Haiti (MNN) — Four tropical storms in less than a month have forged a trail of destruction through the Caribbean, worsening the crisis in Haiti. Food for the Hungry's relief team is working with trusted local partners and Global Relief Alliance partners in the hardest hit areas of Haiti to provide disaster and emergency relief.
With less than one percent of its protective forests remaining, Haiti was particularly vulnerable to these storms. The most recent hurricane, Ike, killed at least 58 people. A Dominican man was crushed by a falling tree, and the coastal town of Cabaret was hit particularly hard – 21 mud-caked victims were stacked in a pile at a funeral home there, including two pregnant women, one with a dead girl in her arms. Three more bodies were found from previous storms, raising Haiti's death toll to 319.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and most of the homes there are built out of mud and clay, making them unable to withstand hurricane-force winds and rain. Escalated living expenses that resulted from the storms have gone far beyond the reach of people living on $2 a day. The storms have not only worsened the economic crisis in Haiti, but also the food crisis. Driving winds and rain have destroyed gardens, and people are being forced to eat "cookies" made of clay because they cannot find enough food.
Food for the Hungry implements sustainable development programs to transform communities physically and spiritually. Programs include church, child, and economic development, food security, and health education and prevention.
Please help us reach people who were displaced, hurt and hungry as a result of continuing severe storms by clicking here.
