The document provides information about Handicap International's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake and subsequent challenges. It summarizes their large-scale humanitarian aid efforts, including providing medical rehabilitation, meeting basic needs, and logistics support. Over 600 staff supported these programs. It also discusses advocacy efforts to ensure the most vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities, are protected and included in the relief work. Haiti faced additional disasters in 2010, including hurricanes, cholera outbreaks, and ongoing displacement of earthquake victims living in temporary camps.

1. INFORMATION KIT
A YEAR OF ACTION IN HAITI
U pd at ed : 2 2 De c em be r 20 10
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2
INTRODUCTION 3
LOCATION OF PROJECTS 6
SUMMARY OF ACTIONS 7
KEY FIGURES 8
HEALTH AND PROTECTION 9
HUMANITARIAN LOGISTICS AND MEETING BASIC NEEDS 15
For more information: www.handicap-international.fr
Press contact:
Sophie Mazoyer – +33 (0)4 26 68 76 47 – +33 (0)6 60 97 09 38 – smazoyer@handicap-international.fr

2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Handicap International would like to thank the tens of thousands of individual donors who have
responded to its emergency fundraising appeals for Haiti and who continue to support its actions in
aid of people affected by the earthquake of 12 January 2010 in Haiti.
On 3 February 2010, the French ambassador to Haiti, Mr. Didier Le Bret, was awarded the Claude
Erignac prize for his efficient and courageous handling of the crisis. He decided to give half of the
prize money to Handicap International to support the association’s actions in aid of the people of
Haiti, with the other half going to set up a fund for the embassy’s Haitian staff.
Since the launch of Handicap International’s response to the earthquake, the association’s actions
have been supported by:
- public bodies: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), European Commission
(Humanitarian Office - ECHO), UK Department for International Development, Flemish
Government, Grand Lyon, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, World Health Organisation, World Food Programme, Région Île-de-France, Région
Rhône-Alpes, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), USAID/OFDA,
USAID/Leahy War Victims Fund, Ville d’Annecy, Ville de Lyon, City of Munich;
- private institutions and companies: Aktion Deutschland Hilft, American Academy of Orthopaedic
Surgeons, American Friends Service Committee, American Red Cross, Bette Middler Family
Foundation, Fondation Abbé Pierre, Fondation EDF, Fondation de France, Fondation Eden,
Fondation Groupe SEB, Fondation Soros, Freedom of Mobility Foundation / MV Transportation,
Inc., Fundación León Jimenes, Grande Mosquée de Lyon, Hôpital Assistance Belgique, Lycée
français de New York, Mutualité française, NPD Group, Inc. Emergency Fund, Rheingold
Family Foundation, sanofi-aventis, ShelterBox, T. Rowe Price Foundation.
Photo credits:
Page 1: © Department for International Development - Russell Watkins - Pages 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18: © William
Daniels / Handicap International - Pages 8, 11: © Federico Saracini / Handicap International - Pages 11, 14, 17, 19: © S. Sommella /
Handicap International - Page 12: © S. Lubrano / Handicap International - Page 14: © T. Calvot / Handicap International - Page 16: ©
Handicap International - Page 17: © O. Dorighel / Handicap International - Page 18: © L. Radick / Handicap International - Page 18: © F.
Berthaut / Handicap International - Page 19: © D. Sacca / Handicap International
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3. INTRODUCTION
An earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale hit Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world, at
4.53 pm (local time) on 12 January 2010. Handicap International’s 100-strong team, present in the field
when the earthquake struck, escaped unharmed and launched an immediate response to the
emergency. Over the following weeks, Handicap International rolled out a multi-disciplinary programme
in response to the disaster. Handicap International is set to continue helping the Haitian people over
the next three to five years.
The largest programme in Handicap International’s history
The number of people on Handicap International’s teams during 2010 exceeded 600, including some 80
expatriate staff. Handicap International now has a total team of 540 people in Haiti, including 60 expatriate staff.
Almost all the intervention areas in which the association has developed an expertise have been represented
during this mission.
Handicap International’s actions in Haiti centre on three key activity sections:
- the long-term case-management and assistance of the injured, amputees and paralysed persons in the
fields of functional rehabilitation (fitting and rehabilitation) and psychosocial support;
- meeting the specific needs of the most vulnerable people, including targeted distributions and the supply of
transitional shelters;
- the management of a humanitarian aid transport logistics platform in support of the aid community.
