HA152 , Leogone, Haiti, September 23, 2010
Restoring its child development programs to their full level of activity was crucial in Compassion’s recovery efforts. These programs provide children with a sense of normalcy as they attend activities in safe, clean buildings. The first step was providing safe temporary and transitional shelters for child development centers. The second step was to resume the programs as quickly as possible.
Assessing and caring for the children’s emotional needs was also a primary consideration. Because local colleges were shut down, Compassion-trained Leadership Development Program (LDP) students were recruited to help administer evaluations to the children and refer them for additional help as needed. Some children were adjusting, some suffered Post-traumatic stress disorder, and some needed more intensive help from trained professionals.
Compassion hired mental health professionals to provide individual counseling to the children, according to their needs.
Compassion Haiti Quick Facts
- Start date: 1968
- Child participants: 66,549
- Child development centers: 276 (Affected by quake: 44)
Child Participants by Program:
- Child Survival Program (CSP): 2,302
- Child Sponsorship Program: 64,160
- Leadership Development Program (LDP): 87
Census of 22,800 children in quake-affected area:
- Child deaths: 62
- Child injuries: 961
- Children not found: <100 due to relocation
- Homes destroyed: 4,619
- Homes damaged: 14,066
The Child Survival Program rescues and nurtures newborns through age 4.
The Child Sponsorship Program develops and equips children for life through one-on-one sponsorship. The Leadership Development Program educates and trains servant leaders through a college education.
