Children's laughter among quake misery

The children in this picture are from the town of Jacmel, 30 miles south west of the capital Port-au-Prince. The town has been devastated by the recent earth quake with more than 350 people reported to have been killed and 60% of buildings damaged or destroyed.

The smiling children in these photos wouldn’t look out of place in any school yard in the world – but in quake-hit Haiti it’s a rare sight.  

The children are taking part in one of Plan’s psychosocial games clubs, designed to give children a break from the relentless misery of life on their rubble-strewn streets.

Plan Ireland’s CEO David Dalton says that such play sessions ae a vital part of helping children to overcome the trauma of natural disasters.

In Haiti, Plan’s Stuart Cole said: “When we invited the youngsters to the play session they were a little nervous and quiet at first but after a few games they started chatting, laughing and for a moment, forgetting the horrendous aftermath of the quake.

“After half an hour or so of play you could see the ones who were still holding back or getting upset, usually these are the children the aid workers will offer counselling to first.”

Experience in previous disasters has shown that a child who has been through a major shock needs a sense of normality returned to them as soon as possible. Part of that routine is to create safe spaces where they can enjoy supervised fun and games.

Plan Ireland has over 200 sponsored children in Haiti with little yet known about their well being. However, tracing children and family members is a particularly difficult task because many people have lost all legal documentation and many of the victims were buried in mass graves without being identified.