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Navy, NGOs Bring Hope to Haiti

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS100214-05
Release Date: 2/14/2010 10:49:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Stuart Phillips, USS Bataan Public Affairs

CARREFOUR, Haiti (NNS) -- A Maritime Civil Affairs Team dispatched from USS Bataan (LHD 5), works with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like Hope for Haiti in Carrefour, to distribute relief aid to displaced Haitians in the region.

Non-governmental organizations like Hope for Haiti, have helped the Haitian people in times of need for years, but the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated the island nation overwhelmed the group, and the U.S. military in coordination with the United Nations, has worked in partnership with the NGOs to ensure the flow of relief into the region is uninterrupted.

NGOs are now resuming their pre-earthquake role as the primary source of aid to the people of Haiti.

"Initially, the military was the main source of aid, [but] the World Food Program and the NGOs are the main source of humanitarian aid now, not the U.S. military," said Electronics Technician 1st Class Joel Eyzraguirre, a member of the Maritime Civil Affairs Team dispatched from Bataan.

The U.S. military is serving as an enabler, working with the NGOs to identify process improvements and lending assistance when necessary.

Hope For Haiti receives and distributes supplies from organizations like Americares and Kids Against Hunger, but the U.S. Navy has stepped in with deliveries of Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) and is providing storage and distribution for Hope For Haiti supplies.

"The organization is supporting between eight and ten thousand Haitians at Camp Donbosco, so the supplies stored in depots are utilized quickly," said Mike Stewart, the county director of Hope for Haiti.

He said Hope for Haiti is also using Camp Seamock as a supply depot to temporarily store provisions before distributing them throughout the community.

Bataan arrived off the coast of Haiti Jan. 18, and immediately began providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in support of Operation Unified Response.

Operation Unified Response is part of a larger U.S. response to a request from the government of Haiti for urgent humanitarian aid. U.S. Southern Command is working closely with the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the international community to provide life-sustaining services to the people of Haiti. All military efforts are in support of USAID, which is orchestrating U.S. government contributions to the relief.