IFRC

Haiti earthquake - March 2010

‘We heard a very strong noise and got scared’ says Antoine Ranfort in Léogane. ‘Seheneily was outside and ran towards the house. In that moment some bricks felt and broke her leg’. ‘We looked for help, but Léogane was complete destroy. We went to Port-au-Prince and the chaos was just as bad’ explains Mr Ranfort. The girl’s mother managed to grab a bus to Santo Domingo where the girl finally received medical assistance. Five days later this 4 year-old girl got her leg amputated in a hospital that could take her all the way to Santo Domingo. ‘The wound was already infected and Seheneily became very sick. Had she been treated on time, she could have kept her leg. Now she cannot sleep at night and we do not know where to obtain a prosthesis for her leg’ concludes her uncle. (p-HTI0619)Photo: (José Manuel Jiménez/IFRC)

‘We heard a very strong noise and got scared’ says Antoine Ranfort in Léogane. ‘Seheneily was outside and ran towards the house. In that moment some bricks felt and broke her leg’. ‘We looked for help, but Léogane was complete destroy. We went to Port-au-Prince and the chaos was just as bad’ explains Mr Ranfort. The girl’s mother managed to grab a bus to Santo Domingo where the girl finally received medical assistance. Five days later this 4 year-old girl got her leg amputated in a hospital that could take her all the way to Santo Domingo. ‘The wound was already infected and Seheneily became very sick. Had she been treated on time, she could have kept her leg. Now she cannot sleep at night and we do not know where to obtain a prosthesis for her leg’ concludes her uncle. (p-HTI0619)Photo: (José Manuel Jiménez/IFRC)

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‘We heard a very strong noise and got scared’ says Antoine Ranfort in Léogane. ‘Seheneily was outside and ran towards the house. In that moment some bricks felt and broke her leg’. ‘We looked for help, but Léogane was complete destroy. We went to Port-au-Prince and the chaos was just as bad’ explains Mr Ranfort. The girl’s mother managed to grab a bus to Santo Domingo where the girl finally received medical assistance. Five days later this 4 year-old girl got her leg amputated in a hospital that could take her all the way to Santo Domingo. ‘The wound was already infected and Seheneily became very sick. Had she been treated on time, she could have kept her leg. Now she cannot sleep at night and we do not know where to obtain a prosthesis for her leg’ concludes her uncle. (p-HTI0619)Photo: (José Manuel Jiménez/IFRC)
Georgette Seide, 87 years old, lost Ashley her 7 year-old adoptive daughter. ‘I do not know where she was buried. When I arrived the neighbors told me the body had already been removed. I could save a few of my belongings’ tells Georgette. Now she leaves with another daughter and two grand children at a makeshift camp in the center of Port-au-Prince. ‘Every day I go back and sit in front of my home, waiting for someone to fix it’ comments Georgette, who now sells cigarettes in the street to survive, ‘my soul hurts of how hungry I am’. That day Georgette received a tent, non food items and a basic shelter kit from the International Federation of the Red Cross. ‘Now I will share this with my family’ concluded smiling Georgette. (p-HTI0620)Photo: (José Manuel Jiménez/IFRC)
I spent two days trapped under the rubble of what was once my home. When they rescued me, some Red Cross doctors took care of me. I was lucky, my dad was not’ explains Normandy Jeounot. She looks happy while she starts putting together a temporary shelter with materials donated by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. We have lived with family members during these weeks. ‘With the help of the Red Cross we will start a new life. I still have a son and a mother’ concludes Normandy. (p-HTI0621)Photo: (José Manuel Jiménez/IFRC)
‘I was standing at the door of my home when the earthquake started. I yelled at everyone to run out’, tells 50 year-old Pierre-Richard Feranchant.‘I lost my left leg a few years ago, due to diabetes. I could not help anyone. I just saw how the house crumbled with my daughter still inside. We lost everything, my daughter above all, and the bicycle workshop where I used to work. I do not know how we will survive this tragedy’ concludes Mr Feranchant. (p-HTI0622)Photo: (José Manuel Jiménez/IFRC)
The city of Léogâne was next to the epicenter of the earthquake and was destroyed up to an estimated 80 per cent. (p-HTI0623)Photo: (José Manuel Jiménez/IFRC)
All economic activity stopped. (p-HTI0624)Photo: (José Manuel Jiménez/IFRC)
The streets are filled with ruble of what were once homes, shops, schools and churches. (p-HTI0625)Photo: (José Manuel Jiménez/IFRC)
Léogâne’s inhabitants wander around trying to rebuild their lives.(p-HTI0626)Photo: (José Manuel Jiménez/IFRC)
Léogâne’s inhabitants wander around trying to rebuild their lives. (p-HTI0630)Photo: (José Manuel Jiménez/IFRC)
    

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