The southern community of Léogâne wasn’t the hardest hit by Hurricane Matthew, but the massive storm still left a trail of destruction in the tight knit, poverty-stricken area.
Lives weren’t lost here, but Haitian nationals who are still recovering from the deadly earthquake of 2010, were plunged into further hardship.
Most of the destruction was caused by floods from the river that divides Léogâne.
“I do not know how I will feed my family,” Aurelio says. “I am left with no choice but to beg.”
Aurelio is unemployed, like the majority of his neighbours and friends. The banana trees he nurtures to ensure he has food year round were flattened when the flood waters swept through after the Hurricane struck on October 4.
With no crops to sell or cook, he has no idea where his three children’s next meal will come from. Léogâne is one of three areas targeted by local charity group, Is There Not A Cause? (ITNAC) last week.
The non-profit organisation has established strong ties in Haiti, and on Wednesday, it used some of those partnerships to provide much needed relief to residents. The group played a critical role in assisting Haitians after the devastating earthquake in 2010.
“There are no hospitals or medical facilities here,” Deborah Dowlath of ITNAC tells Guardian Media.
Some of these residents will never be screened by a doctor or medical professional without the work of relief organisations like ITNAC and other international agencies.
In someone’s yard, the group set up a make-shift clinic with supplies it had purchased here in Haiti. They hired a local doctor and two nurses, and for five hours they tried to protect their health so they have one less worry.
Children lined up for clothes, adults filled their prescriptions, and mothers pleaded for basic supplies like toothpaste, deodorant, bathing soap and others.
At 3 pm, Dowlath gave instructions to begin shutting down the clinic to make the long journey back to Montruis, a coastal communal section in western Haiti.
They had seen 101 people and more were still coming.
“I got to see a doctor, I got medication, I am just so happy,” a young man shouted.
“I just want to say thank you,” he said, smiling as he waited with his community for the food that was being prepared at a nearby home.
Rice, beans and chicken, a Haitian staple. An estimated 750,000 people are in need of humanitarian assistance and more than 1.3 million people have been affected by Hurricane Matthew which pummelled what has been described as one of the poorest country in the region.
Over 271 people were killed by Hurricane Matthew in seven departments from south-east to northwest.
How you can help
Guardian Media has partnered with Is There Not A Cause? (ITNAC) and is encouraging citizens to donate much relief items to this group which has been involved in a range of humanitarian and developmental projects in Haiti since 2003.
Here is how you can help. Drop off donations of the following items at Sa Maison Guest House, 6a Anderson Street, St James:
• Clothes (preferably for children)
• Non perishable food
• Over the counter medication
• Baby supplies
• Sheets
• Towels
• Shoes
Cash deposits can be made to ITNAC’s accounts at First Citizens 1660410 and Republic Bank 510009446802.
For further information, call any of the following numbers: 742-1879, 394-2042, 369-5595,271-2077, 725-3118, as well as ITNAC’S Port-of-Spain office at 624-4162.