Haiti: Five Years After the Earthquake

On Tuesday, 12 January 2010 Haiti suffered a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that left between 220,000 and 316,000 people dead. The government of Haiti estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged during the earthquake and the aftershocks.

Despite the devastation, there is hope for the people of Haiti. There is more and more good news of the resilience and courage of the Haitian people and the generosity of the people who donated time, money and expertise to help make their lives better.

St. Francois de Sales hospital was destroyed. Five years later, Catholic Relief Services and the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince, with funding from the Catholic Health Association and Sur Futuro, have rebuilt the hospital into a modern teaching facility that will train the medical professionals of Haiti’s future and serve as a model for providing quality care to the poor around the country. Dr. Cadet, who now serves as the hospital’s chief operating officer, describes how the newly-built hospital will serve the people of Port-au-Prince.