Veoliaforce volunteers awarded the Médaille Commémorative for Haïti

17 volunteers whose work in Haïti following the January 2010 earthquake was particularly noteworthy received, on January 19th 2011, from Professor Jean-François Mattéi, president of the French Red Cross, the médaille commemorative for Haïti (1), awarded by the French Ministry of Defence.

Among those decorated were 5 Veolia Environnement volunteers. Four Veoliaforce volunteers, Jean-Michel GIL, Frédéric GALANO, Vincent CHARRIN, David MILHAU, and Franck Haaser, responsible for Emergency at the Fondation Veolia, who managed the Water ERU (Emergency Response Team) in Haïti.

The team directed by Franck Haaser worked in the areas most devasted by the earthquake in Port au Prince just a few days after the incident. They installed water distribution sites, allowing the daily production, on average, of 800m3 of water.

Between January and December 2010, the Fondation sent over 25 Veoliaforce volunteers to Haïti. Simultaneously, in France, 19 volunteers participated in the logistics of sending over 20 tons of emergency materials from the stock warehouse. The Fondation's efforts, along with the efforts of our partners UNICEF, Action contre la Faim, Solidarités International and the French Red Cross, allowed for 270 000 people to have access to drinkable water.
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(1) Awarding the French Médaille Commémorative is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence. This medal was created by the decree n° 95-1098, dating October 9th 1995, under the initiative of Minister of Defence François Léotard.