12 OWL

WORLD WATCH

A Helping Hand for Haiti

By Hadley Dyer

When hurricanes hit, flooding isn’t far behind.

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Over the last few years, Haiti has seen several

devastating natural disasters — from a string of

hurricanes to the recent earthquake that put thousands

of people in danger. Find out what Canadians are doing

to help Haitians recover and prepare for the future.

Country name: The Republic of Haiti

Capital: Port-au-Prince

Size: 28,000 sq. km

(11,000 sq. mi.), about half

the size of Nova Scotia

Population: 10 million

Location: The Caribbean

island of Hispaniola, 77 km

(48 mi.) southeast of Cuba

Major languages: French, Creole

Background: Haiti is one of

the poorest countries on

the planet. Jobs are scarce,

and more than half the

country lives on less than

$1 per day. About 80 percent

of Haitians live below the

poverty line, which means

they don’t earn enough

money to pay for necessities

like shelter and food.

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Caribbean Sea

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Turbulent TimelineRead on for the facts about Haiti’s harrowing recent history of natural disasters.

WHEN: 2008WHAt: Hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike

Four storms pummelled Haiti in August and September 2008. Nearly 800 people died and more than 100,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. Electricity was knocked out, and belongings were swept away. Most people in Haiti have to grow their own food, and many lost their crops when the storms triggered flooding and mudslides. Houses were submerged by dirty water. When the floodwaters receded, much of the healthy topsoil, which contains the nutrients needed for growing plants, had been washed away.

WHEN: 2010WHAt: An earthquake that measured 7.3 on the Richter scale

Hurricane BeltHaiti is located in a part of the Atlantic Ocean known as the hurricane belt, which includes the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane belt is close to the equator, where the air is very hot and humid. As a storm passes over the warm ocean water, it gathers energy and force. In a hurricane (also known as a cyclone), strong winds

blow in a counterclockwise circle, reaching as much as 250 km/h (155 mph)! Heavy rain adds to the storm’s power.

On January 12 of this year, an earthquake shook Haiti to its core. Buildings crumbled, electricity was cut off, and hundreds of thousands of people were injured or killed. Many cities and towns were devastated, including the capital, Port-au-Prince, where two million people live. More than 300,000 people were left homeless. Aid organizations rushed to help. Some rescued survivors from the rubble, while others treated injured people or handed out food, water, clothing, and other supplies.

Richter ScaleThe Richter scale measures the strength of an earthquake on a scale from 1.0 to 9.0 — with 1.0 being the weakest. The scale grows by powers of 10. This means that an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale is 10 times more powerful than one that measures 6.0.

Haiti needs lots of help to recover from disasters. Flip the page to find out:

y how three Canadians help Haiti respond to disasters

y how YOU can get involved

After the earthquake, many buildings collapsed.

Canadian aid worker Catherine Marquis (far right) stands with volunteers from

the Haitian Red Cross.

Feature undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through the

Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Agence canadienne dedéveloppement international

Canadian InternationalDevelopment Agency

Agencecanadienne dedéveloppementinternational

CanadianInternationalDevelopment Agency

Canadian Red Cross worker Marilou Poirier.

Marilou distributes

supplies in Haiti in 2008.

A warehouse in Port-au-Prince

stocked with Canadian supplies.

Herlancie Johanna

Caring CanadiansPeople from all over the world are jumping into action to help Haiti. Meet three Canadians making a difference.

Helpful Healer Canadian Patsy Aldana is the

president of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY).

Patsy‘s organization created the Children in Crisis fund, which supports programs that use books to help heal the wounds caused by conflicts and natural disasters. In the past, trained volunteers have gone into hard-hit areas in Haiti to share poems and stories. Selected schools also received 100 new books to create new libraries.

Fantastic Fundraiser Thirteen-year-old Bilaal Rajan of Toronto —

the youngest spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) — already has a long history of fundraising. Now he’s challenging kids across Canada to help Haiti by each donating $100.

Bilaal first got involved with UNICEF Canada in 2004, when he issued the same challenge to help the victims of the tsunami that swept across South Asia after an earthquake. “Some people were a little skeptical when I said my goal was for kids to raise $1 million,” he says. “But we raised millions of dollars. We’ve already proven that’s possible.” Bilaal has promised to shave his head in honour of the school or student who raises the most money for Haiti. The principal at Bilaal’s school will also be sacrificing his hair to the cause.

With IBBY’s help, OWL talked to Haitian students Herlancie, 11, and Johanna, 15. After the hurricanes of 2008, both were left without a school to go to.

OWL: How has the IBBY program helped you?Herlancie: Books help me a lot. I feel better when I read.Johanna: I like when the monitors read for us. It sounds good.

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YOU Can Make a Difference! Follow these steps to raise funds and help the Haiti relief effort.

• VisitUNICEFCanadaatunicef.ca• GetinspirationfromUNICEF’scoolfundraising

ideas, like the “Dare to Wear Challenge”

• Setupyourownfundraisingpage,whereyoucan collect pledges, and post pictures and videos from your fundraising events

Click It!For more on Haiti and how you can

bring the cause to your classroom,

visit the OWL World Watch website

at owlkids.com/owl/world.html

Rapid Responder Canadian Red Cross worker Marilou Poirier is in

charge of sending emergency supplies to countries struck by disaster. In 2008, she flew to Haiti to help coordinate the Rapid Response Project (RRP). She gave OWL a step-by-step guide to running an RRP.

STEP #1: Stock up

The Red Cross stores $1 million worth of supplies in a warehouse in Mississauga, Ontario. Shelter kits have hammers, nails, rope, and other tools to help clear debris and reconstruct homes. Kitchen and hygiene kits contain utensils, toothpaste, and soap.

STEP #2: Take the call

When Haiti put out the official call for help, Marilou left her Ottawa office and got on a cargo plane bound for Mississauga. Staff loaded supplies onto the plane, which then took off for Haiti.

STEP #3: Distribute supplies

The plane landed in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. From there, the emergency kits were delivered to villages throughout the country. “Time is ticking,” Marilou says. “Often, the hardest to reach are those most in need. We send supplies by truck, horse, or on foot.”

STEP #4: Find those in need

Red Cross workers visited each village and distributed coupons to people in need. People then exchanged the coupons for emergency kits at local schools, where supplies were held.

STEP #5: Provide support

In addition to supplies, the Red Cross sent aid workers with serious technical smarts, such as engineers who offered advice on reconstructing roads and buildings.

STEP #6: Prepare for the future

The Haitian Red Cross has created a program called Kouri Di Vwazen (Run and Tell Your Neighbour) that teaches people what to do before and during a storm. Volunteers go from village to village to share important advice, such as pointing out tree branches that could fall on houses and alerting neighbours when a storm is coming.

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Bilaal Rajan meets kids while representing UNICEF

in Tanzania, Africa.

I know it’s hard to put ourselves in other

people’s shoes, but we have to. It’s our duty to help other kids

because, as Canadians, we have so much and

others don’t.

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A Haitian Red Cross volunteer distributes biscuits to children at a shelter in Cabaret, Haiti, in 2008.