Since October, Handicap International has also supported the work of international solidarity organisations in
response to the cholera epidemic.
Advocacy to meet the needs of the most vulnerable
During humanitarian emergencies, Handicap International’s first responsibility is to aid the most vulnerable and
excluded sections of society, and particularly people with disabilities. Given their extensive needs, this section
of the population is easily forgotten and left behind during aid operations. By helping to organise the relief effort
and performing continuous advocacy work targeted at other members of the aid community, Handicap
International is able to more effectively fulfil its mandate.
3

4. Across all aid sectors, and particularly the cross-disciplinary fields of protection and camp management,
Handicap International draws attention to the general need to protect and include vulnerable people and people
with disabilities in the relief effort. It reminds the various operators - UN agencies, NGO members of
coordination clusters, the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, etc. - of their responsibilities towards these
groups by providing awareness messages, recommendations, technical support and training sessions, and by
distributing information and technical guides.
Lastly, Haiti has a long history of excluding people with disabilities, commonly known as “kokobés” (“good for
nothing’s”). It is essential to avoid people with disabilities caused by the earthquake, despite their large number
and the exceptional circumstances, being severely marginalized. The work of Handicap International’s teams
includes specific actions adapted to the widespread deprivation experienced in urban areas, such as the
Protection section of its Health programme which aims to reduce the abuse and violence sometimes suffered
by the most vulnerable members of Haitian society.
Earthquakes, bad weather, cholera, violence... a catalogue of disasters
The earthquake of 12 January 2010 was the most violent to hit the region in 200 years. Its epicentre was
located 9 miles from the capital, Port-au-Prince, and exacted a heavy toll on human lives: some 230,000 people
are thought to have been killed (as many as during the tsunami on 26 December 2004) and more than 300,000
injured.
A million and a half people lost their homes.
International aid organisations immediately
supplied them with makeshift shelters but due to
the slow reconstruction process many are still
living in temporary accommodation. According
to the International Organisation for Migration
1
(IOM) , at the end of November around one
million people were still living in 1,200 temporary
2
encampments. More than 661,000 others were
displaced to the provinces, most often finding
shelter with host families. The Spring rainy
season revealed the precarious living conditions
of the earthquake’s victims. At the end of the
hurricane season, on 5 November, Hurricane
Tomas, despite its relatively limited impact,
caused widespread panic and highlighted the
absence of structures capable of responding to
a new natural disaster.
At the same time, a cholera epidemic suddenly spread across Haiti, killing more than 2000 people, with 40,000
3
requiring hospital treatment, according to the government. The epidemic is set to spread further over the
4
coming months. The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on 26 November that the cholera epidemic
could affect up to 400,000 people. As a result, almost a year after the earthquake, Haiti is once again in the grip
of a major emergency.
Since November, Handicap International has adapted its activities to achieve three goals:
- ensuring the security and continuity of its operations performed since January in order not to doubly
penalise the most vulnerable people;
- performing complementary prevention activities to ensure that people assisted by the association are not
marginalized in general prevention activities and benefit from essential information to avoid contamination;
- making an effective contribution to combating the epidemic nationwide, by enhancing the logistics platform
it manages in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), in order to supply dedicated
humanitarian equipment to organisations working to fight the disease.
1
International Organisation for Migration, Displacement Tracking Matrix of 9 December 2010.
2
Haitian government.
3
Health Group (Haitian Ministry for Public Health and Population and WHO), 8 December 2010.
4
Haitian Ministry for Public Health and Population, 3 December 2010.
4

5. The outbreak of this cholera epidemic, added to a tense electoral situation, has given rise to outbreaks of
violence. The first round of voting in the presidential and parliamentary elections on 28 November stirred
tensions across the country. This insecurity represents an additional obstacle to implementing solidarity actions.
Political conflict between the first and second rounds of voting, with the second round scheduled for 16 January
2011, could lead to prolonged bouts of violence.
The importance of coordinating actions with other operators
Following the earthquake, the organisation of our aid effort in the field has been made more difficult by the
destruction or disorganisation of decision-making centres and by the multiplicity of operators on the ground
However, Handicap International has endeavoured to work closely with numerous organisations. These include
direct partnerships5, as well as numerous international operators6 and Haitian organisations7.
Handicap International is helping to optimise the coordination of the humanitarian aid effort by transporting aid
for some one hundred organisations using its logistics platform of 70 lorries.
