In 2004, in partnership with ASSODLO, a Haitian non-governmental organisation (NGO), we implemented a project in the Fonds-Verrettes area, Haiti, to prepare vulnerable communities against flooding. The project was funded by Disaster Preparedness ECHO (DIPECHO).

Activities

We carried out training with older people, schoolchildren and influential members of the community to help them understand the causes of flooding, and protect them and their belongings during emergencies.

The skills and knowledge gained by community members was put to the test during the course of the project, when torrential rains caused serious flooding within the project area.

About 1,500 people died in the wider commune, crops and animals were destroyed, and houses and other buildings were swept away or severely damaged. However, thanks to the training, many lives were saved, with a death toll of only eight people in the 12,000-strong community of Gros Cheval, where the project was focused.

Community members who had benefited from the training took action to protect themselves and others:

“As the rains and wind approached, people cut overhanging branches near their homes.”

“The training helped to save my family and me but I lost my house.”

“I was able to alert my neighbours, so they could escape.”

Achievements

The project not only provided essential and life-saving training, but also enabled the community to plant 12,000 trees to help prevent flooding, and distributed emergency materials. We also worked with the national government agency to establish a disaster-preparedness committee in the community to coordinate emergency responses at a grassroots level.

As a result of this work, a disaster-preparedness culture is now in place among the most vulnerable people in this Haitian community. Older people, children and their families no longer see natural disasters as acts of God over which they have no control. They have been empowered to take action to protect themselves and others in the event of a natural disaster.