While Haiti is still suffering, donations from the Coast have made a difference in the past year.
When the deadly earthquake first hit Haiti just over a year ago, about $7,000 was raised on the Coast to help Haitians through Anada Marga Universal Relief Team (AMURT), an international disaster relief organization.
Rachel Maietta, a director on AMURT's board, lives on the Coast, and she has been keeping tabs on where local dollars have been spent. "The money from the Coast went to build semi-permanent structures in the camps that have a strong wooden frame and a tin roof with removable sides -structures like this are huge in a tent city," she said.
Funds also went to create child-friendly spaces within these semi-permanent structures.
"AMURT found that kids are most affected by the stress, so in these structures, they are running something that is like a class. Children come in and play for two hours a day. They take part in music and drama and art, and they play and forget about earthquakes and cholera and hurricanes," Maietta said.
While the child-friendly spaces are helpful in keeping children distracted from their difficult circumstances, Maietta said much more needs to be done to help rebuild a country now displaced in tent cities and suffering from a severe cholera outbreak.
"The cholera outbreak is so intense and it's really aggressive - some people die within eight hours because it just sucks the hydration out of your body and so many of the Haitians are very malnourished and they really have no clean water. Once they get sick, they need immediate attention. Last week about 4,000 people died from cholera all over Haiti," Maietta said.
In an effort to help, AMURT has doctors in the area treating people as quickly as they can, and they are attempting to educate Haitians to the signs and symptoms of cholera in the child-friendly spaces.
"AMURT is doing a lot of education. A lot of Haitians didn't know the signs of cholera. We're finding that education and using the child-friendly spaces to educate the children through drama is helping," Maietta said.
Long term goals for AMURT in the area of Haiti include helping community members get back to work with micro-financing of their business plans at a cost of just $85.
"The goal is that eventually that person would pay back the loan and it will go to another person," Maietta said.
AMURT is also looking at starting an orphanage to help house those children left without parents.
"The idea is to build it outside of the city and maybe some parents of children who died could run it," Maietta said.
AMURT also plans to help entire communities of people relocate from the camps to start communities of their own.
"The idea is the whole community, I think about 500 people, relocate to another area. They would be built around a clinic or community centre and everyone would help build that building together. Then they would have the skills to build their own homes and one by one they would all help each other build a permanent home," Maietta said.
If you would like to help, donations are graciously accepted to AMURT either online at AMURT.net or by sending a cheque made out to AMURT to Maietta at PO Box 221, Roberts Creek, V0N 2W0. She will deposit the cheques and help keep an eye on where the money is being spent.
For more information, you can contact Maietta at info@amurtel.org.