Since 26 January 2010, the UN and the
WHO have entrusted Handicap
International and the German
organisation Christoffel-Blindenmission
(CBM) with jointly coordinating all
rehabilitation actions for injured persons
across Haiti, the fitting of orthopaedic
devices and the provision of assistance to
people with disabilities. Handicap
International and CBM have been working
with the Haitian Ministry for Public Health
and Population (MSPP) and the
Secretariat of State for the Inclusion of
People with Disabilities (SEIPH) to
coordinate international and national aid
stakeholders operating in disability-related
fields.
On 1 December, in order to hand back responsibility, and any associated prerogatives, for activities in this field
to the Haitian authorities, Handicap International transferred this coordination role to the MSPP, while remaining
an active member of the “Rehabilitation, inclusion and disability” working group.
Three to five years of action ahead
The association is planning to translate its actions into long-term projects to allow Haitian operators to build
their capacities and eventually take over the management of the projects put in place. Handicap International’s
actions form part of a three-to-five year emergency/rehabilitation/development continuum in Haiti, which is a
classic model of international solidarity action.
In addition to its response to the cholera epidemic, which should give rise to additional projects in early 2011,
Handicap International is developing the post-emergency phase of its operations. After setting up a temporary
emergency orthopaedic-fitting service at the end of February, the association now produces permanent
prostheses in its fitting centre in Port-au-Prince. It has now begun specific construction activities to provide
liveable, hurricane- and earthquake-resistant temporary accommodation accessible to isolated and vulnerable
victims of the disaster.
5
Chistoffel Blindenmission (CBM), Healing Hands for Haiti, the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population, the Haitian Secretariat of
State for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities (SEIPH) and World Food Programme (WFP).
6
ACTED, Action contre la Faim, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Deutschland (ASB), Chaîne
de l’espoir/Alima, Croix-Rouge, Douleurs sans Frontières, Médecins du Monde, Médecins sans Frontières, Merlin, International
Organisation for Migration (IOM), Oxfam, Partners in Health, ShelterBox, Solidarités International, Terre des Hommes…
7
Civil Protection Communal Committee (CCPC) in Petit-Goâve and Grand-Goâve, health facilities and associations.
5

6. The association has begun performing transitional development actions, which are set to continue until at
least the end of 2012. A more community-based approach is being taken to rehabilitation activities, through the
involvement of the friends and family of patients, and a greater emphasis is being placed on local health
facilities. Initial intensive training in rehabilitation and orthopaedic-fitting activities for Haitian staff will be
organised along with capacity-building for local partners. The support for and rehabilitation of the injured
provided by Handicap International’s staff is expected to gradually focus on the most complex cases,
particularly paralysed persons.
The long-term development phase is set to begin in 2011. It should mainly focus on supporting Haitian
operators, health facilities and association partners in providing assistance to people with disabilities. Within
this framework, the association is implementing a skills-transfer programme, which includes the setting up of a
diploma-based orthoprosthesist training course in the near future, in compliance with international standards.
The main aim of this stage is to help create resources and overcome non-existent or inadequate capacities in
Haiti to help the country recover from its ordeal and plan for its development.
LOCATION OF PROJECTS
6

7. SUMMARY
OF ACTIONS
Health and protection
- Helping hospitals case-manage the injured (until
July 2010).
- Supplying orthopaedic devices, mobility aids and
specific equipment.
- Fitting orthopaedic devices (prostheses and
orthoses).
- Assisting vulnerable people, particularly people with
disabilities, within communities; protection activities.
- Community psychosocial support.
- Cholera prevention actions.
Meeting basic needs
- Distribution of tents, food and essential items to
earthquake victims, particularly the most vulnerable
(until August 2010, then during the violent storm of
24 September and hurricane Tomas).
- “Cash for work” activities (until August).
- Setting up transitional hurricane- and earthquake-
resistant shelters accessible to people with reduced
mobility.
Humanitarian logistics
- Transport of humanitarian aid and the management
of an inter-agency logistics platform for the World
Food Programme (WFP).
- Support for NGOs in the fight against cholera.
7

8. KEY FIGURES
Human resources
- Some 540 people, including around 60 expatriate staff.
- Since 14 January 2010, some 170 expatriate staff from more than 20 different
countries8 have been sent to Haiti by Handicap International.
- Since January, more than 600 Haitian staff have been provided with training.
