As we organised Mother’s Day and Father’s Day actiivites for older people in Haiti, I realised how little time is given to them for the rest of the year. It is like they no longer exist.

Older people live with the burden of isolation, psychological distress, health problems and family responsibilities every day.

During a tragedy like the 12 January earthquake, we often think of women, children or handicapped people but we forget and generally neglect the fate of older people.

Furthermore the government and different humanitarian actors in the field know very little about older people’s needs.

A voice to share their experience

Mostly, older people want to play an active role in society. After the quake, older people said clearly that they did not want to be spectators, but wanted to be active in the reconstruction of their country.

Because of this, they had to be given a voice. A voice that will help their real needs be known. A voice to express their aspirations. A voice to share their experience, which will help rebuild Haiti. But how do we give them this voice?

(more…)

Six months on from the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti, the UK Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has released a series of videos showing the work that has been done with the money raised by the public.

(more…)

Six months on from the devastating earthquake, life for older people in Haiti’s temporary camps is still tough.

HelpAge International in Haiti has been speaking to groups of older people in camps located in Carrefour, Cite Soleil, Delmas,  and Petion-Ville. 

We want to collect more information about their living conditions and their views on what it would take to get back on their feet again. 

Not surprisingly, their main desire is to leave the camps. They spoke of their discomfort, the conditions, attitudes towards them from younger residents and in some cases, the fact that they are excluded from distributions of humanitarian assistance.

(more…)

Everyone’s in World Cup frenzy here in Haiti. Cars display their drivers’ persuasion - the only options apparently being Argentina or Brazil. Every little roadside shop and café has the sports channel on, and the streets clear and traffic is non-existent when either team are playing.
(more…)

“But are there any old people in Haiti? Isn’t life expectancy something like 54?”

I’ve been asked this question twice in the last few weeks.

It’s hardly a scientifically accurate sample, but I wonder if it’s representative of people’s understanding of “life expectancy”?

Do people see HelpAge signs and wonder: “Why are they here, are there that many older people?”

“The myth of life expectancy”

(more…)

Sunday was Father’s Day in Haiti and as part of our “psycho-social” programme supporting older people’s recovery, we organised two events to celebrate the day.

There was some debate among staff at the care home we visited in the morning; did men really deserve a Father’s Day?! Mother’s Day they could understand – mothers do so much.

“Even now at the care home the women residents help out as much as they can,” one of the staff tells us.

Nevertheless the men enjoyed the events and all residents – men and women -  got lots of cake!

Celebrating fathers’ contributions

(more…)

Share this post using: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Today we’ve been to the Asile Communale, the municipal nursing home that hit the international headlines shortly after the earthquake. One week after the earthquake, no food, water or medical assistance had reached the home and many of the residents were in a dire situation.

Exume Fleurantus (right) remembers it well: “Bertin Meance from HelpAge came and brought sweet potatoes from the market”. In a matter-of-fact way she adds: “He saved us”.

Substantial support to a “last resort”

Over the following months HelpAge and other NGOs have been providing substantial support to the home. The media still drop by from time to time to report and monitor progress. Many people, clearly have been frustrated that improvements and progress have taken so long.  So, really I was expecting the worst.
(more…)

Today we’re visiting two of the care homes we’re supporting in Leogane, about 90 minutes from Port-au-Price and the town that was the epicentre of the earthquake.

Sister Josette (right) was living in the sisters’ quarters but since the earthquake she’s been sleeping in a tent at night. She’s 81.

“No pensions or health services”

“I started working here at Villa de Jesu with two others shortly after it was founded in 1999. There are no social services in Haiti, nothing organised in terms of pensions or health services. There is no support for people when they can no longer work.

(more…)

When you work at HelpAge, you lose your “age-blindness” very quickly. I sat at the departure gates at JFK for the flight to Port-au-Prince, and noticed how many travellers were older Haitians. Many were travelling alone or with young children.

Six travellers required wheelchair assistance. I wondered how easy it is to get around in post-earthquake Haiti for those with mobility issues.

And then coincidentally, on my first full day in the country I sat in on some training that was tackling this very issue, among many others.

Care for the especially vulnerable

US organisation, Kissito International, have offered to provide the staff at the care homes supported by HelpAge, the basic tools to care for especially vulnerable older people.
(more…)

Richard Blewitt, HelpAge’s CEO has been in Haiti this week. Below are his personal observations of the difficult situation older people are facing:

“Today, I am in Haiti visiting HelpAge’s emergency programme. Since January’s earthquake our staff have been working hard to ensure older people are cared for during this humanitarian crisis.

(more…)