Anne Hastings, Founder and Director of Fonkoze Financial Services, sent us this update from the south west of Haiti, where the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Matthew is more extreme than one could imagine.
‘No one knows how many people have died, and nor will they because so many have been washed out to sea. Whole towns are just gone. So many families have lost their entire means of existence . . . crops, livestock, shops, homes . . . so they have no source of revenue whatsoever. The hospitals desperately need medicine for tetanus and for cholera because disease is spreading fast. People have lost absolutely everything’.
The AGF branch in Aquin
Anne confirmed that our branch building withstood the hurricane, only losing its tin roof, and says that this has already been repaired. However, more crucially, our employees were hit hard. ‘A good number of them actually live in Okay and just rent a place for themselves in Aquin. So they may have lost their home where there family is in Okay and also lost their place in Aquin. They may be without housing, without clothing, without any possessions whatsoever.’
You can read more about the after-effects of Hurricane Matthew in this New York Times article.