Finnish Red Cross providing aid to Haiti in the wake of the recent devastating earthquake

The Finnish aid workers will be working in Haiti as telecommunications experts in cooperation with the Austrian Red Cross.

The number of casualties of the recent earthquake in Haiti has been growing rapidly, with the death toll now being 1,400 and almost 7,000 injured. The earthquake continues to affect a million Haitians. In response, the country has declared a month-long state of emergency.

The approximately one thousand volunteers of the Haitian Red Cross started providing aid immediately following the earthquake. Soon after, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also sent additional aid workers to the site to provide aid and assess the scale of the destruction.

The aid work is being hindered by the severely damaged infrastructure, the country’s COVID-19 situation and unrest. In addition, there is currently a tropical storm approaching that may end up impeding the aid work even further. According to the Haitian government, the country is first and foremost in need of first aid and medical supplies.

“Hospitals, homes, schools, bridges and roads have been destroyed. People have been injured and left homeless. Local health care services are severely overwhelmed and difficult to access. The situation is extremely dire,” says the Director of International Operations at the Finnish Red Cross, Tiina Saarikoski.

The Red Cross is assisting with rescue efforts, providing first aid and psychosocial support and working to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The Red Cross has also set up a committee to help reunite families that have been split by the disaster.

You can support the aid work by donating to the disaster relief fund of the Finnish Red Cross, which makes it possible to send rapid aid to locations around the world. Funds for the disaster relief fund are collected via the annual Hunger Day collection held in September, among other means. Thank you for helping.