Hurbain, 82 and Suzanne, 62, Haiti

Suzanne with her Tough Stuff lamp, which allows her to read in the evenings. (c) Frederic Dupoux/HelpAge International In August this year, Hurbain Julien, 82, and his wife Suzanne Lucien, who is 62, received a Tough Stuff kit, which includes a telephone charger, a lamp and a solar powered radio.

Five months later, they spoke to us about how efficient, useful and easy to use the kit has been. They told us they feel safer in the camp they live in and their quality of life has improved.

No water or electricity

Like thousands of Haitians, Hurbain and Suzanne's house was destroyed by the earthquake which struck on 12 January.

Since the quake, they have been living in a temporary camp, far from where they use to live, without running water or electricity. Life is very difficult and there are few distractions.

Older people are amongst the most vulnerable in society and like many others, Hurbain and Suzanne have no income or money. The Tough Stuff distribution carried out by HelpAge has changed their lives.

Hurbain said: "When HelpAge gave us the Tough Stuff kit over four months ago I said to my wife that it didn't look very solid. I was wrong. All the different parts of my kit are still working perfectly."

"Our children can come and visit us now"

Suzanne added: "I was worried it would be difficult to use, but it isn't at all. After a short presentation by HelpAge staff, I could use it very easily.

"The problem in the camps is that we don't have electricity. When it gets dark, we have to get candles or kerosene for our lamp so we can see and stay up. Otherwise, we have to go to bed. I prefer not to use candle or kerosene lamps because they can cause fires."

"Before, we had to stop what we were doing really early," Hurbain said. "Now we have the lamp we can continue reading or even walk around the camp. Our children can also come and visit us in the evening. We feel a lot safer. We also have two grandchildren living with us. Our Tough Stuff kit is very practical if we need to cook in the evening.

"We feel less alone"

"At the moment, the only entertainment we have is listening to the radio. We can use our Tough Stuff radio whenever we want, we charge it during the day and we don't have to buy batteries for it.

"Every Friday and Sunday we make sure we listen to the HelpAge radio show "Koze Granmoun Pawol Timoun". It's the only one that talks about the issues older people face.

"Before HelpAge, nobody was bothered about older people. Now we feel a lot less alone. The health visitors and community coordinator from HelpAge often come to see us. If we're ill, we know we can count on them."

Hurbain and Suzanne then added: "We never miss an Older People's Association meeting either. As well as taking our needs into account, the OPAs give us the chance to chat to our friends and get away from the loneliness."