The Haiti earthquake has not only created health crises but also a housing emergency. Along with calls for innovative shelter projects, aid agencies are also in desperate need for a simple but effective solution: tents.
According to the New York Times, the International Organization for Migration estimates Haiti needs at least 100,000 tents for families of five, in order to assist 500,000 people.
Haiti’s prime minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, told a Montreal conference that his citizens require 200,000 tents provide shelter to those left homeless.
Many of Port-au-Prince’s buildings are in ruins, and construction crews are razing sites that are half-destroyed. Aid agencies are collecting tent and scouting areas to properly set up temporary camps. The International Organization for Migration said it has appealed for $30 million to pay for these tents and other aid needs, and has received two-thirds of that so far.
Rick Bauer, a shelter expert for the international aid agency Oxfam, told the Times Haiti needs to be cautious about tent shelters. “The camps must not become warehouses of people waiting for permanent homes that never materialize,” he said.
Planning permanent housing has become the top priority at the United Nations’ donor conference occurring this week in Montreal.
See the above interactive video of the makeshift tent shelters. Click and drag on the video to point the camera to any angle you want.
