Oxfam teams in Haiti initiating aid delivery

'This is a nightmare for survivors and aid workers alike. The airport is near ruined, communications fractured and people are traumatized and in great need. We are now beginning to get aid through despite the challenges, said Oxfam Canada's Executive Director Robert Fox.

A plane carrying up to 20 tonnes of Oxfam's water, sanitation, health and shelter equipment, valued at around $150,000, will leave England for Santa Domingo Friday afternoon, UK time Oxfam also has pre-positioned stocks in Panama on stand-by. An additional seventeen Oxfam International humanitarian experts flew into the Dominican Republic and will arrive in Haiti today.

Oxfam has had brief and erratic communications with members of its team in Haiti. Many have themselves had their houses destroyed and are now having to sleep in the street. Some have lost family members. One Oxfam staff was killed in the quake. Essential communications with the team are marginally improving. Oxfam has more communication equipment arriving today. The horrific picture of need, and the vast obstacles to getting aid to people in need, is emerging.

While international efforts are focused on establishing a foothold in the wrecked capital from which to disperse aid, Oxfam warns that the actual epicentre of the quake was in the countryside. There is no access to rural areas, so no picture yet of the disaster there and scale of people's needs.

The Oxfam team in Port-Au-Prince is working on assessments now. This is the essential first step in emergency aid delivery. Oxfam has linked with the UN and other aid agencies on the ground. The UN, many of whose own offices were levelled, has regrouped its headquarters near Port-au-Prince's stricken airport.

Oxfam understands the Haitian government is planning to set up 14 camps around the capital to give people somewhere to sleep. In this situation camps could offer the best temporary solution to get food and water and sanitation to people in need. Access for survivors to clean water is probably the most immediate problem to resolve now. Oxfam has water bladders on hand and will be working with local partners to get them set up and filled.

Note to editors: Oxfam has two staff members in Port-Au-Prince available for interview

Donations may be made at www.oxfam.ca or www.thehumanitariancoalition.ca.