Riots in Cap-Haïtien Temporarily Close SOS Village

Nov. 18, 2010 - PRLog -- Armed rioters blaming the United Nations for Haiti’s cholera epidemic clashed violently with U.N. troops on Monday in Cap-Haïtien, located on Haiti’s northern coast. According to Reuters, U.N. soldiers used tear gas to disperse the protesters. The U.N. mission said that one demonstrator was killed by a peacekeeper shooting in self-defense.

More than 1,000 Haitians have died from the cholera epidemic and almost 17,000 have sought treatment, according to the BBC, quoting Haiti health officials.

At Hinche, a city in central Haiti, protesters hurled stones at Nepalese U.N. peacekeepers. The protests were spurred by rumors that the source of the cholera outbreak were latrines near a river at the Nepalese camp, which the U.N. mission vehemently denies.

Poverty, poor sanitation, recent flooding, and terrible living conditions for the 1.5 million Haitians who are still homeless 10 months after the devastating earthquake have all contributed to cholera’s fast spread.

SOS Takes Precautions to Protect Children and Mothers

“The whole city is blocked, businesses and schools have closed, cars have been burned. It's chaos here,” a businessman in Cap-Haïtien told Reuters.

SOS children and workers at SOS-Cap-Haïtien are safe, but the SOS director has closed all SOS facilities there as a precaution to avoid putting anyone at risk. The SOS social center, school, and vocational training center are temporarily shut and will remain so until the situation has normalized. For the time being, no one can leave the SOS Village at Cap-Haïtien, which is one of two SOS Villages in Haiti. The other one is SOS-Santo, near Port-au-Prince.

Though most SOS families in Haiti have escaped the cholera epidemic, one child at an SOS community center in Port-au-Prince is currently being treated for the disease. SOS is providing families in and around Port-au-Prince with cholera-prevention information through local community centers.

SOS Children's Villages is operating 16 community centers and more than 100 food distribution points in Port-au-Prince to help children and their families in the aftermath of January’s earthquake. The SOS school in Santo has also taught students how to prevent cholera by properly washing their hands and paying strict attention to hygiene.

Help Us Strengthen Haiti

Thousands of Haiti’s children remain traumatized, hungry, and vulnerable to cholera and other fatal diseases almost one year after that nation’s worst earthquake. SOS provides a loving home, education, and medical care to as many of these children as we can. The boys and girls we raise grow up to help others like them, and thus are the hope of their nation.

If you would like to learn more about SOS Children’s Villages and issues that affect children around the world, sign up to receive our eNewsletters or make a donation today.

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For over 60 years, SOS Children's Villages has been dedicated to the long-term care of children without parental care. Through our SOS Children's Villages and other initiatives, SOS impacts the lives of over 1 million people each year.