Aid worker from North Wexford witnesses first hand the horror of the recent hurricane in Haiti, writes
FintanLambe
AN aid worker from North Wexford has described the horror of living through the devastating Hurricane Matthew which recently struck Haiti, leaving more than 1,000 people dead.
Damien Meaney, (37), who is originally from Vevay Road in Bray, but now lives in Kilanerin, said that it was horrendous during the storm. ‘I have never witnessed, and hope never to go through, anything like it again,’ he said. ‘I thought it was never going to stop.’
He has been working with the Haven Partnership in Haiti for over five-and-ahalf years, on a small island called Ile a Vache, south of Haiti. Before the storm hit, the Irish organisation was working to support livelihoods, by providing agriculture training, and home upgrades.
‘ The main focus is to help support existing programmes to become self-sustaining,’ he said, explaining that much of his work centred on supporting local community projects such as building fishing boats so they can go to sea to catch fish.
‘It is all about trying to up-skill and train local Haitians on how to practice better techniques to carry out their daily activities and livelihoods,’ said Damien. ‘My role has been helping the locals to co-ordinate these programmes.’
He said that the island was devastated during Hurricane Matthew. ‘It has caused untold damage, destroying homes, businesses, schools, churches, agriculture, and livestock,’ he stated. ‘ The destruction is unreal. It’s sad to see that what everyone had worked for was wiped away in a couple of hours.’
‘I had six families in my room that night as their houses were being torn away,’ he continued. ‘We were all huddled into a corner as the windows blew out.’ He couldn’t believe how strong the winds were and could feel the walls moving. They peaked at around 4 a.m.
‘ The rain was lashing into the room,’ he said. ‘ The clothes, bed, everything, was destroyed.’
Eventually at around 9.30 a.m., they managed to prise the door open. ‘ The wind and rain were still blowing very strong,’ recalled Damien. He saw that the roof of neighbour’s house was gone, and a coconut tree had smashed through the house. The roof of his house was gone too, as were many of the contents from upstairs.
‘It felt unreal, like a bad dream,’ he said. ‘It was hours before we were all able to talk, as the wind and rain lasted until early afternoon. All we could do was be thankful that everyone was still alive.’
He said that since the storm, his main activity has been surveying the damage done to the island, and to other projects on the mainland, and seeing how the Haven Partnership can help. ‘ The key has been getting food and water to families,’ he said. ‘We have delivered a couple of thousand food kits now. We are in process of getting tarps to try keep homes dry as the roofs are gone.’
Other priories include: getting wells fixed and cleaned to provide clean water for families; getting aqua tablets out for disinfecting the water; setting up a cholera area to help reduce the number of cases; and facilitating medical teams with logistics on getting aid to the island.
‘ The conditions are still very hard and getting aid in and distributed is a challenge,’ he said. ‘It’s raining on and off, so movement is limited.’
‘We are working to try get schools back open, the medical centre fixed, clean farms back growing seed, and trees planted,’ he said. ‘We are focusing as much as we can on helping people to try to get back to normal as quickly as possible.’