Sean Penn’s plea to his fellow celebs at a Cannes gala “Haiti is watching us tonight like you cannot believe.” Reuters reports that the event raised $2 million for aid to the poverty stricken nation still reeling from the massive earthquake of January 2010.

Lest we forget:

Our coverage of the Haiti earthquake and its aftermath

U.S. Geological Survey – report of the 7.0 earthquake on January 12, 2010

CNN – special report on the Haiti earthquake

USAID – American assistance provided to the Haitian people after the earthquake

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund

An aerial view of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, from an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort, shows the devastation of the 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti Jan. 12, 2010. Approximately 230,000 Haitians are reported to have died as a result of the earthquake. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Chelsea Kennedy. Click for a larger image.

January 12, 2010: The United Nations reports

The earthquake that hit Haiti on 12 January 2010 affected almost 3.5 million people, including the entire population of 2.8 million people living in Port-au-Prince. The Government of Haiti estimates that the earthquake killed 222,570 and injured another 300,572 people. Displacement peaked at close to 2.3 million people, including 302,000 children. At least 188,383 houses were badly damaged and 105,000 were destroyed by the earthquake. Sixty per cent of Government and administrative buildings, 80 per cent of schools in Port-au-Prince and 60 per cent of schools in the South and West Departments were destroyed or damaged. Total earthquake-related loss is estimated at $7.8 billion, equivalent to more than 120 per cent of Haiti’s 2009 gross domestic product.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jay Wamsley holds a Haitian toddler during a humanitarian visit to one of many small villages outside Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, Feb. 2, 2010. Wamsley, an environmental health and safety officer, is temporarily assigned to Port Security Unit 307. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Adam Eggers.

In October 2010, cases of cholera began to appear in Haiti. The illness had not been seen for generations and it spread rapidly. As of December 26, 2011, the Haitian Ministry of Health reports 522,946 cases of cholera since then, and a total of at least 7,011 deaths.

The situation two years after the earthquake remains grim. Over 500,000 Haitians remain in nearly 1,000 refugee camps. The deaths and illnesses from cholera continue, though improvements in sanitation and availability of treatment have cut the death rate nearly in half.

The World Food Program states

Haiti is a food deficit country. It relies heavily on imported food – 50 percent of national requirements are imported. Food prices have been rising since the end of 2010. In a country where approximately half of the population lives with less than $1 a day and three quarters have less than $2 per day, this increase has led to an overall loss of purchasing power for the majority of Haitians. WFP is using its three main programmes – school meals, nutrition and cash and food for work- to alleviate the impact of rising food prices on the most vulnerable.

Still, for the first time in 25 years, the Haitian government has all three branches functioning. The Caracol Industrial Park will open in March and its first tenant, Korean textile firm Sae-A, has committed to creating 20,000 new jobs. About half of the rubble created by the earthquake has been removed with 30-40 percent having been recycled into new construction. Much of the remaining “rubble” consists of buildings that have been condemned but the owners believe they can be salvaged.

U.S. Southern Command has conveyed a supply of disaster response equipment to the Haitian government. The United States has donated 12 boats, four sport utility vehicles, and 11,000 hand-crank radios to Haiti’s Direction de la Protection Civile (DPC).

Haitian children in Gonaives wait for medical clinic. U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Jessica M. Lopez

Task Force Kout Men moved into northern Haiti in mid June. Over 500 members of the United States military, the National Guard, Reserves and the regulars, will be working in and around the city of Gonaives. The base camp is in the village of Mandrin.

The task force is headed by the Louisiana National Guard who chose the Creole name, which means “Helping Hands”. The exercise is titled “New Horizons – Haiti 2010″ and the men and women rotating through during the June through September time frame will be working on four schools and providing a number of medical outreach services.

At any one time 500-550 Americans will be on the ground but units will be rotating in and out during the mission. It is headed by the Louisiana National Guard and many participants are from Guard and Reserve units in other states, such as Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New York, North and South Dakota, Texas and U.S. Virgin Islands. Troops from the Central American nation of Belize are also attached to the mission.

In a Bloggers’ Roundtable, we had the opportunity to speak with Army Col. Michael Borrel, the task force commander of the New Horizons-Haiti 2010 exercise, a member of the task force’s engineering team, Maj. Charles “Chuck” Hudson, Louisiana National Guard, as well as a member of the medical staff, U.S. Air Force Col. Thomas Steinbrunner.

Work on local schools is progressing. In addition to structural work, the American engineers are adding wells for drinking water and improved latrines. The SeaBees, Navy Construction Batt. 25, are doing much of this work, assisted by other units and the troops from Belize.

