FONDATION AQUIN SOLIDARITE – FAS

EARTHQUAKE RELIEF PLAN

AUGUST 14, 2021 – DECEMBER 31, 2021

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I – INTRODUCTION

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the South Peninsula of Haiti on August 14, 2021, causing major destruction to human lives, homes and buildings.   More than 500 aftershocks followed, some of magnitude greater than 5.0, making people and buildings more fragile than they had become.   The human dimension of this catastrophe will be felt for a very long time.

Some statistics on the impact of the earthquake on the southern peninsula of Haiti (info as of August 22, 2021)

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The commune of Aquin – the town and its ten (10) districts – was not spared.  A survey on the impact of the earthquake on the city of Aquin and on its 3^rd district (Monséjour, Boisrond, Brodequin, Sous Jean-Jacques), was conducted by teams on the ground, showing the following:

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FAS is making an urgent appeal for donations to assist the population of Aquin, impacted by the devastating earthquake of August 14, 2021.

II – RELIEF PLAN

FAS has been on the ground in Aquin for the past 15 years, working hand-in-hand with the population, elected officials and diverse organizations operating in the town of Aquin and it surrounding districts.   The relief plan it proposes is a simple, by-phase approach, focused, to avoid dispersion of energies and operating inefficiencies and will has the great advantage to be data-based, using info collected by surveyors on the ground.    The 978 homes destroyed or badly-damaged represent close to 70% of living spaces of the surveyed areas.  Today, these families sleep in the open, rain or shine,  are vulnerable to epidemics which will likely surface in the weeks to come.

II.1. – PHASE I – August 14–December 31, 2021 – Emergency Phase

1. Call to action to all FAS members to bring urgent relief to those affected by the earthquake.

2. Put together a team of surveyors to collect data on the impact of the earthquake, on people and buildings, in targeted areas.

3. Distribute, in an organized and orderly fashion, aid-in-kind received from individuals, commercial entities as well as local or international non-profit organizations. A team leader, aided by three assistants and a list of identified victims in hand, is assigned to each distribution zone.

4. Make an appeal for local and international financial donations. Funds collected will go towards:
   1. Providing direct financial assistance to families severely impacted by the earthquake. These families will each receive at least 5,000 Gdes in cash, giving them the latitude to decide by and for themselves how best to use this amount, most likely to cover urgent and/or daily recurring needs and to purchase locally-grown food items to supplement imported food kits received from international organizations.   Another 5,000 Gdes cash envelope could be  given in two-months time.
   2. Providing direct financial assistance to 30 micro-entrepreneurs and peasant-farmers. 25,000 Gdes each, aimed at recapitalizing and/or consolidating their business, impacted, directly or indirectly, by the earthquake.   Beneficiaries of this aid will be identified with the help of members of local communities.
   3. Providing direct financial assistance to six (6) technical helpers. 10,000 Gourdes each. Working almost non-stop since right after the disaster, these techs have not received their monthly salary for the past three (3) months.

5. Special attention will be paid to health issues.   Epidemics often surge after natural disasters.   Health authorities will need to watch for increased incidences of fever, cough, diarrhea, skin rashes which are generally precursors of   cholera, typhoid, COVID, tuberculosis, AIDS, skin lesions.

Fondation Aquin Solidarite will closely work with local health authorities to bring them the necessary assistance for the purchase of pharmaceutical products to cure and prevent epidemics. 

6. Special attention will also be paid to medical waste. There is an urgent need for Aquin Hospital, as well as for other health centers in the region, to acquire medical waste equipment, such as medical incinerators.    It is worth noting that Aquin Hospital was destroyed by the quake, its emergencies, surgeries and general activities taking place under tents in its yard.

FAS will assist the Aquin region in acquiring medical waste equipment through identified local and international partners working in the medical field.

II.2 – PHASE II – September 01 – October 30, 2021 – Start of School Year

The start of the 2021-2022 school year will not happen on September 6, as originally scheduled.  First week of October is a more likely date.   The school system, particularly in the city of Aquin,  suffered crippling damages.   Buildings housing  all ten (10) schools within the city, among others,  Ecole Nationale des Garçons, Ecole Notre-Dame du Sacré-Coeur,  Lycée Pierre Sully, Ecole Nationale Mixte,  Collège Baptiste, Armée du Salut, suffered irreparable damages and will have to be leveled and rebuilt.  Note that numerous rural schools have yet to recover from the devastation caused by category-4 hurricane Matthew to the same south peninsula in 2016.

4,692 school children, of the city of Aquin and part of the 3rd Communal District, can be considered at risk for the upcoming school year.   Very much concerned by the further disruption which may be caused to the lives of these school children, Fondation Aquin Solidarite proposes to:

1. Provide school children of two of the impacted school (1,213 kids) educational material and school supplies to alleviate financial pressures their families are most certainly under.
2. Provide educational material and school equipment to these same schools – school benches, boards, chalk, PC’s, projectors, etc..
3. Work with local and international institutions, working in the field of education, on providing schools in the area with temporary building structures to allow kids to go back to school as soon as possible and minimize disruptions which the prevailing situation is already causing to their lives.   It remains a given that those schools will need to be rebuilt.  Those important and perennial needs will be the subject of thoughts and reflections at a subsequent stage.

II.3.  – PHASE III – Rebuilding the City of Aquin, a Must

Our vision and dream, within the foundation, is to see the town Aquin  evolve into a modern  town which will serve as a model for other towns in Haiti.  Not an easy nor immediate task.   A significant challenge to involve local constituencies, elected officials, urban planners, architects, engineers, local and international companies working in construction and real estate financing.

For this phase, Fondation Aquin Solidarite sees itself playing more the role of champion of a cause, leader of reflection sessions, catalyst, the actual reconstruction of the city going far beyond its attributions and capacities.   A very preliminary proposal will be submitted by the end of the year 2021.

III – BUDGET

 Below budget covers only  Phases I & II of the Relief Plan

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IV – CONCLUSION

Fondation Aquin Solidarité is renewing its appeal for contributions to assist the population of Aquin greatly affected by the August 14, 2021 earthquake

V – HOW CAN YOU HELP?

1. Donate via the PayPal account of HIBISCUS, a partner 501c3 organization, based in New York. Donations going through HIBISCUS are tax-deductible.   Go to HIBISCUS webpage – https://hibiscus-haiti.org/partnerslHibit –  and click on Fondation Aquin Solidarité (FAS).  Or scan the Code below.  It will take you to the donation page for FAS.  Do mention in the note “Haiti Earthquake”.

2. By local wire transfer – Local bank accounts in Haiti – Banque Nationale de Crédit

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3. By check made to the order of Fondation Aquin Solidarité

4. By international wire transfers – Routing information:

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