One Month After Quake, Crisis Continues for Haitian Children

Friday marks the one-month anniversary of the worst natural disaster in Haiti's history, when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the nation's capital of Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12.

The international humanitarian organization Save the Children, whose global offices are based in Westport, has been working in Haiti for the past 25 years and immediately responded after the quake to help children and families devastated by the disaster.

The organization reports it has reached nearly 300,000 children and adults in the earthquake impact zone, providing food, water and basic necessities, but says an ongoing crises remains for the Haitian children. 

Of the 3 million people affected by the earthquake, more than half of them were children, according to a Save the Children news release sent out this week. 

"The majority of Haitian children were vulnerable before this disaster and now, a month after the earthquake, their health, well-being and future are at increased risk," Lee Nelson, Save the Children's country director in Haiti, said in the release. "Their families are caught up in a daily struggle to meet basic needs and rebuild their lives."

The organization says it is moving quickly to provide immediate aid to thousands of families in the form of food, water, household items, medicines and medical care, while also implement programs to protect children and get them back to school as soon as possible.

Annie Foster, Save the Children's team leader for the emergency, says it will take "years for Haiti's families and cities to recover."

To date, Save the Children's child protection programs have helped more than 15,000 children through 18 mobile child-friendly spaces in Port-au-Prince and Jacmel, according to the release. In conjunction with UNICEF, the International Rescue Committee and the Red Cross, the organization is registering children at hospitals and in camps to help them trace their families and reunite with loved ones.

Save the Children, which has worked in Haiti since 1978 and currently has more than 300 staff in the country, plans to reach 800,000 people, including 470,000 children, through its emergency response.

To donate to the organization's efforts, click here, call 1-800-728-3843 or 1-203-221-4030, or text "SAVE" to 20222.

Click here to learn more about the emergency response to the earthquake in Haiti.