In the News:

Source: Edinburgh Evening News, January 21, 2010

Food donations reach stricken quake survivors

By Gareth Edwards

RESCUERS have begun to distribute aid, funded through an Evening News-backed appeal, to thousands of survivors of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Staff from Edinburgh-based Mercy Corps were today beginning to distribute nutrient-rich biscuits to nearly 5,000 earthquake-survivor patients and their families at General Hospital, the largest hospital in the capital Port-au-Prince.

The food is vital for patients at the hospital, with many families unable to provide for injured loved ones, and others left with no-one at all after last week's disaster.

Mercy Corps volunteer Cassandra Nelson, who flew out over the weekend, was among those helping with the food distribution, organised in collaboration with Partners In Health, an American group which is providing medical care and supplies to the hospital.

She said that while the situation on the ground in the Haitian capital was improving, the food was still desperately needed.

"There are thousands of people at the hospital, and it has no facilities to provide them with food, as traditionally here the families of the sick will bring in food for them," she said.

"Many families simply cannot do that at the moment, while others have sadly lost everyone in the earthquake, so this is really desperately needed in order to help them survive and recover.

"Access to food has been one of the biggest problems here, and while the situation is improving, with some sellers back out on the streets, a lot of people can't get access to money to buy it. The electricity is out in many places and the devastation is still evident all around us."

The distribution comes just a day after Haiti was rocked by the biggest aftershock yet – a tremor measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck about 35 miles north west of Port-au-Prince, leading to widespread panic.

Ms Nelson said the aftershock had been "a terrifying wake-up call" for aid workers.

"We were all sleeping indoors when it happened and we just ran outside in our pyjamas," she said. "You could really feel it, and everyone was just wondering if it would get worse or die down."

Dr Brian Baptie, a seismologist at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, said the aftershock would have caused further structural damage to buildings.

"It's the largest of the aftershocks so far but there are likely to be more over the next two or three weeks," he said.

Officials believe the death toll from last week's earthquake, which measured 7 on the Richter scale, has now reached 200,000, with 250,000 injured and 1.5 million homeless.

Experts warned that the chances of finding more survivors were slim, with buried victims unlikely to last more than three days without water.

Aid agencies said they are still facing problems getting supplies to those in need amid ongoing fears that the desperation for food could erupt into further violence.

Mercy Corps' team of emergency response experts is currently on the ground assessing needs and working to meet them.

Spokesman Ross Hornsey said: "At the moment we are focusing first on the immediate humanitarian needs – for water, food, temporary shelter supplies and much more. However, we are also simultaneously laying the groundwork for longer-term recovery."

The Department for International Development said the UK would send a Royal Fleet Auxiliary supplies ship loaded with aid to help the relief operation.

RFA Largs Bay – due to sail before the end of the month – is expected to help the United Nations ferry bulk supplies around the stricken country.

Meanwhile, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) said donations to its Haiti appeal had reached £31.5 million. The UK Government has pledged £20m.