Strains of ‘If you’re happy and you know it’ ring out as groups of children are gathered together laughing, singing and playing. It could be a scene from any nursery school in the UK but what makes this scene remarkable is that it’s in a refugee camp in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince – a city devastated by a terrifying earthquake just a few months earlier.
It’s hard to imagine your whole life changing in an instant but for millions of people living in Haiti, it did on January 12th 2010. In just a few minutes, the earthquake claimed the lives of over 230,000 people and left 1.5 million homeless. As the island shook, homes were destroyed and roads, hospitals and other essential infrastructure decimated.
The education system in Port-au-Prince was particularly badly affected – school buildings were destroyed and others left in urgent need of repair. Without schools to go to, many children are forced to wander around camps like Place de la Paix, one of Port-au-Prince’s largest and most densely populated makeshift settlements.
But on the edge of the camp there is an unexpected bright spot: a playground with a children’s slide, a tiny merry-go-round and a colourful mural, and children gathered together, singing and playing.
This is part of the Concern Worldwide emergency response programme in Port-au-Prince. Where in the midst of some of the largest camps, Concern has set up its Child-Friendly Spaces – classrooms, many in large tents or existing structures, that give children the space to forget their traumatic experiences and just be children for a short while. Concern has already reached nearly 2,000 earthquake-affected children, giving them instruction in basic reading and writing, as well as arts, crafts and music.
Annette Ambroisa, made homeless by the earthquake, has seen changes in her daughters, Farline, (6), and Fedeline, (2) already:
They’re happier, they’re learning something new every day, and they’re able to stay clean.
The children of Port-au-Prince have been through so much since the earthquake but thanks to the dedication of Concern’s staff on the ground, they have helped make the children smile again.
You can help Concern be ready to respond to the next emergency wherever and whenever it happens by treating a loved one to a charity gift this summer. There’s gifts for every taste and budget from life-saving water filters at £7 to emergency food supplies for £48. Each and every gift makes a real and lasting difference to people affected by emergencies and comes with a lovely card for you to personalise and send on.