Health
- More than 10,000 beneficiaries of Handicap International’s health activities.
- More than 82,000 basic care and physical rehabilitation sessions performed.
- Some 5,600 technical aids (mobility aids, orthopaedic devices and specific
equipment) have been distributed.
- Prostheses: 426 beneficiaries recorded (fitted or currently being fitted).
- Orthoses: 465 recorded beneficiaries (idem).
Psychosocial assistance
- Some 25,000 beneficiaries, including 500 provided with regular follow-up care.
Logistics/distributions/“cash for work”
- Some 20,000 tonnes of aid transported (food, basic emergency equipment, medical
equipment and reconstruction equipment) since 14 January 2010 for around one
hundred organisations.
- More than 5,000 tents distributed to more than 26,000 people.
- More than 30,000 items of equipment distributed to over 43,000 people.
- More than 36 tonnes of food supplied to more than 10,000 people.
- More than 4,000 people have benefited from “cash for work” activities.
- More than 80 transitional shelters have been supplied to 330 beneficiaries.
8
Including from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, El Salvador, France, Finland, Japan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Nicaragua,
Pakistan, the Philippines, Switzerland, Togo and the USA.
8

9. HEALTH AND PROTECTION
Handicap International’s health activities are performed in coordination with the Haiti government and
other key national and international operators in the sector. The health team in the field currently
consists of 149 people (including 22 expatriate staff) working in two fitting and rehabilitation centres,
9
six disability focal points and nine mobile teams. The Haitian staff recruited are mainly rehabilitation
professionals and community workers.
300,000 INJURED PEOPLE
The Haitian government estimates the number of people injured in the earthquake at over 300,000.
Humanitarian aid operators are therefore facing a challenge of historic proportions, given the lack of care
capacity in Haiti following the disaster.
A very high number of amputations
During the weeks immediately following the
earthquake only the most serious cases
were admitted to hospitals. Some patients
with closed fractures had to leave without
treatment to allow the most urgent cases to
be treated first. Many patients who had not
received care the first time round arrived in
hospitals at a later date with complications
and serious infections. As a result,
amputations represented an exceptionally
large proportion of the surgical operations
performed by practitioners. Some
amputations performed under extremely
difficult circumstances required corrective
surgery.
Handicap International’s health team in Haiti produced a report at the end of January on the situation facing
people with injuries. The total number of amputations is estimated at between 2,000 and 4,000, with at least
1000 people requiring a lower limb prosthesis. This conservative estimate is based on direct visits to 17
hospitals and data gathered by telephone and email from most of the country’s other health facilities in which
operations have been performed, and from the relevant authorities. This evaluation has not been challenged
since and is supported by most operators in the field. It has not been possible to reassess these figures due to
problems collecting data at a national level and variations in data collection criteria applied by individual
organisations.
Assistance to hospitals
Since 17 January 2010 and until July, Handicap International has provided support in some twenty hospitals
and medical facilities in Port-au-Prince and its suburbs. The aim of this assistance, particularly post-operative
rehabilitation care, is to prevent injured and/or paralysed persons from developing permanent disabling after-
effects. Within this framework, Handicap International’s members have performed 25,000 rehabilitation
sessions for more than 1,800 patients and distributed more than 1,200 items of equipment (crutches,
wheelchairs, walking frames, mattresses, etc). Handicap International’s activity in hospitals was scaled-down
before coming to an end in July because far fewer patients injured in the earthquake, many of whom had
returned to live with their families, were turning up for treatment. Handicap International was able to intensify its
actions within communities as a result.
9
Disability Focal Points enable us to provide the most vulnerable populations and people with disabilities with a local reception point to
identify their needs and supply them with responsive aid.
9

10. FITTING OF ORTHOPAEDIC DEVICES & FUNCTIONAL REHABILITATION
Launch of fitting in March
In partnership with the Healing Hands for Haiti association, Handicap International set up a fitting and functional
rehabilitation centre in a former warehouse near the Champ-de-Mars. The centre’s team consists of 48 people,
14 of whom are expatriate staff, including a team from the University of Don Bosco in El Salvador. Six members
of Healing Hands for Haiti have also joined the team. Ten Haitian fitting and rehabilitation staff are currently
attending training courses at the centre.
Since the centre opened in early March, 883 patients have been registered, 426 of whom have been fitted with
a prosthesis and 465 with an orthosis10. Some 4,500 rehabilitation sessions have been performed. N.B.: some
ten other organisations also perform fitting activities.
