Carol helps to rebuild shattered lives in Haiti

Carol Ward, a member of Mercy Corps' Global Emergency Operations team, is now preparing to oversee the organisation's efforts to help the people of Haiti.

Operating out of Mercy Corps' European headquarters in Edinburgh, Ms Ward, 52, is among the people being sent out to the island nation after last week's devastating earthquake.

She was expected to fly into the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on Saturday to begin working with other aid agencies in an effort to help survivors.

She will assess the immediate humanitarian needs for the displaced and begin distribution of water, food and temporary shelter supplies.

Ms Ward has responded to emergencies in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Lebanon, Central African Republic, Myanmar, Georgia and Samoa since joining Mercy Corps four years ago.

As she prepared to head out to Haiti, she said it was important that people in the UK realised just how vital their donations could be to saving lives and providing some hope amidst the devastation.

She said: "Each place has its own unique problems to overcome, but I would expect the situation there to be fairly chaotic due to the sheer scale of the disaster.

"It is incredibly hard and stressful to work in such an environment, but once there you look around and see the people you need to help, and it is a case of getting your head down and getting the work done.

"We will work with the other agencies out there, and use our specialist knowledge of these situations to help as many people as possible."

With aid slowly filtering through to people in the capital, locals struggling to cope with the scale of the devastation raised concerns that outlying areas such as Jacmel in the south and Petit Goave in the west were not getting vital aid.

Efforts to get help to these locations will have been hampered by damage caused by aftershocks, which have been recorded to the west of Port-au-Prince in the days following the earthquake.

Ms Ward said: "Initially the focus will be on Port-au-0Prince, where the scale of the destruction is causing the biggest problem for survivors, but we are very aware that the rural areas, which can be much harder to reach, must not be forgotten about and so we will work to get aid to them as quickly as possible."

Mercy Corps has asked for cash donations, which will be used to help provide vital supplies in Haiti, and to initiate some form of cash-for-work, paying earthquake survivors a daily wage to clear debris, restore buildings and repair basic infrastructure.

In post-tsunami Banda Aceh, Mercy Corps employed thousands through cash-for-work, enabling communities to rebuild, work together, and have the dignity of earning money and getting their economies back on track.

Ms Ward said:

"These are people who are in shock. They have lost family members, their homes have been destroyed and their lives shattered.

"If they can start earning an income while helping to rebuild their community it gets people working and also gives them some small measure of hope.

"The immediate efforts are incredibly important to saving lives, but the long-term project of getting homes replaced and getting services restored is just as vital."

Edinburgh's fine record of generosity

Pakistan floods, September 1992: The disaster killed more than 5,000 people and left up to five million homeless. More than 10,000 was raised by city residents to help those affected, while lorry loads of food and clothing were also donated.

Mozambique floods, February 2000: Two weeks of flooding, combined with the devastating effects of a cyclone, left more than 800 people dead and around half a million homeless. Local residents raised more than 280,000 within just a few weeks of the disaster.

El Salvador earthquake, January 2001: More than 1,000 people were killed after an earthquake set off landslides. A local appeal raised more than 65,000.

Gujarat earthquake, India, January 2001: An earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale killed more than 20,000 people. Money raised in Edinburgh as part of the Indian Earthquake Appeal included donations of more than 25,000.

South-East Asian tsunami, December 2004: The horrifying tsunami which struck on Boxing Day claimed more than 170,000 lives across 11 countries, and drew a massive response from local residents. More than 1 million was raised in the month after the disaster, and a joint appeal by the Evening News and Mercy Corps later raised a further 618,578.

China earthquake, May 2008:The Wenchuan earthquake killed almost 70,000 people and left more than four million homeless, while relief efforts were hampered by aftershocks, freezing weather and difficulty reaching the rural areas most affected. Local residents sent more than 3,000 aid boxes, containing large tents, food and equipment to help families survive the devastation.