Haiti: Securing Aid to People with Disabilities

„In Haiti huge numbers of people severely injured by the earthquake and its aftermath need amputations. Amputations are performed in emergency surgeries to prevent deadly infections and to ensure the survival of the earthquake victims,“ says Dr. Karl Rigal, senior physician at the Vienna Hanusch-Hospital in Austria and LIGHT FOR THE WORLD board member, describing the extent of the natural catastrophe from a medical perspective.

Numbers of persons with disabilities in Haiti will rise. One third of the estimated 200,000 severely injured in Haiti will have permanent physical impairments many as a result of these amputations. LIGHT FOR THE WORLD‘s support to the reconstruction efforts in Haiti will be focused on the inclusion of persons with disabilities and on ensuring barrier-free design and reconstruction of structures and buildings.

LIGHT FOR THE WORLD is providing € 300,000 in emergency aid for reconstruction in Haiti after the disastrous earthquake. This aid to persons with disabilities supports those hit especially hard by the catastrophe and who are especially disadvantaged in the current fight for survival. „Thousands of victims of the Haiti earthquake have lost legs or arms. We will ensure that people with disabilities will get the support they need for a full and dignified life“, Rupert Roniger, managing director of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD in Austria, explains our commitment to the victims in Haiti.

Two specific projects will be supported by LIGHT FOR THE WORLD in partnership with CBM, an international Christian development organization which has been implementing programs for persons with disabilities in Haiti for more than 30 years.

• Establishment of a community rehabilitation centre in Port-au-Prince for earthquake victims. An outreach team will be established to identify patients with injuries and disabilities and to ensure follow-up. At the community rehabilitiation centre support services and assistive devices (crutches, wheelchairs) will be provided.
  
• Reconstruction of both the Eye care and the Ear, Nose and Throat departments of the University Hospital in Port-au-Prince which were severely damaged in the earthquake.
  

Help the victims of the Haiti earthquake:
Donation Account
PSK 92.011.650 (Sort Code 60.000)
IBAN AT80 6000 0000 9201 1650
BIC OPSKATWW
Keyword „Haiti“

Thank you!

Press-release 25. January 2010 - www.licht-fuer-die-welt.at