Asked about the earthquake and hurricane resistance of the new construction, Col. Borrel had this to say:

Yes, the system that was selected through the Army South engineers that we’re utilizing is the Royal Building Systems that’s — that has since been renamed the NuForm System. And it’s essentially a concrete-reinforced slab that’s 3,500-PSI concrete with reinforced rebar that is very — with a six-inch slope that’s very strong concrete slab. The walls use a smaller aggregate but at the same 3,500 PSI and the same six-inch slump (sic; slope). So it’s a reinforced concrete building.

And the roof structure facilitates a steel frame J-bolt system that’s bolted steel with the corrugated metal roof. You know, it’s much more better — much better technology, a much stronger system than any of the systems in — being utilized in Haiti. When we came on the ground, essentially, in Mandrin they were using United Nations tents, and they had a pole barn that they were using as a classroom.

So this will be a significant improvement and will enhance the learning capabilities of the children and the instructors as well.

At the facilities at the K. Georges and at the Diaquoi (sp), they were existing structures that were projects from the past that were constructed under the guise of USAID, and they are a similar concrete reinforced structure that have withstood the hurricanes and winds of the past. The grade at which we are placing these buildings is consistent with where the grade is of the existing structures and is intended to be above any type of flood area.

Staff Sgt Rebekah Chiarini, a medical provider with the 399th Combat Support Hospital, plays with children from the Vision For A Better Haiti Orphanage at the at the U.S. Army South New Horizons- Haiti 2010 Gonaives medical assistance site July 7. New Horizons, in partnership with the government of Haiti, is conducting various medical, dental engineering missions for the locals in Gonaives. New Horizons also provides valuable experience to learn in a real-world environment for our U.S. Forces. U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Jessica M. Lopez

This region of Haiti escaped the direct effects of the January 12, 2010, earthquake. Gonaives was partially destroyed by Hurricane Hannah in 2008 and suffers from regular flooding. I asked Co. Borrel about the choice of location for the exercise. He told us that up to 100,000 Haitians from the quake zone were believed, by the Haitian government, to have moved to the Gonaives area. The work on the schools provides for more capacity, to allow some of those refugee children to attend school.

Ten medical exercises are part of the overall mission plan. To date, the officers report that well over 20,000 Haitians have been seen at a variety of locations. Col. Steinbrunner described this outreach as primary care only. Serious problems would be referred to the local Haitian hospitals.

Along with medical exams, Haitians are being seen by dentists and other medical professionals. At the request of the Haitian government, there are no immunizations being provided. Steinbrunner described the conditions seen to date as a mix of many things, skin conditions, parasitic illnesses and sexually transmitted diseases being predominant.

The large numbers of American troops that surged into Haiti after the earthquake are gone. Yet, a small, hardworking group of Americans troops continue to make a difference as a part of Task Force Helping Hands.

You can follow these Americans through social media:

Facebook: New Horizons – Task Force Kout Men

Flickr: Task_Force_Kout_Men_New_ Horizons_Haiti_2010′s photostream

Twitter: @tfkoutmen

Click on the image for a larger view.

It has been six months since the impoverished nation of Haiti was devastated by an earthquake. While nearly two thirds of this island nation suffered little or no effects from the quake, the economic, political and population center of the nation was nearly leveled. The effects of the loss of life and the loss of infrastructure are still being felt today.

On January 12, 2010 Haiti was devastated by a massive earthquake. 230,000 people were killed an nearly 200,000 more injured. Over 1.2 million Haitians were displaced from their homes. A simpler illustration of the effects of the earthquake might be the resumption of international mail delivery to Haiti on May 3 after nearly four months.

The loss of buildings is extreme. Homes, hospitals, schools and other institutions are rubble or unsafe to occupy. The homeless are truly that, without anything but a blue tarp over their heads.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has been working in Haiti for 19 years. Here is what they recently reported:

The earthquake destroyed 60 per cent of the existing health facilities and 10 per cent of medical staff were either killed or left the country. MSF had to relocate services to other facilities, build container hospitals, work under temporary shelters, and even set up an inflatable hospital. With over 3000 Haitian and international staff working in the country, MSF currently manages 19 health facilities and has over 1000 beds available at various locations. The organization has provided emergency medical care to more than 173,000 patients between January 12th and May 31st.

