Residents of Ile a Vache line up at a food distribution center in Ile a Vache, Haiti, to receive rice, beans and cooking oil. The food aid was purchased with funds raised by Rotary in the BVI.

Stephen Cooper of the Rotary Club of Tortola, watched in June as large quantities of rice, beans and cooking oil were distributed to residents of Ile a Vache, an island off the southern coast of Haiti. While Ile a Vache suffered little direct damage as a result of the January 12, 2010 earthquake, the island’s population has doubled to nearly 30,000 in the three months since the quake, as displaced persons leave Port-au-Prince and other northern villages badly affected by the disaster.

“This increase in population has put immense pressure on the fishing and farming-based community, where food and resources were already scarce before the earthquake,” Cooper said.

Rotarians in the VI had established links with Ile a Vache pre-dating the earthquake, and when community leaders on the island described the situation following the earthquake, the VI Rotarians appealed to District Rotary leaders to allocate funds for food aid to the island.

In May, $25,000 was allocated to provide emergency food supplies to the island. The first of what will be a series of food distributions took place in June while Rotarian Stephen Cooper was visiting the island.

“The food was carefully portioned out and distributed fairly among those in need,” Cooper said. “People of the BVI should feel proud of the contribution they have made to ease the suffering of the people of Haiti. I saw with my own eyes that these foodstuffs are making the difference between life and death for many people.”

During the weeks following the January 12 earthquake, Rotary in the British Virgin Islands raised over $270,000 from BVI residents and businesses. Some of this went to provide emergency shelter, food and medical supplies immediately following the earthquake. Other funds have been contributed to the Rotary District 7020’s Donor Advised Fund, which is funding specific projects including the rebuilding of destroyed schools and the provision of prosthetics to amputees.  Funds used for the recent food aid distribution in Ile a Vache also came from Rotary funds raised in the BVI.

Bags of rice piled up at a food distribution centre in Ile a Vache, Haiti. Rotary in the BVI provided $25,000 in aid to buy badly needed food to feed a population which has doubled since the January 12 earthquake.