Haiti Earthquake Update: April 2nd, 11:00 am

Updates from the field

World Concern Haiti has built its first homes for families who have been left homeless by the earthquake. The first three homes are prototypes, each built with slight differences, to allow an evaluation of the structures.

The homes are intended to be constructed quickly to provide a place for families for three to five years. The reality is, though, that these will be permanent homes for many families.

"In these situations, about half of these transitional homes will become permanent, so we want to do them well," said Merry Fitzpatrick, World Concern's disaster relief director.

All homes have a curved metal roof for structural support and resistance from severe weather. A metal support structure provides strength for the walls. For the foundation, salvaged chunks of rubble are being mixed with cement to provide a solid surface. Walls will likely be either wood or salvaged bricks. All of this is being evaluated so that we can identify the best practices.

We are trying to build as many homes as quickly as possible, build them to provide security and safety for the residents, and use existing materials to both reduce the amount of rubble and reduce costs.

The homes in Haiti are being built by Haitians enrolled in our Cash for Work program, who have been removing rubble and clearing land for new homes for the past three weeks. We are ramping up the program to try and protect families before Haiti's hurricane season begins June 1. We are currently expanding our cash for work program into new areas in the Delmas neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.

In all of our work in Haiti, the contributions from donors and from the labor of hard-working Haitians are crucial to World Concern's response to save and sustain lives, and lay the groundwork for our long-term response to ensure families are able to provide for themselves.

Go back to World Concern's Haiti Page