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Like many regional Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), with offices and projects in Haiti, Panos Caribbean has been severely affected by the recent earthquake in Haiti. Panos’ head office is in Haiti, and while none of Panos Caribbean’s nine staff members based there died in the quake, the organization’s office was severely damaged. Executive Director of Panos Caribbean, Jan Voordouw, recently returned from a ten-day visit to Haiti. He arrived in Haiti six days after the earthquake.
“Panos staff in Haiti is struggling with significant personal losses and the entire Panos Caribbean staff is struggling to cope with the effects of the quake,” Mr. Voordouw stated.

Two of Panos’ staff members lost close family members. Lucien Saint Louis, Panos Caribbean’s Financial Director, lost his wife, Erlande St. Louis, who died from injuries she sustained when the gymnasium she was exercising in collapsed during the quake. His eleven year old daughter, who was also in the building with her mother, survived with no major injuries, but was hit on the head by falling debris. Isidor Cherenfant, ex-webmaster of Panos, lost both his parents.

Most of the staff lost their homes in the quake and many of them also lost relatives and friends. As is expected, many of them are displaced and not fully able to function, as they are still traumatized from the experience. Two staff members have since left Haiti and others are thinking of relocating due to the loss of their homes as well as the loss of schools and teachers which have made it impossible for their children to resume school. Panos is trying to assist with these processes.

“All staff is traumatized to a certain degree,” Mr. Voordouw explained. “Many aftershocks were still going on when I left the country. People are tense and afraid for buildings. People do not sleep well and most Panos Haiti staff sleeps outside,” he continued.
Mr. Voordouw says Panos Caribbean, with assistance from other Panos Institutes, is providing some direct emergency support to the affected staff, but more help is needed.
“We have ensured supplies of food, water and some cash to staff members. If one has cash, one can buy food, even in Port-au-Prince,” Mr. Voordouw explained. “The banks, which were not badly damaged (mainly those in Petionville), reopened on Saturday, January 24th. We should be able to send additional funds to our team when needed from Jamaica or Washington DC,” he continued.

“We need at least four tents and other staff may need tents as well in view of the psychological need to sleep outside. The weather has been dry till now, but this may change of course,” Mr. Voordouw stated.

Panos Caribbean’s Haiti office which is located in Port au Prince, is still standing, but severely damaged.

“The office building was severely damaged; the ground floor has partly collapsed and the building has major cracks in many parts. It may collapse any time. The building currently threatens to fall on a neighbour’s house, but the neighbours have evacuated,” Mr. Voordouw stated shortly after his return to Jamaica.

Fortunately, no staff was in the office at the time the quake struck shortly before 5pm.

An employee of HelpAge International, a regional NGO which shared office space with Panos, also escaped major injuries. However, a number of other Panos’ development partners suffered significant losses in the earthquake including loss of lives.

“Many organizations have not been as lucky as Panos. The Association for National Solidarity (ASON), an organization of people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS, lost two staff members, both long associated with Panos when we shared offices from 1999 -2002. Another organization in the field of HIV and AIDS was also severely affected and some of its staff is still missing. They shared offices with Panos between 2006 and 2009. The Haitian Movement for Rural Development (MHDR) shared offices with Panos Caribbean in Haiti between 2002 and 2005. They are now based on Jacmel and had no deaths,” Mr. Voordouw explained.

Notwithstanding the disaster, Panos’ operations in Haiti are continuing. The organization currently is looking for a suitable building to permanently or temporarily set up office, to support its media production, capacity building and administrative operations as soon as possible.

One of Panos Caribbean’s main priorities is assisting regional media to report on the situation in Haiti from a development perspective.

“There are many stories to be told by Haitians and journalists need to be there to hear them and tell them to the world. Haiti’s road to recovery will be long and the task of reporting this is far from over. However, regional media need to be properly sensitized and equipped to report on such a large scale disaster and the wide range of development issues which are associated with it. Panos will be working with its partners to see how best we can assist journalists in the region to do this,” Mr. Voordouw stated.
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> Panos Caribbean is a non-profit information agency, which seeks to empower poor and marginalized people to tell their stories. The organization does this by using information as a tool for development and focuses strongly on the issues of health, gender, child rights and the environment. Panos began operations in Haiti 15 years ago and opened its office in Kingston, Jamaica in 2005. [End 2/02/10]



Panos Caribbean’s Haiti office in Port au Prince which was extensively damaged during the 7.0 earthquake which struck Haiti on January 12, 2010. The office also suffered further damage during massive aftershocks, the strongest of which measured 6.0 on the Richter scale. Panos is currently reorganizing its operations in Haiti. The organization is trying to locate a suitable building to set up office, if even temporarily. PHOTO: JAN VOORDOUW


From left, Head of Unicef, Jamaica, Robert P. Fuderich and Executive Director of Panos Caribbean, Jan Voordouw. Occasion was the official handing over of a framed photograph of a Panos Caribbean Youth Journalist, Davia Morrison and UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador, Harry Belafonte who is also a recording artist, concert singer, actor and producer. The photograph was taken in Norway in 2007 following a televised fundraiser on children and AIDS. UNICEF is one of Panos Caribbean Development Partners and financially contributes to Panos’ Youth Journalism Programme. The photograph was taken a few days before Mr. Voordouw left Jamaica for Haiti.