Baradères Struggles to Recover After Hurricane Matthew Two UPLIFT Haiti volunteers returned from Haiti last week, 10 weeks after Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc on southwestern Haiti. First the good news.
Still, when Hurricane Matthew hammered southwestern Haiti on October 4, it caused devastation throughout the Baraderes region, home to more than 40,000 people. The downtown district of Baraderes, through which the Baraderes River winds in multiple channels, was still a disaster area. Most homes showed severe damgae - missing roofs and crumbled walls - and many homes were simply gone. Homelessness is the biggest problem, according to Sister Marie Judith Prophete, who administers the medical clinic We have been posting news and photos to our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/UPLIFTHaiti). We still plan to conduct medical clinics in Baradères in early March. Please consider making a donation to support that activity as well as our continuing hurricane aid. We have been able to send two small shipments of food, water, fuel and other supplies to our local partners in Baradères, who have been sheltering hundreds of people. Baradères is a large village in a remote river valley. The village was flooded up to 6 feet deep during the hurricane. Access by road has often been impossible. The region has a population around 50,000, but as of today still has not received any large deliveries of food and water aid. No aid has reached Kay Mak, a dispersed community of about 10,000 subsistence farmers at the top of steep mountains. Hurricane wind and rain destroyed Kay Mak homes, crops, livestock and the coffee harvest, along with much of the headquarters building of the farmers’ association that is our local partner. We are grateful to our volunteers and other donors for joining us in believing that the people of Haiti have not given up on their country and we will not give up either.
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