A major earthquake took place in Haiti on 12th January 2010. The 7.3-magnitude quake, Haiti’s worst in two centuries, struck at 1653 local time (2153 GMT) toppling buildings in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and burying many of the residents in rubble. At least 50,000 people are feared dead, and up to 3 million have been affected.
The President of The Freemasons’ Grand Charity has approved a grant of £20,000 to the British Red Cross, who have already begun working on an emergency response in Haiti. Red Cross volunteers are currently assisting the injured and supporting hospitals who do not have enough capacity to deal with this emergency. A group of experts in disaster response, health in emergency and logistics have been sent to support the Haitian Red Cross in the relief efforts and to begin to coordinate international assistance from members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement as well as other organisations. In addition, a Red Cross team will lead a damage assessment together with the Humanitarian Aid Office of the European Union.
£10,000 has also been awarded to Plan International in support of their efforts in dealing with the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Plan International’s priorities are assisting children and their families and getting people into safe accommodation wherever possible, as well as working with survivors to help ease their psychological trauma.
Source: The Freemasons Grand Charity
