In the News:

Source: Edinburgh Evening News, January 19 2010

Donations flood in for Haiti quake relief effort

By VICTORIA RAIMES

AN INCREDIBLE £100,000 has been donated by Edinburgh residents in just six days to help the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

The Capital has clubbed together to send the equivalent of about £700 an hour to the earthquake-stricken country through an appeal backed by the Evening News.

Such a large amount of money has only once before been gathered in such a small space of time, when the Indian Ocean tsunami struck on Boxing Day in 2004.

In total, more than £2 million has been collected across Scotland to help disaster victims. Donations to Haiti are continuing to roll in to Edinburgh-based Mercy Corps as the charity's volunteers begin working on the ground.

Cassandra Nelson, 37, who flew out at the weekend to Haiti's stricken capital Port-au-Prince, said conditions were "desperate" as the team worked around the clock to help the survivors.

She said: "Because the city is worried about disease and the bodies have started decomposing they have been piled up and burned. There are funeral pyres all over the place and the sight and smell is unbearable. Everybody carries handkerchiefs around to try and mask the smell.

"Most bodies have been cleared away but there are still one or two on show which rescue services cannot get to because they are partially under rubble.

"We have started trying to meet the needs of survivors but it is overwhelming."

Today, two more volunteers from Mercy Corps were set to arrive in Port-au-Prince, and four more set to make their way over in the next week.

The team are getting ready for a delivery of five water filter systems, which they will deliver to the most needy areas. It is thought that the devices can filter 4,000 litres of water per hour, producing enough clean drinking water for 25,000 people.

"In a few days the organisation is also sending a psycho-social worker out to help families deal with their trauma.

Ms Nelson said: "We've had a warm welcome from people we are trying to help, although there is some lawlessness and opportunists out there.

"We're about to start distributing food and other items such as hiking gear, buckets, soap and sanitary products. Everybody we have spoken to so far has lost family, this has affected everyone."

"The focus at the moment is on providing basic supplies, but in ten days or so we also hope to start a cash-for-work initiative, which will allow locals to work clearing the streets of debris and repairing buildings for a daily wage."

John Cunningham, director of fundraising at Mercy Corps, said: "The response from the general public so far has been fantastic.

"Cash given by Edinburgh Evening News readers is helping us to begin scaling up our operations on the ground in Haiti and help survivors of this terrible tragedy."

Lord Provost George Grubb said: "I'm tremendously proud to see the generosity that the people of Edinburgh have shown so far in responding to this tragedy, but it will be an enormous task to rebuild the communities of Haiti so I would urge everyone to give what they can to our local appeal."