Update for CHF International: Haiti on February 8, 2010

CHF Haiti Update, 2.5.2010
Notes from the field - Friday February 5, 2010

WHERE WE ARE WORKING RIGHT NOW: We are working Port Au Prince (PaP) (namely Delmas, Petion-Ville, Cite Soleil, Port Au Prince and Carrefour). We are also working in Grand Goave, Jacmel, Petit Goave, Leogane, Petit Guinee, Cap Haitien, Martissant St. Marc and Gonaives as well as a host of other communities across Haiti. For a map of our operations, please visit the website at www.chfinternational.org

ON THE GROUND IN HAITI RIGHT NOW:
CHF continues to work by aiding first responder groups in emergency response: lending our facilities, equipment and logistics to assist in the relief operations. We are supporting numerous first responder organizations and our established network of local partners - we are encouraged by the number of our local partners who have stood up in recent days.
CHF is providing support to international organizations including Handicap International, IOM, Doctors
Without Borders, IMC, Habitat for Humanity, Partners in Health, Spanish, French and Haitian Red Cross, The Boy Scouts, Medecins du Monde Suisse to name a few.
· Our staff is reporting that a decision has been made not to build large-scale camps; rather decided to keep people near their homes and provide temporary housing; government deciding to build shelters that can withstand the rainy / hurricane season (note: result of NGO, including CHF, advocacy efforts; the President was shown a photo of CHF's pilot shelter prior to this announcement)
· CHF has completed the construction of six pilot shelters with the addition of 2 shelters in La Pleine. This allows for different communities to have a pilot for the teaching of local community members - CHF use 3-4 local community members and one of our experts to oversee the construction of the pilot shelter giving Haitian the ability to invest in the construction of their new home and rebuild the social fabric of the community.
· Met with mayors in PG and Carrefour to begin site identification for the construction of transitional shelters.
· The CHF and Water.org team is working on creating a strategy for increased water and sanitation efforts in communities affected by the earthquake - especially by working with local community based organizations. Read the water.org blog here http://water.org/2010/02/day-two-in-haiti/
· In CHF's rubble removal program we cleared 48 truckloads of rubble today at the Ministry of Education, Rue Lamarre, a site in Bel Air (San Fil).
· Our Harris partners - continue to create much needed capacity for a variety of organizations including CHF, the local Save the Children office, a local hospital, and the US Government - USAID, ICE, FAA, and others. Tomorrow they head to Petit Goave to link us up.

In Petit Goave:
o CHF is leading organizing efforts waterproof housing has usurped water as the number one issue in PG. Tents and tarps are the most requested form of aid.
o In partnership with our local and international partners substantial food/water aid has been distributed by the US Marines since 23 January, with some limited NFIs.
o CHF launched 35 teams of 12 people (and supervisors) totaling 429 (289 men and 140 women) for a cash for work rubble clearing program. This six-month program will focus on priorities such as streets, public buildings, and private homes. The team is clearing the following streets Rue Républicaine, Rue Notre-Dame, Rue Faustin et Petite-Guinée, Rue Louverture, Rue Faustin, Rue Bijou et Petite-Guinée
In Cap Haitien:
o Lycee Toussaint L'Ouverture Breda: The final completion of the building is taking place and is expected to be handed over in early March.
o Travaux de Conservation de Sols Bonnet à l'Evêque-Milot/Citadelle: The project is completed and will be handed over next week.
o CHF and a community-based organization called KOREPA have come into a grant agreement to launch the second phase of the Soil Conservation project at Camp Coq in the Commune of Limbe. Activities will launch this week ahead of the rainy season

CHF-Haiti Blog Update - Feb. 5, 2010: Facilitating Communications in Petit-Goave

The CHF office in Petit-Goave has a longstanding policy of transparency in our activities, particularly via regular informational and interview sessions broadcast on local radio stations. Shortly after the US Marines arrived in Petit-Goave, CHF offered to coordinate one or more radio appearances where the Marines could directly talk to the people of Petit-Goave and explain their mission. On February 4, accompanied by CHF Communications Officer Wilner Saint-Preux, a delegation of Marines appeared on the most popular daily program in Petit-Goave and discussed a number of topics, including why the US military is in Haiti and the best way to cook the humanitarian rations that the Marines have been distributing in Petit-Goave. CHF plans to continue facilitating introductions and close communication between the local community and newly-arrived humanitarian groups in Petit-Goave.
CHF-Haiti Blog Update - Feb. 4, 2010: CHF Cash-for-Work Teams Cleaning Up Petit-Goave
CHF labor teams clean up debris along Rue Republicaine, the main street in downtown Petit-Goave. CHF is currently employing 429 workers per day to clean up the hardest-hit areas of Petit-Goave. CHF's program in the largest public works project in the Petit-Goave region. The income generated from the CHF program is especially welcome in the region because banks have still not opened in Petit-Goave following the 12 January earthquake and cash is extremely scarce
Commentary from the field: CHF Continues to Witness Peaceful Food and Essential Items Distribution
"As well as our own work, we witness the work of many other relief agencies on a daily basis. And contrary to many media reports, almost all distributions of food and other essential materials are peaceful. This distribution by the World Food Programme on Tuesday, February 2, in conjunction with the Government of Haiti, is part of a major distribution that began on January 31, 2010, to distribute more than 10,000 metric tonnnes of rice to over 2 million people. With the help of the UN and the Haitian police, and by using a system of coupons, registration and focusing on women recipients, this and the other distributions are passing peacefully and reaching the people most in need. By February 2, over 639,000 people had received rice and other staples. CHF is a partner of the World Food Programme in the Gaza Strip, where, during the conflict with Israel in December 2008 - January 2009, we gave out food to over 200,000 people throughout the bombings and after."

SHELTER
o Shelter assistance remains an urgent priority. Plastic sheeting is preferred over tents due to the lack of physical space and because it allows people to remain close to their homes.
o Sanitation is becoming a major concern at many of the temporary sites.
o The IOM is coordinating UN efforts to provide shelter. It estimates that 900,000 to 1.1 million people are in acute need of emergency shelter assistance, most of them in the capital
o The removal of rubble from affected areas will help to expand the available land to accommodate displaced. According to USAID/DART, preliminary estimates indicate the presence of up to 20 million cubic yards of rubble to be removed from Port-au-Prince.

WATSAN and FOOD
o DINEPA (state water company) is providing water via the private water company "Miracle Water"
o Getting assistance to people who have moved to outlying departments remains a concern. WFP is reinforcing food assistance in Artibonite department. Food prices are reportedly still rising and people are having difficulty in the North and North-East departments in meeting their basic food needs, according to MINUSTAH.
o WFP numbers regarding people receiving food since 13 January: 639,182
o 419,028 in Port au Prince
o 219, 254 outside of Port au Prince
An additional 338K reached by 2 week ration