Haiti: Tents and plastic tarps for rainy season

Race against time: The devastating earthquake has rendered estimated 1.2 million people homeless. We are getting into the rainy season now and waterproof accommodations are vitally important. Please help us to help the people of Haiti and donate for plastic tarps and tents!

Before the rainy season sets in at the end of March, people need waterproof accommodation urgently. Currently the live in overcrowded camps, under sheets which are only hold by branches and sticks. Just enough to cover from sun, but the heavy rain literally washes the emergency accommodations away. “Most of the people have already respiratory diseases because they have to sleep on the bare, damp ground" Lizzie Babister explains, CARE expert on emergency accommodations in Haiti.

At first glance tents appear to be a logical emergency measure but there is only very limited space, especially in Port-au-Prince, where accommodations are very crowded. “One family tent measures 16m2, which is four times as much space as there is available for a family" says Babister. If we hand out tents in downtown Port-au-Prince, three-quarter of its population will be displaced. Therefore, plastic tarps are a short-term solution instead of tents. We need loads of plastic tarps, and we need them as soon as possible!” They measure 6x4 meters and could be delivered to Haiti within a few days. They will keep people dry while aid organisations work on long-term solutions.

Although Haiti has disappeared from media coverage, the situation is not even close to normalization. Please help us to help Haiti and donate!

CARE is recipient of the PriceWaterhouse Coopers Transparency Award 2008: http://www.care.de/care-finanzen.html. Read more