Hope for Haiti
Fifteen years after the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, food is a major incentive preventing Haiti’s children joining a gang.
On 12 January 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti killing 300,000 people. Fifteen years on, the key threat the country faces is not from nature, but from extreme instability caused by lawless gangs and escalating violence.
Violence is disrupting life in Haiti
Daily shootings and killings dominate life, with entire areas under gang rule, leaving residents powerless to ensure their safety. Schools suffer closures, businesses are paralysed and many essential services are inaccessible.
The territorial dominance of gangs has disrupted food imports and distribution. Ports are closed, roads are blocked and alternative transport metho like boats or helicopters are both costly and risky.
Precious locally grown produce rots because farmers can't access markets, leaving both producers and consumers struggling to afford food. Meanwhile, the price of basic items such as rice has soared, exacerbating hunger among a population already devastated by unemployment and the frequent destruction of homes, which often contain families' life savings.
Poverty is endangering lives
Relief agencies working in the country face immense logistical challenges. Storing food is risky because of looting and importing it is costly and dangerous, with deliveries being vulnerable to hijacking. Despite efforts to provide aid, the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Haitians are still endangered by extreme food insecurity, escalating violence and a failed economy.
“Food is the biggest incentive. To prevent children joining a gang, we need to focus on the poverty. It is the poverty that is killing them. They are living a nightmare,” says Emmline Toussaint, one of the coordinators of Mary’s Meals’ school feeding programme in Haiti. “Mary’s Meals is needed now more than ever. We are doing our best to make sure that the children are eating every day because if we don’t have the school feeding programme, the children won't have anything.”
Providing hope
Mary’s Meals first started working in Haiti in 2006. Since then, the promise of a nutritious meal at school has drawn hundreds of thousands of Haitian children into the classroom, where they can focus on their education and find stability and hope of a brighter future.
We are currently on the ground in 500 Haitian places of education feeding 175,000 children every school day with support from local volunteers.
Fifteen years on from the earthquake, there’s still hope for Haiti – and there’s a way to for you to help.
Paige Boxshall is one of our Programmes Relationship Managers. Her role is to maintain strong relationships with our programme partners and coordinate the support we provide, enabling them to deliver high-quality feeding programmes as effectively and efficiently as possible.
It costs just £19.15, €22, $25.20 USD or $31.70 CAD to provide a child with school meals for an entire school year. Learn how the promise of a daily meal at school enables the children we serve in Haiti to receive an education and avoid getting caught up in gang violence.