September 28, 2007

On August 19, Hurricane Dean, a powerful category-5 storm hit the Caribbean and made landfall on Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Haiti, before it reached the coasts of Honduras, Belize and Mexico. Torrential rain and strong winds created large-scale devastation.

In Haiti, according to data collected by the national Direction for Civil Protection and the United Nations, fourteen persons died as a result of Dean; 57 were wounded; a total of 2,183 houses were destroyed and 6,376 were severely damaged. Nearly 9,000 families were directly affected and many remain in temporary shelters, many of living them under basic conditions.

While damage was focused on the coastline area -- affecting housing, road infrastructure and fisheries -- residents in mountainous areas face large losses of crops and cattle.

Among the areas affected were the three communes of Torbeck, Chantal and Camp Perrin in Haiti's Southern Department. About 3,850 persons there were directly affected, including 1,987 women, and 1,077 school children aged between 7 and 15; as well, some 650 street merchants lost their goods; the general population also lost a large part of their harvest and about 1,600 livestock.

Also hit by the hurricane was Jamaica. There torrential rain and strong winds -- gusts of up to 145 mph -- created large-scale devastation, on shelters, livelihoods, electricity and water supply systems. A total of 310,000 persons there have been affected.

The hardest-hit communities from Dean are in the south of the country -- mainly in the parishes of Portland, St. Thomas, St. Catherine and Clarendon. More than 5,000 persons were evacuated into shelters across the country. With the continuing rainfall, lack of potable water, destruction of sanitary facilities and absence of electricity, many persons continue to live in very stressful circumstances.

CWS RESPONSE: In Haiti, CWS is supporting efforts by fellow Action by Churches Together (ACT) International member Christian Aid, which together with its local partner KORAL is directly assisting more than 3,000 affected individuals in these communes. Christian Aid is providing grants and counseling on management to 500 merchants to restart their business; seeds and tools to 2,500 small holder farmers together with information on sustainable farming techniques; distribution of 22 pigs, 50 goats, 10 cows and 1,500 high-bred chicken together with technical support to improve animal raising; distribution of housing material to rehabilitate houses; and facilitation on risk management and disaster preparedness to anticipate the impact of future disasters.

Also working in Haiti: Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH), which is distributing material to repair houses and shelters, seeds to affected farmers, grants to women merchants and fishermen to promote income generation, school kits and cash grants for children from affected families. DKH also plan to facilitate workshops to improve the population's preparedness for future disasters.

CWS is also supporting relief and recovery efforts in Jamaica, where the devastation to homes, livelihoods, electricity and water supply systems is considerable.

Christian Aid and seven implementing partner staff carried out a rapid needs assessment in St. Thomas, Clarendon, St. Catherine and the inner city of Kingston following the hurricane. Apart from immediate needs to provide food, bedding, household items, roofing and building materials, water and water purifiers, books and learning materials for children, it was determined to support the communities with short-term livelihood measures through a cash-for-work program to clear the debris and fallen trees.

Christian Aid, together with its implementing partners Women's Resource Outreach Centre (WROC) and Children First, are supporting 1,435 families with immediate relief activities and another 1,000 families with livelihood assistance and rehabilitation support.

Both implementing partners will distribute non-food items, such as mattresses, tarpaulins, blankets, school kits, hygiene kits, disinfectants and baby kits, as well as supply school uniforms and shoes to children. Also to be distributed: food packages. Children First will provide shelter materials and WROC will also assist chicken farmers to restart their production, cash-crop farmers with seedlings and help to build up organizational capacity of the communities to cope with later disasters.

Contributions to support this effort may be sent to your denomination or directly to: Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515

Contributions may also be made by credit card online, or by calling: 800-297-1516, ext. 222.

Media Contact: Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net