Three months after the passage of destructive Hurricane Matthew on the South West of Haiti, emergency aid operations have come to an end, and Swiss Red Cross (CRS) logisticians have returned to their country. The time is now for rebuilding for the CRS.

Just a few days after Matthew's passage, the CRS mobilized a team of emergency logisticians in Haiti. For three months, these specialists coordinated the emergency aid of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Acquisition of equipment, packaging of goods, organization of transport by boat and trucks, planning of distribution operations : the challenges were not lacking. Tents, mosquito nets, blankets, hygiene kits and chlorine tablets for water purification : a total of nearly 900,000 relief items were distributed. More than 150,000 people have benefited from the assistance of the Red Cross.

The CRS emphasized that the success of emergency operations must be largely supported by more than 3,000 Haitian Red Cross volunteers. "Through its relay local volunteers, the Red Cross has been the most successful organization in the field. In each village, we were able to count on the support of these interveners, which ensured the smooth running of the distribution operations," explained Daniel Garnier, who headed the last logistics unit dispatched by the CRS.

Nevertheless, the emergency aid phase could be completed within three months and the CRS maintains its presence in Haiti to devote itself to the reconstruction phase. The city of Corail in the department of Grand'Anse, destroyed by the hurricane, already benefits from the commitment of the CRS. The inhabitants were equipped with tools and trained by specialists of the Swiss Red Cross to build houses better resistant to hurricanes and earthquakes. In addition, CRS distributes seeds and nets to fishermen who are deprived of their livelihoods and is also working to improve access to drinking water.

HL/ HaitiLibre