Suffering in Haiti must not be forgotten

Unfortunately, Haiti has fallen off the media radar of late and this may have created a public perception that the country is no longer suffering the effects of the devastating earthquake of Jan 2010.

While the initial emergency situation was handled very well, approximately 450,000 people are still living in camps and extremely susceptible to disease. The challenge remains to build permanent homes for the occupants of the camps.

During the current rainy season there is a serious threat from cholera, which has already accounted for 7,000 lives.

Goal is delivering water, sanitation and hygiene in Haiti’s camps and schools, working to ensure that any new outbreak of cholera is contained. We have begun a programme to build and renovate permanent dwellings.

There must be an equally sustained commitment from the international community, until the country fully recovers from the disaster of 2010.

Its people deserve no less.

John O’Shea

Goal PO Box 19

Dun Laoghaire

Co Dublin