Haiti: One year on

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A devastating earthquake hit Haiti in 2010. The 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck 10 miles west of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, on January 12th 2010, killing more than 220,000 people and leaving at least one million homeless. Of course, when the earthquake struck, SOS Children was already there. We have been present in Haiti since 1978 and have two Children’s Villages, in Santo (just outside Port-au-Prince) and Cap Haïtien (in the north of the country), which were already home to more than 400 children. We also have two SOS Youth Homes; two SOS Schools; one SOS Vocational Training Centre and four Social Centres, from which Family Strengthening Programmes are run.

After the earthquake, we have provided emergency shelter for 300 extra children, who have no parental care, in our SOS families and temporary shelters. We managed to reunite 165 of those children with their families. We also helped families in the community. In 16 feeding centres we provide daily meals to 14,000 children and their families. Furthermore, the SOS School in our Santo Village provides an extra 400 children with an education. We have planned a comprehensive reconstruction programme which will last up to 12 years.