It’s difficult to believe January 12 will mark the fifth anniversary of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. At Students Rebuild, we always begin the New Year with our hearts and minds on those who survived the destruction–a seismic event that galvanized worldwide relief efforts and also led to the creation of Students Rebuild itself.
Estimates vary, but the 2010 earthquake killed more than 200,000 people, injured at least 300,000 and immediately left 1.5 million people homeless. Cholera acted as a secondary disaster, with in excess of 660,0000 cases–more than 8,000 of those fatal. In terms of education, the earthquake affected 4,992 schools in Haiti, more than 23% of schools in the country.
On the quake anniversary, news outlets recount what has gone well and shortcomings in terms of recovery efforts in Haiti. If you participated in the Students Rebuild Haiti Challenge, you can feel confident that your actions to provide hope and healing to the youth of Hait resulted in positive, tangible and long-lasting change.
The goal for our first-ever Challenge? We asked young people to raise funds through whatever means they could–car washes, bake sales, concerts and more. Through the Challenge, the Bezos Family Foundation matched all funds young people raised with funding to rebuild four Haitian schools to serve primary and secondary students. We are pleased to announce the full completion of three schools with the fourth slated for completion this month. Visit our Reconstructing Schools page for all the details.
In honor of the fifth anniversary of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, we invite you to join us in a journey back through inspiring video, blogs, a short film, curriculum, Interactive Video Conferences, webcasts, and photos. We will always stand with, remember and honor the resilient people of Haiti. We thank our Challenge partners, Global Nomads Group and Architecture for Humanity, and most of all, you–for taking a stand and showing how much you care about your peers all over the world.
