Picture: dpa

Knorr-Bremse Global Care is supporting victims of the Haiti earthquake with an emergency aid package worth EUR 50,000.

The package was put together by the relief organization World Vision and delivered on January 18 via the Dominican Republic. After working in Haiti for almost 30 years, World Vision is familiar with local conditions and has well-established structures at local level, with 400 helpers currently on the ground. It was this fact, combined with positive experience of working with the organization on other projects, that made Knorr-Bremse Global Care decide to select World Vision as its partner organization.

World Vision‘s relief work is currently concentrating on providing the earthquake victims with basic supplies. In addition to this, "child friendly spaces" are being set up to care for orphans affected by the earthquake. The lack of basic supplies means that most children are already exhausted and many are suffering from diarrhea, nausea, sickness, and skin rashes.

The population of Haiti is very young: according to the German Foundation for World Population almost 30% of the inhabitants are below the age of 15. Before the earthquake, Haiti already had 380,000 orphans (CNN), equivalent to 4% of the entire population, and this represented a huge challenge not just for the orphanages. Haiti‘s orphans have been particularly badly affected by the impact of the earthquake.