Haiti earthquake update

With your help, SOS Children worldwide has raised a total of over £32 million to support the SOS Children Emergency Relief Programme in Haiti following the earthquake on 12 January 2010. This has made such a difference to the lives of thousands of children and families in the country and will continue to do so well into the future.  

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, we were well-positioned to respond to the disaster. SOS Children have been caring for children in Haiti since 1978 and with our SOS Children’s Village Santo just outside Port-au-Prince virtually undamaged; we were able to use this as a base to meet the immediate needs of unaccompanied children and vulnerable families.

More than eight months later, the situation in Haiti is still fragile and we continue to provide protection, shelter and care for hundreds of children who have lost their parents in the disaster.  In addition, we are supporting thousands of families in the community with food, medicine and clothing.

Find out how we are working to prevent the spread of cholera

What we are doing:

• A total of 408 children are currently living in SOS Children’s Village in Santo, just outside Port-au-Prince, including 124 who lived in the Village before the earthquake struck on 12 January 2010.
• A further 284 children are currently living as family groups in temporary shelters on the Village site
  
• 165 have been reunited with their families
  
• Working in conjunction with other NGOs and the Government, we are continuing attempts to reunite unaccompanied children with biological relatives. So far, 165 children who were temporarily in our care have been reunited with their families.
• Since re-opening in April, the SOS School in Santo has increased its capacity to provide an education to even more children. 800 children now attend the school, including all school age children in temporary care.
• The SOS Family Strengthening Programme continues to run 117 community-based support centres providing food, medical help and psychological support for needy families in the local community, benefiting an average of 21,500 children.