Haiti: Listening to Haiti – Six Months Later

Source: Internews Network Inc.

Date: 13 Jul 2010

Six months ago, a day after the January 12 earthquake, Internews put together a team to assist local radio stations to continue broadcasting news and information, which was critical in the aftermath of the earthquake. A few days later, on January 21, the team began producing Enfòmasyon Nou Dwe Konnon (News You Can Use), a humanitarian radio program that provides vital information to Haitians affected by the earthquake. Since then, Internews has also been training local journalists in humanitarian reporting. Yesterday, Internews began to reach more Haitians who have been displaced to outside Port-au-Prince through a people-to-people caravan, Koute Ayiti (Listen to Haiti).

View a slideshow about Internews activities in Haiti:

CARAVANE – Listen to Haiti

Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC), of which Internews is a founding member, is working to bring information to and hear directly from the Haitian population in their local communities through a caravan called Koute Ayiti (Listen to Haiti).

The Caravan Koute Ayiti will stop in eight cities from the most affected zones to entertain and bring educational messages to its residents. The ENDK Weekly Mailbox will record live questions and will answer them on the air.

After the earthquake, many Haitians took refuge in towns outside the capital but much of the humanitarian effort is still focused in Port-au-Prince. The modern media are often not accessible to people in these towns because of problems with electricity and economic difficulties.

Haitians need to be informed, not only on the process of reconstruction, but also what to do in the event of another disaster and how to access such things as health, sanitation, and sexual and reproductive information. They also need to know their rights with regard to violence based on gender, sexual exploitation, children's issues and HIV/AIDS.

The caravan will use street theatre with educational messages, film screenings, public debates, radio broadcasts and a blog to reach the neglected populations with humanitarian information, as well as to encourage feedback and discussion to increase their participation in Haiti's recovery and reconstruction.

Source:ReliefWeb » Document » Listening to Haiti – Six Months Later http://bit.ly/bpUYAd

(Yimber Gaviria, Colombia)