Photo of the week: Haitians recovering from the “Goudou Goudou”

Five months after the quake, a lot of Haitians living in Port-au-Prince and its surroundings still believe that what happened on January 12 was a spiritual act. Most of them are sure that it was Satan at work; some have faith that it was prophesy, and others believe in the hypothesis that life and natural ways recycle themselves when necessary.

Children fly home-made kites at the T1 Source camp above the town of Mariani. ActionAid worked with local partners delivering food to displaced people at this camp.

“Goudou Goudou” (pronounced Gudu Gudu) is how the majority of Haitian’s refer to the catastrophic earthquake that happened on January 12th 2010.

The percentage of the population that really trusts the scientific theory of an earthquake is comparatively low. But literate or not, rich or poor, Catholic or voodoo practitioners, all know the words “Goudou Goudou”.

For Haitians, this expression describes the sound of the earthquake. It is one of the rare connections that different social ranks have. It’s understood by everyone and gives a good imagery of what happened on the 12th. Mostly it is a very light way to refer to the earthquake and minimize the trauma after the disaster.

To help the affected communities cope with the post disaster trauma, ActionAid Haiti created psychosocial spaces where, children from one to five, six to 14, 15 to 18 and also adults can release their stress and participate in educative activities such as dancing, drawing, role playing, hygiene tips, floral arts and others. These will help them overcome the horrors which they’ve lived through and create a life for themselves in the future.

Please give generously to ActionAid Australia’s Emergency Haiti Appeal: donate online or call 1300 66 66 72.