Initially, emergency temporary prostheses were supplied to lower-limb amputees. An essential stage in the
orthopaedic-fitting process, these temporary prostheses enable patients to stand up again rapidly, prepare
them to be fitted with a permanent prosthesis and promote their swift reintegration into society.
The production of permanent prostheses, which take longer to produce but which are more aesthetic and
longer-lasting, began in April. They are designed to last between three and five years for an adult, but need to
be changed every six months for a growing child. The production of temporary prostheses ended, for all intents
and purposes, in September. In January 2011, the association plans to start the orthopaedic-fitting of upper-
limb amputees.
10
An orthosis is a device that corrects a limb or spinal impairment, such as a splint, collar or corset. Unlike an orthosis, a prosthesis
replaces an absent limb or organ.
10

11. “There are some magical moments at the fitting centre”
Pascal Kodjo Agbegnedo is an orthoprosthesist trainer from Togo.
I work in a fitting workshop in Port-au-Prince for amputees. I produce
prostheses and orthoses adapted to each person’s morphology. I fit them
and adapt them, and my physiotherapy and occupational therapy colleagues
perform physical rehabilitation activities appropriate to the patient’s lifestyle.
Some days are magical, like when we fitted a 17-month old baby with a
prosthesis. He walks better than anyone else now!
We train Haitian staff on-site. It’s an essential part of ensuring the long-term
future of our actions, particularly the follow-up of people fitted with devices.
The prosthesis needs to be changed, repaired or adapted throughout the
patient’s lifetime.
Two mobile fitting teams
The fitting centre has two mobile teams who visit
communities and focal points. After delivering
the prostheses and orthoses, they perform the
technical follow-up of people fitted with devices,
perform adjustments and make minor repairs.
Home visits allow teams to study the
beneficiary’s environment, assess their needs,
distribute technical aids and basic equipment,
and refer patients to the psychosocial team. The
role of the mobile team assigned to Petit-Goâve,
an area located far from Port-au-Prince, consists
in taking measurements and casts of the stumps
of the amputees followed-up at local disability
focal points. Equipped with the prostheses made
at the orthopaedic-fitting centre, the team
returns to the field to try the devices on patients.
Following this process, the therapists at the
focal point provide patients with long-term
rehabilitation care.
A second rehabilitation and fitting centre
Handicap International Belgium began work in Haiti on 18
January to provide physiotherapy care in three hospitals run
by Médecins sans Frontières Belgique. From March, the
team concentrated its efforts on Sarthe hospital. Since then,
the association has been active in this hospital, where it
manages a rehabilitation and fitting centre. By mid-
September, 3,489 patients had been case-managed at the
centre. The on-site team consists of a permanent staff of
some thirty people, including 8 expatriate staff.
11

12. Training of Haitian staff
The association’s goal is to create and coordinate the country’s long-term capacity to provide rehabilitation and
fitting services by training Haitian staff to ensure its future success. Expatriate technicians are working in
collaboration with Haitian and expatriate staff from the Healing Hands for Haiti association for the time being,
before other Haitian staff are provided with training. Six people are already taking on-going training to become
orthopaedic-fitting technicians. Four Haitian rehabilitation assistants have also been provided with training since
October.
In partnership with Healing Hands for Haiti, the association is also set to provide Level Two training for
orthoprosthesist technicians in 2011, over a period of two and a half years, in compliance with recognised
international standards. The theoretical training modules followed more than twenty Haitians will be taught by
teachers from the University of Don Bosco (El Salvador). These newly-trained orthoprosthesist technicians are
expected to be able to take over from the expatriate teams sent to Haiti following the earthquake and provide
long-term follow-up care to patients fitted with orthopaedic devices.
FOLLOW-UP AND MEDICAL CARE IN COMMUNITIES
The six Disability and Vulnerability Focal Points (four
in Port-au-Prince, one in Petit-Goâve and one in
Gonaïves) were set up in partnership with the
German organisation CBM and the Secretariat of
State for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities,
and with the support of Haitian disabled people’s
organisations. The Focal Point teams now have a
staff of 101, including 8 expatriate staff. The aim of
these focal points is to improve the protection and
service access conditions of people with disabilities
and other vulnerable people, including the elderly,
sick and isolated. Six mobile care teams use the
focal points as a base for their visits to the capital’s
districts and suburbs, including Carrefour, Delmas
and the Champ de Mars, and work in a camp
housing more than 40,000 people in Pétion-Ville.
