On August 14, 2021 a 7.2 earthquake devastated southwest Haiti.  CCH staff in Haiti responded immediately to help with the crisis, in addition to our regular healthcare and education programming. Over the past year CCH has partnered with other organizations to mount a coordinated relief response. We’re pleased that many lessons learned from the scattershot 2010 earthquake response were implemented in the wake of the 2021 one. Better communication between partners on the ground in Haiti led to a more effective, coordinated response in 2021-22.

CCH has been working with other members of the Haiti Response Coalition (HRC) to provide aid to earthquake survivors in southwestern Haiti. CCH Executive Director Clark Seipt serves on the Executive Committee of the HRC, which helps to steer and synergize members’ collaborative efforts. CCH also currently serves as the fiscal agent for the HRC. In 2021, CCH managed $256,250 USD in grant funding for HRC-related earthquake response. This is in addition to stewarding an additional $58,000 USD in earthquake donations entrusted to CCH directly. In 2022, to date, CCH has received an additional $40,000 USD in grant funding to support HRC-related efforts. CCH recently received an invitation from the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to apply for an additional $300,000 USD in grant funding for 2022/2023 and beyond.

The cash transfers built upon work in 2021 that included building temporary schools in 5 communities, support for mobile clinics in some of the hardest hit areas of the Grand Sud and ongoing conversations around the need for consistent education during crises and the critical importance of Haitian-led response and recovery. Additional cash transfers (for the same and more survivor families) and an “emergency schools kit” concept, co-developed by CCH and scalable to the national level, will be included in the forthcoming UMCOR proposal (due in early September).

In June, CCH In-Country Director Davidson Pierre and CCH Clinic Coordinator Lourdemie Eugene represented CCH at a national conference in Les Cayes, Haiti. The conference gathered stakeholders and partners from across Haiti to reflect on collaborative response to the August 2021 earthquake and combine their lived experiences to recommend ways to strengthen Haitian-led disaster response and preparedness. The HRC was one of the lead conveners of this conference, and the work that CCH has helped to manage with the HRC informed conference discussions and outputs. Going forward, we’re pleased to incorporate these new best practices into our own operations and work with partners.