On 12^th January 2010 an earthquake with the magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale killed about 230,000 people in Haiti. The epicentre was close to the overpopulated capitel of Port-au-Prince and totally destroyed large parts of the city. 3 million people were affected, out of which 2 million were displaced and 540,000 were living in camps afterwards.

Immediately, HOPE’87, in cooperation with Jugend eine Welt – Don Bosco Austria, supported the poverty-stricken country with a supply of emergency medical kits including bandages, medication and 1 million water purification tablets (donated by Apotheker helfen e.V. – Hilfswerk der Bayerischen Apotheker, Germany). Additionally, HOPE’87 started and “education in emergency” intervention for 2,500 children funded by the UNESCO Foundation – Education for Children in Need. The pupils from two schools were supported by professional psychologists with therapeutic games, painting, singing, animation to overcome the deep trauma produced by the disaster. The school kids got one warm meal a day to supplement the poor nutritional situation. For security reasons the walls of the school premises were rebuilt to protect against robbery and gangs.