100 days ago, Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, and one of the most densely-populated cities in the world, was flattened by January 12's earthquake. The devastation was apocalyptic in scale: whole neighbourhoods reduced to tangles of rubble and steel and the smell of death hung heavy in the air. People were on the streets because they had nowhere to go.
It was obvious from the beginning that the emergency response would need to be among the biggest ever undertaken.
Nachania Merisma, who lives at a Caritas-supported orphanage outside of Port-au-Prince, awaits a distribution of food from Caritas member CRS. Photo: Conor O'Loughlin.
It is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and not much better off than the poorest countries of Africa.
Long before the emergency response teams and media arrive, survivors of a disaster like this one are always the first to reach out and help those around them.
Rich or poor, the first response is a woman dressing the wounds of her neighbour, or a young mother sharing food with the family next door.
Trócaire has worked in Haiti for almost 20 years and we know and respect many local organisations on the ground with whom we have been responding to the crisis for the past 100 days.
To date, over €7million has been given to us by the generosity of the Irish people, north and south.
Trócaire and the federation has provided shelter kits and tents to 900,000 people. Over one million people have been given health care in the form of kits, check-ups, and primary care at hospitals.
Over one-and-a-half million have been given regular food supplies or hot meals. Over 200,000 people have already been given access to clean water or have been provided with hygiene kits. 13,000 children, elderly, or disabled people have received specific support in terms of places to play or meet, learn, or feel protected.
The challenges are many. Trócaire has been saying from the outset the reconstruction plan for Haiti must be determined and driven by the people of Haiti if we are to avoid recreating the conditions which made January's earthquake so devastating.
We are looking at ways of helping ease the congestion of people in the capital city by making agriculture, the traditional livelihood for most Haitians, a more attractive prospect again. Rural families have also come under intense pressure because hundreds of thousands of people fled Port-au-Prince after the quake.
Support for rural communities is vital if the country outside of Port-au-Prince is to prove viable and to avoid a repetition of the high levels of migration from rural areas to the capital.
Scarcity of food was already a serious problem in Haiti before the arthquake because of a lack of suitable land, lack of investment in agriculture, environmental degradation and unfair international trade agreements. Combined with rising world food prices in 2008 and 2009, Haiti saw serious social unrest and riots because of food shortages.
Trócaire is working in Haiti through local partners in rural areas in various parts of the country supporting people who have fled Port-au-Prince and families hosting them to meet their food requirements in the short and medium-long term.
We are also working through the international Caritas network in Port-au-Prince and outlying areas providing humanitarian relief to communities directly affected by the earthquake.