Devastation in Haiti

Since the earthquake and devastation in Haiti, the international Scout movement has mobilized behind a major aid initiative. Actions are being multiplying everywhere to assist the Haitian Scouts and it is becoming easier to establish contact with them now.

The World Scout Bureau, with the Scouts et Guides de France, the historical partners of Haitian Scouting, are coordinating the offers of support coming from National Scout Organisations. Donations from South African Scouts can be channeled through the national Scout office.

Mr Richard Avery, Director External Relations and Marketing, World Scout Bureau writes – "Our Fellow Scouts in Haiti will need our full support as they have demonstrated their full capacity and ability to do the job."

Having experienced the difficult consequences of many natural disasters, the Haitian Scouts have acquired expertise that they have once again put at the disposal of the people of Haiti and have come forward and presented themselves to the association's president, Gerard-Marie Tardieu, to offer their services of assistance.

In the very early stages of the tragedy, reports of what Scouts undertook reminds us of the TV pictures we all watched at the time with horror, in the comfort of our safe living rooms. Scouts of Jacmel helped local firemen to find and rescue victims trapped under rubble, and helped in the distribution of food and water to the victims. The Scouts of Saint-Marc put in place a makeshift clinic to provide primary care to the injured. The Scouts of St-George and Caleb Groups helped over 2000 survivors to reach the borders of Dominican Republic in their own cars. The Scouts of Gedeon de Carrefour Group have pulled out over 300 bodies from under the debris and saved about 725 victims. They have hand-fabricated coffins to bury twelve fellow Scouts who died. They undertook the very necessary and difficult task of digging a communal trench to bury 150 of the dead.

The stories go on – read www.scout.org/blogs