– Greg Matthews, one of our disaster relief experts, just returned from Haiti, where he spent 3 weeks distributing aid supplies to communities affected by three hurricanes that hit Haiti in August and September.

Read his first hand account account and watch some videos he recorded:

I just returned from a 3 week disaster relief assignment in Haiti. Most of my time was spent in the city of Gonaives, where I assisted the Haitian Red Cross to organize distributions of relief supplies for families whose homes had been completely destroyed or heavily damaged. The damage was astounding.

In the city, surrounded by deforested mountains, the flood waters were two stories deep and buried the entire downtown area of Gonaives in six feet of mud. Trucks were washed through concrete walls by the rushing flood waters. Houses were buried up to the top of their window frames, and people had to dig steps down to get into the front doors of their homes. Even today, people in Gonaives are still shoveling mud and dried clay out of their houses, trying to get back to normal.

The Red Cross response to this disaster was to distribute hygiene kits, kitchen sets, blankets, jerry cans, buckets, and mosquito nets to 10,000 families across the country, including 1,500 in Gonaives. For the long-term recovery, the Red Cross is assisting families over the next 6 months to rebuild their destroyed homes and working to limit long-term health risks by training communities in hygiene promotion. Additionally, the Haitian Red Cross is undertaking disaster preparedness projects to better prepare themselves and at-risk communities for the next hurricane season.

Filed under: Disaster Response, International, Video