Caritas Haiti is the charitable arm of the Catholic Church in Haiti. They have been operating there for some 35 years. Here is a portion of their recent statement:

Providing shelter to the many people who lost their homes in the earthquake remains a major challenge. Over a million people still live in makeshift settlements and camps around the capital Port-au-Prince. More than 250,000 houses were destroyed. Over the last six months, Caritas provided emergency shelter or temporary homes to almost 160,000 people in Port-au-Prince and in rural areas. While things are starting to improve in the Léogâne area, the situation remains highly complex around Port-au-
Prince.

Despite continuous clearing work, the rubble remaining in the streets considerably slows down reconstruction. The camps are so densely populated that no temporary houses can be built there. The problems are often worsened by unclear land ownership.

Only a few hundred temporary shelters have been built in the capital so far. Ahead of the rainy season starting in June, inhabitants from unsafe camps had to be relocated. While people in camps needed to be taken care of with emergency shelter materials such as tents and tarpaulins in the first months, heavy rains flooded these places and made distributions difficult.

Click on the image for a larger view

Action Aid has been in Haiti for thirteen years. Its six month report includes this:

Jean-Claude Fignolé, ActionAid Haiti Country Director, said: “The Haitian people must be included in the reconstructions plans. At the moment the plan is more reflective of donor country interests and that is wrong. It is imperative that Haitian people be directly involved in their own recovery and lead the reconstruction process.”

The situation in Haiti remains extremely challenging. The hurricane season which began on June 1 and continues until November has been forecast this year to be particularly severe with a high probability of several tropical storms which could lead to mudslides, landslides, subsidence and flooding.

Most survivors are still living in tents as finding the land to build transitional shelters has been a huge challenge in the densely populated capital Port-au-Prince where land ownership is often disputed and documents have been lost or destroyed.

Jean-Claude Fignolé said: “It is urgent that solutions to the housing crisis are found and implemented before a real storm hits the country.

CHF International has been concentrating on getting Haitians back into their own neighborhoods by paying for rubble removal and constructing shelters.

As of July 2, CHF has completed 1,527 transitional shelters in Port-au-Prince, Leogane and Cabaret, delivering housing to more than 7,600 Haitians. Most shelters are designed for the average Haitian family size of five. Through funding from USAID/OFDA, as well as support from corporations and the public, CHF is building an average of 200 shelters per week and plans to meet its goal of 6,000 shelters by October, which will offer safe housing to 30,000 people affected by the earthquake…

CHF has been able to build so many shelters because they have focused not on building camps, but on returning Haitians to their original communities and maintaining community cohesion. CHF demolishes damaged homes and builds shelters in their place. By keeping communities together, crime and violence are reduced and people are able to continue the job they had before. This is at the core of CHF’s vision of community-based development.

Outside of shelter development, CHF is employing Cash for Work teams comprised of Haitians to help demolish damaged structures and clear rubble from key roads, canals, public buildings, and schools. By July 2, CHF had removed 153,650 cubic meters of debris from nearly 300 sites of major roads, canals, and public buildings. This volume equates to two football fields stacked seven stories high in rubble. Since the earthquake, CHF has employed over 11,000 Haitians in rubble removal, for about 20 days each.

There is this story from GoUpstate.com:

Tents clustered in makeshift cities throughout Port-au-Prince are beginning to show wear. One “city” across the street from the Rescue Children Orphanage houses about 120 people in just 12 tents, Ramantanin said. He and others from Rescue Children dropped off pots, pans and food donations at the camp.

The Baptist Standard gives us this information:

The rain, sun and wind have taken their toll on the shelters. Edges of the plastic tarps hang in tatters. Many have begun leaking during storms.

“One interesting thing about the homes is that people have a phobia now. They don’t want to live under concrete roofs anymore,” Shehane said.

In addition to Haitians’ concerns about the safety and durability of new houses, new home building is made difficult by issues related to funding, land ownership and government restrictions.

“It’s always difficult to work through the bureaucracy here, and that’s true in many, many countries,” Brendle said. “First of all, because we have competing interests. We have the international aid community that wants to come in and have everything just flow in without any tariffs, without any bureaucracy, and that worked for a while after the disaster. But one of the major sources of income for this government is its tariffs from imports.”

Click on the image for a larger view

The Christian Science Monitor did a story about the camps and forced evictions.

