 157 deaths and more than 1,567 infected.

According to media reports, substantial numbers of cases have been seen at St. Nicholas Hospital in St. Marc and the hospital in Petite Riviere (30km east). Both hospitals are supported by US-based Partners in Health (Paul Farmer’s NGO).

Cases in Mirebelais (86km from St Marc and 40km from greater Port-au-Prince) have also been confirmed today. It is not yet clear if transmission is occurring in Mirebelais or if people from the St. Marc area are seeking care there.

At the request of the Haitian government, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and the humanitarian community have begun responding. Medical teams have been mobilized, and medical supplies are being provided to the local hospitals.  Ten thousand boxes of water purification tablets, 2,500 jerry cans, and 2,500 buckets and hygiene kits are being distributed. Re-hydration salt sachets have also been distributed. Teams are traveling to the area to assist the local authorities in making a detailed assessment of needs and further assistance will be provided accordingly. The UN managed Health Cluster reports a stock of 300,000 courses of antibiotics.

There has been discussion in Haiti of establishing ring containment (“cordon sanitaire”) (similar to quarantine) to restrict further spread.

CRS’ Role

CRS does not currently have any health presence in or near the affected area. Our closest partners are Hopital Alma Mater in Gros Morne (83km north) and Hopital St Francois de Sales in Port-au-Prince (96km south).

CRS is in contact with the WHO situation room and is preparing to respond to requests if and how our help is needed.

Currently, CRS is not directly involved in the response in the affected areas. The focus now is on preparation in the event our help is needed or the outbreak spreads to Port-au-Prince.

The team is focusing on keeping staff and their families safe. The CRS/Haiti Staff Safety and Security team shared information about the fatal diarrhea outbreak with all staff on October 21 (at that time reported as likely dysentery). Subsequently the health team has prepared and shared information with staff on prevention and mitigation of diarrhea.

The health team is verifying stocks of key supplies and equipment (IV solution, gloves, antibiotics, cots, etc).

The Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) team is working on key messaging (handwashing, use of safe water (bottled/boiled), how to make/use of oral rehydration salts) for populations in Port-au-Prince.

Beginning today and continuing over the weekend, the WASH team will conduct emergency distributions of soap in the settlements in Port-au-Prince, increase the quantity of water delivered, spray all sanitation and hygiene facilities with chlorine solutions, and conduct awareness sessions.

CRS has restricted staff movement to and from St. Marc and Mirebelais to only immediate operational requirements.

A ceremony and mass to launch construction to build the new St. Francois de Sales Hospital in Haiti. Photo by Benjamin Depp

Nine months after the earthquake, St. Francois de Sales Hospital, Catholic Relief Services and partners came together yesterday to remember those who perished at the hospital, to celebrate the courage of those who helped revive it in the days and weeks following the earthquake, and to usher in a period of rebuilding.

“The hospital was a victim and a witness of this catastrophe but it remains a tangible symbol of life, hope and renewal,” said Luke King, the newly appointed country representative for Haiti, at a mass held yesterday on the grounds of the collapsed hospital.

The mass was officiated by Archbishop Bernardito Auza, papal nuncio, and Haitian Bishops Joseph Lafontant and Pierre André Pierre. Also in attendance were Dominican musician Juan Luis Guerra and Melba Segura de Grullón, president of the Dominican-based Sur Futuro Foundation, which raised money to help rebuild the pediatric hospital wing.

Anna van Rooyen, CRS Chief of Party, unveiled plans for the new hospital, which call for building a 200-bed facility on the grounds of the old site. Meanwhile, a temporary hospital, about 30 minutes drive away, has been set up.

From Odyssey Network’s Faith in Action Series:

“When Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York visited Haiti one week after the earthquake, he made a promise to return and to keep its plight before the eyes of the world. He fulfiled that promise in August. An Odyssey Networks film crew was with the Archbishop as he returned.”

Please join the next a Catholics Confront Global Poverty webcast: Haiti: Rebuilding with Hope on Wednesday, September 15 from 2:00-3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.

Join us for an update and discussion about the current situation in Haiti and the prospects for the future, including:
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Thanks in part to your advocacy efforts, Congress has passed the FY 2010 Supplemental Appropriations bill.  This bill will provide critical support for people suffering from emergencies around the world including urgently needed funding to help Haiti recover from January’s devastating earthquake, assist refugees, and support humanitarian efforts.

What was the Church’s position? As stated in letters to House and Senate appropriators, CRS and USCCB requested:

• $2.5 billion for longer-term reconstruction in Haiti and
• $1.597 billion for other global emergency needs, including;
• $702 million for International Disaster Assistance
• $580 million for Food Assistance
• $165 million for Migration and Refugee Assistance
• $97 million for the Office of Refugee Resettlement
• $53 million for Economic Support Fund in Sudan

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This morning, Nicole Balliette, Deputy Director of the Haiti Earthquake Emergency Response effort, will testified before Congress about the emergency response effort.

Below is her testimony to the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, part of the  House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Thank you Chairman Engel (NY) and Ranking Member Mack (FL) for calling this important hearing and giving Catholic Relief Services an opportunity to testify. My name is Nicole Balliette and I am the CRS Deputy Director for the Haiti Earthquake Response. With the committee’s permission, I would like to enter my full written testimony for the record and I will summarize it orally. At this time, I would like to thank the members of this committee for the passage of the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act, the Haiti Debt Relief and Earthquake Recovery Act, and for swift passage of the Haiti supplemental. CRS would also like to thank Mr. Conyers (MI) for introducing the HEAR Act.
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You may have seen or heard about a report on the Wednesday, May 12 edition of the CBS Evening News titled “Following the Aid Money to Haiti.” The piece looked at the top five U.S. aid agencies that have raised the most money for Haiti and how much they’ve spent so far. The implication is that these aid agencies, including Catholic Relief Services, are not spending the money given by U.S. donors fast enough, and as a result, people in Haiti are being neglected. That’s not true.

This is far from telling the whole story.

-       All CRS Haiti donations will be spent on Haiti relief, recovery and rebuilding per CRS donor expectations.

-       CRS does not “hold back” money or neglect those in immediate need.

-       CRS provides donors with a thorough accounting of donations and expenses

-       Because CRS also provides beneficiaries with non-monetary donations, such as large amounts of food, we’re actually providing more aid than is reflected in early financial reports

-       CRS has been in Haiti for 55 years. Most of our employees there are Haitians. They and CRS will continue relief and recovery work long after the media spotlight fades.
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Issa Bitang (far right), who works for CRS Dominican Republic, talks with youth in Ouanaminthe, Haiti. CRS is considering starting a youth employment project there. Photo by Lane Hartill/CRS

Issa Bitang knows a thing or two about youth employment. In 1990, after his parents separated, the 15-year-old quickly became an adult. He cared for himself, paid his school fees, and scraped together $12 a month to rent a room on the back streets of Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital. To afford this, he set up a stand selling candy, chewing gum, and crackers. But cigarettes paid the bills. He sold singles for a few cents, and the wealthier men would spring for a pack. He sometimes walked the streets with his selection displayed on a platter on his head. This is how he’d make $30 to $50 a month.
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