Because we are present in communities, we can provide
basic care, perform physical rehabilitation activities for
people with disabilities, offer psychosocial support and
distribute mobility aids and equipment for day-to-day
activities, such as mattresses and mosquito nets. People
with specific needs are identified by the mobile teams and
referred to appropriate facilities, such as organisations
responsible for targeted food distributions to malnourished
children or organisations providing individual
psychological support.
12

13. Home care team for paraplegics and quadriplegics
Many Haitians live in conditions of extreme deprivation.
Paraplegics and quadriplegics, who have specific and
continuous case-management needs, are therefore
particularly at risk. Set up in June 2010, a mobile team
consisting of a physiotherapist, an occupational therapist
and a community worker, operate in Port-au-Prince and the
surrounding area and provide rehabilitation care, direct
patients to medical facilities when necessary, assess their
needs in terms of technical aids and basic equipment, and
perform any corresponding distributions. The mobile team is
also developing cholera awareness and prevention actions
targeted at this category of patients, who are rarely included
in mainstream prevention activities.
PSYCHOSOCIAL ASSISTANCE
The recreational events and discussion groups organised by the Disability Focal Points enable visitors to these
centres to share their experiences with other victims and provide an initial response to the psychological
suffering caused by the earthquake. Psychosocial workers from each focal point visit communities to perform
follow-up work. They measure the family’s level of distress, identify possible family conflicts and refer people for
individual psychological support if necessary. They also evaluate the level of inclusion of people with
disabilities, where necessary, and raise the awareness of their family and friends.
Amputees benefit from individual consultations with psychosocial workers in fitting centres to evaluate each
patient’s psychological condition. They are provided with follow-up care throughout the fitting process and once
they have returned to their communities.
As part of a long-term strategy, Handicap International is a member of two working groups, “Mental health” and
“Inclusion, rehabilitation and disability”, which bring together Haitian and international operators. In this way, the
association is able to make a contribution to the national plan on mental health issues and the national plan on
the inclusion of people with disabilities.
13

14. PROTECTION
The protection of vulnerable people in crisis
situations represents a major challenge during
any emergency operation. In situations of
extreme deprivation, heightened tension and
social instability, vulnerable people, in
particular people with disabilities, must be
protected from the risk of violence,
exploitation and abuse. Handicap
International therefore monitors the
implementation of specific protection
measures as part of its actions and takes part
in international coordination processes
dedicated to these issues.
The association performs protection activities
which allow it to intervene in the most difficult
cases identified in communities
(psychological, physical and sexual violence). Based on identification operations performed in communities and
targeted at vulnerable individuals, these actions also aim to improve and develop referrals to other institutions
involved in protection activities (in the field of gender-based violence, domestic violence, child protection, etc.)
and to ensure that all available services (access to sanitary facilities, distributions of aid and food, etc.) are
accessible to people with disabilities.
CHOLERA PREVENTION
The activities of the association’s health teams have been seriously affected by the outbreak of a cholera
epidemic, which was first identified on 19 October 2010. Their actions have also been revised to include
awareness and prevention elements. Handicap International launched an awareness-raising campaign on 26
October targeted at the most vulnerable sections of the population. Each individual is provided with awareness
information tailored to their personal situation in order overcome the difficulties they face in accessing mass
awareness information. Their immediate entourage, family and neighbours are included in these activities.
These awareness activities are performed by Disability Focal Point staff. A total of twenty teams across Haiti
ensure that people understand the dangers of cholera and ways to prevent it Awareness activities are also
11
performed to avoid stigmatising the sick and to encourage solidarity. Hygiene and cholera packs are also
being distributed, initially to 400 families in Gonaïves. Lastly, the production workshop dedicated to the
construction of transitional shelters in Petit-Goâve will also produce one hundred beds adapted to cholera
treatment centres in Petit-Goâve, Grand-Goâve, Miragoâne and Les Cayes.
Psychosocial activities have been temporarily suspended to raise the awareness of a maximum number of
people. The awareness teams will nevertheless continue to identify those with specific support needs for
referral to the psychosocial unit. Some Disability Focal Points are temporarily closed to the public but will
provide a base for informing visitors on adaptation methods and raising awareness of prevention measures.
