A quarter of Compassion’s 270 child centers shut down in wake of Hurricane Matthew.
Even the strongest Atlantic hurricane in nearly a decade was overshadowed by the weekend turmoil in the US presidential election. But while the storm has subsided, Christian humanitarian groups are still busy grappling with the aftermath.
In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, more than 1,200 children sponsored by Compassion International in Haiti were moved to a new location after their homes were damaged. The Category 4 storm also shut down more than a quarter of Compassion’s 270 child development centers: of the 73 that were temporarily closed, 66 were significantly damaged or destroyed.
Three children sponsored by Compassion and four Compassion caregivers were killed, among the 473 officially reported deaths of Haitians. (Other sources report as many as 1,000 were killed.) Three Compassion children are seriously injured, the humanitarian organization reported.
“Our primary short-term priorities after partial assessment of the hurricane’s impact include providing children and their families with food security and shelter, and to clean up and repair our church partner facilities in order to resume operation as quickly as possible,” stated Guilbaud Saint-Cyr, Compassion Haiti’s country director.
Compassion and other Christian humanitarian groups moved quickly in response to Hurricane Matthew.
About 400 World Vision staff handed out bedding and hygiene kits to those in shelters around Port-au-Prince. Before the storm hit, World Vision prepared tarps, water containers, hygiene kids, and blankets to help up to 15,000 families.
Thousands of houses are damaged and there is still a lot of flooding, said World Vision’s national director in Haiti, John Hasse.
“In Port-au-Prince I see a lot of trees …