Of 1,241 refugee camps here, only 206 are officially recognized, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Only the official camps are monitored by NGOs, meaning that the majority lack protection. …

This past spring, the government Commission of Damage Assessment, Temporary Shelter, Demolition and Reconstruction reportedly identified several sites totaling 6 million square meters (some 1,500 acres) for relocating people to the perimeters of the capital. Lengthy negotiations to secure the land have yet to secure relocation options for the 2.1 million people left homeless from the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Now, forced evictions from refugee camps are on the rise, officials say. With landowners exasperated by the slow pace, some are taking matters into their own hands.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Sarah Perry, medical coprsman, Operational Health Support Unit, celebrates with two children at the closing ceremony of the Medical Readiness Training Exercise, May 20. The MEDRETE provided more than 4,100 patients in the Les Cayes area with basic, immediate health care over a period 10 days. Facilities for the doctors, dentists and optometrists were provided by the American University of the Caribbean in Les Cayes. More than 40 Navy service members, several Haitian doctors, Uruguayan Soldiers assigned to MINUSTAH and Haitian Coast Guard members assisted in the exercise. Les Cayes is the second MEDRETE to be conducted in the southern region of Haiti. The first was in Port Salut several weeks ago.

On January 12, 2010 Haiti was devastated by a massive earthquake. 230,000 people were killed an nearly 200,000 more injured. Over 1.2 million Haitians were displaced from their homes.

160 days have passed, over five months. Here are some of the current facts and figures from the governments and agencies continuing to assist the stricken nation.

• Since February, the U.S. Government has helped vaccinate more than 1 million people against diseases such as polio, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles and rubella. (1)
• USAID cash-for-work programs that employ approximately 24,000 people every day (2)
• In the long term, mobile money could help millions of Haitians improve their lives through easy access to savings accounts and other financial services. Just three years after its launch, Kenya’s M-PESA mobile money service now has more than 9 million users (40 percent of all adult Kenyans), who pay for everything from taxi fares to school fees via mobile phone. The transactions are much safer than carrying cash, and rural households using M-PESA saw their incomes increase by 5 to 30 percent, according to early results of a recent study by the University of Edinburgh. (2)
• Flooding control and prevention – IOM reported that land ownership presents a significant obstacle to mitigation work, as 60 percent of assessed sites are located on privately owned land where a number of landowners have resisted proposed mitigation activities. (3)
• As of June 10, assessment teams had evaluated approximately 120,000 of the 800,000 planned structures and continue to assess approximately 3,000 buildings per day, according to MTPTC. Preliminary results designated 45 percent of structures surveyed in central Port-au-Prince as green, or habitable, and 30 percent of surveyed structures as yellow, signifying that the structures require minor repairs. (3)
• United Nations peacekeepers have this morning helped local police in Haiti capture 30 criminals who had escaped from prison in the wake of January’s catastrophic earthquake and subsequently infiltrated a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the capital.
  Working with the Haitian National Police (HNP), more than 350 military and police staff serving with the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) raided the Jean-Marie Vincent camp for IDPs near the notorious Cité Soleil neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince shortly after 5 a.m.
  The operation was the largest security action conducted by MINUSTAH since the 12 January quake, which killed an estimated 200,000 Haitians and destroyed or substantially damaged the homes of millions of others. Many prison inmates also escaped from jail in the aftermath of the disaster.
  In a press statement MINUSTAH said the raid was conducted following an upsurge in violence inside the IDP camp that was linked to the prison escapees. (4)
• Total FY 2010 USAID, State, and DoD Humanitarian Assistance to Haiti for the Earthquake …..$1,092,894,368 (5)
• As of June 11, Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster partners had registered 371,039 households, comprising nearly 1.6 million individuals, through the displacement tracking matrix (DTM). The DTM records internally displaced person (IDP) data, including on fluctuating site populations, to develop an accurate picture of the humanitarian situation to tailor assistance to identified needs. As of June 9, the CCCM Cluster had identified 1,342 settlement sites in affected areas. (5)
• As of June 9, the DTM indicated that Delmas municipality, in the greater Port-au-Prince area, contained at least 200 settlement sites and the highest IDP population of all earthquake-affected areas. Of the 200 sites identified in Delmas, 11 sites hold more than 1,000 households each, 129 sites host between 100 and 1,000 households each, and 60 sites have fewer than 100 households each. (5)
• During weeks of May 30 and June 6, health authorities reported a total of 39,186 clinic visits, with the most common illnesses comprising acute respiratory infection, suspected malaria, watery diarrhea, fever of unknown origin, suspected typhoid, and bloody diarrhea. (5)

1. USAID Responds to Haiti Earthquake
2. Gates Foundation and USAID Announce Innovative Fund to Incentivize Mobile Money Services in Haiti
3. USAID Fact Sheet #58, Fiscal Year (FY) 2010
4. UN peacekeepers help to arrest 30 criminals on the run since quake
5. USAID Fact Sheet #59, Fiscal Year (FY) 2010