The mobile rehabilitation teams and the team dedicated to helping people with spinal cord injuries (paraplegics
and quadriplegics) are continuing with their activities, which include raising the awareness of patients and their
families.
Handicap International has also widely distributed recommendations for including people with disabilities in the
management of the response to the cholera epidemic, particularly with regards to operators working in the
fields of health, protection and camp management.
11
Packs contain a plastic bucket with a lid, a bag to keep belongings dry, a fleece blanket, a bath towel, a sponge, bars of soap, water
purification tablets, and oral rehydration solution sachets.
14

15. HUMANITARIAN LOGISTICS
AND MEETING BASIC NEEDS
Faced with a population deprived of its very means of existence, Handicap International contributes to the
logistical organisation and coordination of the relief effort and to meeting basic needs in order to fulfil its
mandate to help the most vulnerable sections of the population. The association manages a humanitarian
aid transport platform for all solidarity operators present in Haiti. Since the end of October 2010, this
logistics chain has formed part of the response to the cholera epidemic. Meeting the basic day-to-day
needs of Haitian victims includes the distribution of aid, “cash for work” activities and the construction
of transitional shelters for vulnerable and isolated people.
MANAGEMENT OF THE INTER-AGENCY LOGISTICS PLATFORM
After Haiti was hit by a series of hurricanes, Handicap International managed a logistics platform for the
transport of humanitarian aid, in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), from 2008 onwards.
Handicap International’s humanitarian logistics team in Haiti now numbers 160 people (including 5 expatriate
staff) spread over four operational bases (Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haïtien, Gonaïves and Jacmel). It manages a
fleet of 70 lorries, including some 50 six-wheel drive all-purpose vehicles each capable of transporting 3.5
tonnes of goods to areas that are difficult to access. The association also coordinates some 20 flatbed lorries
made available by the Clinton Foundation capable of transporting 8 tonnes of freight, which are used mainly in
urban areas. The association also managed two humanitarian aid storage warehouses with a capacity of 2,500
and 3,000 sq.m. respectively from February 2010. The first closed in June and the second in September.
Since 14 January, Handicap
International transported has almost
20,000 tonnes of aid, including 9,000
tonnes of food for some one hundred
12
organisations , including some fifteen
13
Haitian organisations . In response to
the cholera epidemic, the platform
transported 394 tonnes of aid
between 22 October and 4 December
2010, for some fifteen organisations
involved in preventing and treating the
disease in Port-au-Prince, Cap-
Haïtien, Gonaïves, Saint-Marc and
Jacmel.
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They include UN agencies, Action contre la Faim, Caritas, Croix-Rouge, Food for the Poor, Fraternité Notre Dame, Médecins du Monde,
Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Pompiers sans Frontières, Plan, Première Urgence, Save The Children, Secours Islamique and World Vision.
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Including Acrecom, Haitian Red Cross, Dinepa, Espoir de l’Horizon, Meyer, Ministry of Public Health and the Population, Santo 19 and
Signeau.
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16. DISTRIBUTION OF EMERGENCY AID AND “CASH FOR WORK”
The distribution activities performed by Handicap International take into account the specific needs of people
with disabilities, the vulnerable and the elderly, particularly in terms of facilitating their access to aid and
meeting their mobility needs.
Petit-Goâve and Grand-Goâve
Located around ten kilometres from the epicentre of the earthquake, these two intervention areas were 60%
destroyed, with some 50,000 people affected in these regions alone. Relief was harder to transport to these
areas, which are surrounded by mountainous terrain.
More than 1,000 ShelterBoxes, with a unit value of 750 euros, were given by the association of the same name
(see www.shelterbox.org) to Handicap International, who distributed them in the most acutely affected rural
areas. ShelterBoxes are plastic boxes containing a ten-person tent and equipment suitable for daily life in this
type of shelter for several months, including a floor mat, blankets, a stove, cooking utensils, jerrycans, a water
purification system, a saw, an axe, a shovel, rope, a mosquito net, and activity packs for children.
The association has also distributed more than 4,500 tents to over 23,000 beneficiaries, as well as 36 tonnes of
food to more than 2,000 households (equivalent to 10,000 people) and almost 30,000 items of equipment to
over 8,000 households, reaching more than 42,000 beneficiaries. The non-food aid distributed mainly
concerned items essential to every day life, such as plastic sheets, rope, jerrycans, cooking and hygiene packs,
mattresses, blankets, mats and mosquito nets.
