With just over a month passed, the earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12 continues to take its toll on survivors.

Current estimates are that more than 3.7 million people have been affected by this unprecedented disaster, with more than 210,000 people dead, 300,000 survivors injured and as many as 1.2 million men, women and children displaced from their homes and communities.

CARE has worked in Haiti since 1954, and when the earthquake hit, we were on the ground, immediately launching our response to help survivors. Given our resources and experience, CARE is focusing on the areas of Pétionville, Delmas and Tabarre in Port-au-Prince, and the neighboring towns of Carrefour and Léogâne.

Distributions of food, water purification packets, water, jerry cans, hygiene kits, mattresses, blankets, newborn kits and clean delivery kits have reached 198,656 people to date.

A breakdown of CARE’s distributions to date include:

• Food distributions to 93,720 individuals and we are considering additional food distributions in Léogâne;
• 3,000 water purification packets;
• More than 10,000 hygiene kits, with a special focus on the needs of women (each kit includes: toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, detergent, shampoo, a comb, towels; safety pins, clothes line, sanitary towels and toilet paper);
• 7,579 mattresses, with priority given to families of pregnant women and women with children;
• 11,306 blankets;
• 236 clean delivery kits to pregnant women to help them deliver more safely in emergency situations (each kit includes plastic sheeting, gloves, a razor and gauze);
• 422 infant kits (which include nappies, a receiving blanket, layette gown, safety pins, soap and booties).
• Ten water storage bladders - providing potable water to 15,000 people daily.
• Installation of 100 latrines. In all, we will construct 3,000 latrines in the settlements.
• Distribution of 8,100 condoms.

For shelter, CARE is procuring 19,500 pieces of plastic sheeting. While tents might seem to be the logical solution, there simply isn’t enough room in downtown Port-au-Prince’s limited public spaces. The shelters that have sprung up after the quake are sandwiched in one next to the other, often using the same poles as supports.

“A typical family tent has a floor space of 16m2, which is four times as much space as people are currently squatting on in the urban areas,” says Lizzie Babister, CARE’s Senior Shelter Advisor in Haiti. “If we start distributing those in downtown Port-au-Prince, we’re going to displace three-quarters of the population. The immediate solution for the congested areas isn’t tents, it’s plastic sheeting. Lots of it, and fast.”

Please donate to our Haiti Earthquake Appeal