SEAN PENN’s charity efforts in Haiti have been dealt another blow - a sto rm wrecked the temporary J/P Haitian Relief Organization (HRO) settlement over the weekend (24-26Sep10).
The actor and his team of volunteers and experts were forced to tempora rily abandon the HRO’s Petionville Camp and relocate to a club gymnasium in Port-au-Prince until the storm passed on Sunday.
No major injuries have been reported but the heavy winds and rain destr oyed a hospital, pharmacy and many medical supplies, causing an estimated $350,000 (=C2=A3233,300) of damage.
Despite the setback, J/P HRO staffers continue to provide medical suppo rt and services for the homeless 50,000 living in the Petionville Camp. O ther camps in Port-au-Prince and across the country did not weather the s torm as effectively, as at least five fatalities have been reported and m ajor flooding continues to devastate the region.
Penn says, "It has been a very difficult 24 hours for our team and the community they serve in Petionville, but they have weathered this storm w ith courage, and continue to perform heroic and vital services for the pe ople of Haiti, even under the most dire of conditions.
"The combined efforts of J/P HRO and the U.S. Military dramatically min imised harm and damage to the largest tent camp of internally displaced p ersons." And the actor, who founded the organisation, is firing back at groups w ho criticised his warnings about the storms: "Drainage mitigation and rel ocations that had been previously criticised by some U.N. organisations p roved their value. We have been shouting for months about the severity of the hurricane season, and this underscores the importance for the need o f sustained and smart support in the region." Penn and his J/P Haitian Relief Organization partners are asking friend s and supporters to help rebuild the lost infrastructure and to continue their efforts in Haiti.
Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)
