Western Pa. humanitarians say Haiti’s needs outlive disaster

Published: Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014, 9:00p.m. Updated 1 hour ago

Four years have passed since an earthquake devastated the Haitian landscape, and humanitarians say communities are improving but survivors still need support.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, said Ian Rawson of Squirrel Hill, a board member for Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, Haiti. That didn't start with an earthquake, and it can't be fixed overnight.

At the peak of displacement, about 2.3 million people, including 302,000 children, were out of their homes and at least 200,000 died, according to the United Nations.

Pittsburghers long-invested in Haiti reached out, securing adoptions, delivering supplies and revamping medical systems to help the people of Haiti off their knees.

Tent cities in Port-au-Prince have almost disappeared, said Ali McMutrie, 25, co-founder of Haitian Families First. Education is the next big step. The youngest generation of Haitians are the ones who have the chance to really turn their country around.

McMutrie and her sister, Jamie, founded the nonprofit to help families overwhelmed by poverty keep and care for their children at home. The women estimate 30,000 children are institutionalized out of poverty and family circumstances, though 80 percent still have a living parent.

Some families have five or more children, McMutrie said. Some new parents can't find work and believe the orphanage is their only option. Many young mothers lack prenatal care and die in childbirth, leaving young fathers ill-equipped to feed their newborn children.

We step in wherever we see a need, she said. That could mean nutritional help, like beans for extra protein or powdered milk for babies. It takes $210 to pay for a year of schooling for an older child, so we cover that when parents can't afford it on their own.

The Haitian Ministry of Education estimated nearly 5,000 schools were affected, about a quarter of the country's education system. Of those, almost 4,000 remained closed.

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Western Pa. humanitarians say Haiti’s needs outlive disaster