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Haiti Earthquake Appeal

An injured child receives treatment (Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz, courtesy of www.alertnet.org)

SCIAF is appealing for urgent donations to help millions of people following a massive earthquake in Haiti.

Donate Now to support the rescue opperation.

We are working with partners in the country to provide first aid, food, water, blankets and temporary shelter but more emergency aid is desperately needed.

The devastating 7.0 magnitude quake - the worst to hit the country in over two hundred years - struck on Tuesday evening (January 12), completely destroying large areas of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and many thousands more have been badly injured or have lost thier homes. Rescue teams are battling to free survivors trapped beneath piles of rubble. Many families are sleeping in the streets and it is thought that up to 3 million people may have been affected by the disaster.

SCIAF Chief Executive Paul Chitnis said:

“SCIAF has launched an emergency appeal to help us provide urgent supplies of clean water, sanitation and temporary shelter to thousands of people in the disaster zone. We would urge the public to give whatever they can to help us get immediate support to those most in need.

An earthquake survivor waits for medical attention (Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz, courtesy of www.alertnet.org)

“SCIAF is extremely concerned about the situation on the ground which has left many dead, thousands injured and potentially millions in urgent need of emergency aid.

“Haiti is already the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere and home to one of the world’s largest slums, the Cité Soleil. It is beyond comprehension that this tragedy should affect people already existing on the margins of society.

“As more details emerge from Haiti, it is becoming clear that a great deal of long term support will be needed to help the country make a full recovery from the disaster.”

SCIAF has worked in Haiti for over 20 years. Although communications links with the country remain extremely poor, we have been speaking to our partners on the ground to establish how we can best support the continuing relief operation.

We will also be providing emergency aid through Caritas Internationalis - a global network of Catholic aid agencies - which sent an emergency response team to Haiti within 24 hours of the disaster.

Donate now to support the relief opperation.