MERCY CORPS BEGINS FOCUS ONCREATING JOBS, HEALING CHILDREN

In addition to meeting immediate needs bybringing clean water and better sanitation to twohard-hit neighborhoods, Mercy Corps is workingto create 7,000 jobs cleaning wells, clearingstreets and hauling away debris. We also arelaunching a psycho-social support program calledComfort for Kids to help ease post-quake traumain children.Mercy Corps has a long track record of helpingcommunities transition from receiving aid tocarrying out their own recovery after naturaldisasters. Our team of humanitarian firstresponders in Haiti includes experts in emergencydistribution, water, food, shelter, health, logistics,trauma support and job creation.

Creating Jobs, Hastening Economic Recovery

Stores in Haiti are opening and street vendors aresetting up their goods, but wares are expensiveand very few people have jobs – so they’reunable to purchase the things their families needto survive.Mercy Corps is scheduled to begin cash-for-workprograms next week in the Petionville andTabarre communities of Port-au-Prince. Weanticipate that cash-for-work will ramp up toprovide more than 7,000 people with short-term jobs doing essential recovery tasks such asclearing debris and agricultural land, and cleaningwells.Our program will allow earthquake survivors toearn a daily wage, get money in their pockets –and resume the flow of cash into Haiti’s economy.The next critical steps in re-booting Haiti’seconomy will include cash grants so that peoplecan rebuild assets like small businesses, fishingboats and food carts. We are also looking intopartnerships using microfinance and remittancesto allow nascent businesses to stabilize and grow.Mercy Corps is already working with microfinanceprovider FONKOZE to help recapitalize its clientspost-earthquake. Efforts like this are essential toreturn Haiti’s economy to a functioning state, bothin Port-au-Prince and in the provinces to whichmany of the city’s now-homeless are returning.

Haitians living in tent camps desperately need work in order to earnmoney to pay for goods. Mercy Corps is starting cash-for-work programs to provide short-term jobs. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Providing Healing Support to Children

When the earthquake struck, schools in Port-au-Prince collapsed. A full assessment of thequake’s impact on education in Haiti is not yetdone, but reports from the Education Minister state that half the 15,000 primary schools and1,500 secondary schools, as well as the threemain universities, were destroyed or badlydamaged. Because schools were open when thequake hit, many students and teachers diedinside. The Ministry of Education collapsed, killingmany staff members.Haitian children who survived the earthquakeexperienced trauma that could negatively affectthem for life.Early next week, Mercy Corps will shipapproximately 5,000 Comfort for Kids kits, for distribution to Haitian children. Offering childrenthese kits, which include items such as a plushblanket and a stuffed animal, is the first step inMercy Corps’ efforts to help Haitian childrenovercome the emotional trauma of theearthquake.Our Comfort for Kids counseling methodology isdesigned to help restore children’s sense of well-

Last year, Mercy Corps helped 16.7 million people turn crisis into opportunity.