Daily life in Haiti is deeply challenging. Recent stats show that ongoing insecurity and gang violence have forced hundreds of thousands of Haitians to flee their homes, pushing the number of internally displaced people inside the country to nearly 1.3 million, the highest ever recorded. Many end up in crowded, makeshift sites without easy access to enough food and water, health care, or functioning sanitation systems. Hunger is commonplace. Education for children and work for adults have been severely disrupted for much of the population.

“My family and I have faced very difficult times during the long crisis.”

Magalie, a mother of five, had just received a food parcel to help stave off the hunger that was growing in her home, after her crops and animals were lost in a flood—just one of many difficulties her family has faced in recent years. Though she was describing her own experience, Magalie’s words could have easily been uttered by many of her neighbors in this Haitian community.

On August 14, 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook the lower peninsula of Haiti, affecting an area with more than 1.5 million residents.