CHF cash for work teams helps to excavate rubble from the historic Catholic church in Petit Goave.

For the past week, CHF has been cooperating with the Spanish Navy Marines to demolish and remove rubble from the remains of the landmark Catholic Church in the heart of Petit Goave. The Spanish Marines had assigned the excavation of the church as their top priority and had been busy working with a loader and a dump truck shortly after their arrival. The Spanish Marines requested CHF's assistance to continue the excavation, particularly in terms of our fleet of 7 dump trucks and our cash-for-work teams. CHF was happy to agree, and the rubble removal has been able to proceed much faster than the Spanish had originally anticipated.

use of CHF's fleet of dump trucks has helped the excavation process proceed much faster than anticipated.

This is the third day of the 6-month project, and the second day CHF has engaged heavy machinery to assist with the cleanup. CHF is currently the only organization that plans to use heavy machines to assist with its cleanup initiatives in Petit-Goave, a large advantage that will allow us to quickly unblock roads, knock down crumbling buildings, and achieve a greater overall impact than we would if we relied entirely on manual labor. Complementing the heavy machinery, CHF is currently employing 429 workers per day to clean up the most devastated areas of Petit-Goave. At our current pace, by the time we finish the project, CHF will have paid more than US$350,000 in salaries alone - money that goes directly into the hands of Petit-Goave's most vulnerable residents.

Located just off Route National #2, the area of Cupidon in Petit-Goave is now home to several hundred displaced individuals, particularly residents of nearby Petite Guinee, which was almost completely leveled by the earthquake. The Red Cross has installed a field clinic in the area to help meet the medical needs of the area, while Oxfam has installed a potable water system and has provided a number of green tarps to camp residents. Petit-Goave is fortunate to have few such camps, as most residents have avoided resettlement and have instead installed improvised shelters next to their damaged or destroyed homes.