In Haiti’s particularly inaccessible mountainous regions (the Mornes), Handicap International and its partners
distributed aid most often by helicopter, or by lorry whenever possible.
Port-au-Prince and the surrounding urban area
In Port-au-Prince, where national and international aid is concentrated, the association has set up a database
of particularly vulnerable persons, such as families with disabled members, for example. The data is supplied
by the association’s health teams and its partners. The association aids this particularly fragile population
through distributions and the provision of shelters.
More than 660 tents have been distributed, providing shelter for 3,000 people. More than 1,300 items of
equipment have also been distributed to more than 430 households, reaching over 2,100 beneficiaries. This
includes the meeting of day-to-day needs. 45 shelters were built between May and August 2010. These
temporary shelters have a wooden framework, plastic sheeting or plywood walls and a corrugated roof. Each
of these shelters is made accessible to people with reduced mobility. The distribution of tents and the
construction of shelters is sometimes accompanied by small-scale clearing or reorganisation projects, mostly
performed as part of “cash for work” schemes.
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17. “Cash for work”
“Cash for work” projects supply the population with a
source of income through occasional work, generally
as part of manual clear-up operations. The workers
are paid the Haitian minimum wage - 200 gourdes (4
euros) a day. Between May and August 2010,
Handicap International set up three “cash for work”
programmes involving more than 600 people for a
total of 4,000 direct beneficiaries: the renovation of the
Route de Palmes, at the top of the Mornes mountain
range in Petit-Goâve and Grand-Goâve, the
demolition and clear-up of houses in Petit-Goâve,
performed in conjunction with the Civil Protection
service, and the setting up of a centre to produce
temporary shelters in Port-au-Prince.
Impact of the hurricane season
Following the storm that hit Haiti at the end of September 2010, Handicap International evaluated 500
beneficiaries, considered to be among the most vulnerable individuals, at Disability Focal Points. Each person
was contacted to identify their needs in terms of tents and plastic sheeting. Distributions were performed to
meet specific needs. The emergency shelters built in Port-au-Prince, which have a wooden framework, walls
made from plastic sheeting, corrugated roofing and a cement base, stood up well to the storm. In preparation
for the passage of hurricane Tomas on 5 November, the association performed identification and prevention
activities aimed at the most vulnerable groups and ensured that the weakest among them were transported to
secure shelters.
BUILDING TRANSITIONAL ACCOMMODATION
Handicap International has begun building more than 1,000 transitional, hurricane- and earthquake-resistant
homes accessible to people with reduced mobility. These shelters are designed primarily for the most
vulnerable sections of the population. Between now and September 2011, 5,000 people will have been
provided with accommodation in Petit-Goâve, Grand-Goâve and the surrounding mountainous areas.
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18. These shelters are theoretically designed to last between three and five years. However, if properly maintained,
they can last longer, since their structure is designed to resist bad weather. They have a wooden framework
and walls of woven wooden slats, with a roof designed to stand up to strong gusts of wind. The floor is made
from wooden planks or a raised concrete slab to protect occupants from humidity during the rainy season. If
necessary, these transitional shelters are fitted with a ramp to ensure their accessibility.
Offering a living area of 18 sq.m. and a 6 sq.m. covered terrace, each shelter is designed for a family of five.
Modules of different sizes will also be made available to suit each size of family or construction area. These
prefabricated shelters are prepared in packs which are then transported to the area in question before being
assembled with families to foster full “ownership” and to ensure they are able to keep the shelter in a state of
repair.
By the end of October 2010, the first 80 transitional shelters had been delivered, providing accommodation for
more than 330 people. Several others have been delivered to Grand-Goâve where Médecins du Monde will
convert them into health centres, in conjunction with the Haitian Ministry for Public Health and Population.
Accessibility
Handicap International benefits several other associations with its expertise in the field of accessibility. It is also
part of several working groups formed by humanitarian operators present in Haiti. Its task is to promote the
accessibility of existing buildings (medical facilities, latrines in temporary encampments for earthquake victims,
etc.) and to ensure the requirements and principles of accessibility are taken into account in rebuilding projects.
The association uses advocacy to raise the awareness of its partners, NGOs and medical facilities, etc. to the
need to include people with disabilities at each stage of an emergency response and to help them access aid.
All of Handicap International’s projects, particularly transitional shelters, take accessibility requirements into
account.
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