Sharon Reader (30) is part of the Red Cross Logistics Emergency Response Unit in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, which was hit by the massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday, January 12.

Tens of thousands have been killed and millions have lost their homes — and aftershocks have also hit the country over the past two weeks.

Sharon, who flew out to Haiti last Thursday, is no stranger to being at the centre of a rescue operation when natural disaster strikes.

She flew to the Indonesian island of Sumatra last October to help with the relief efforts in Padang after an earthquake struck there.

She was so shocked by the extent of the destruction in Padang that she appealed for people in her home town of Milngavie to donate money to the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal, and she is urging local people to dig deep again for the Haiti disaster which is on an even larger scale.

Her team has installed 200 emergency toilets and is using a mini JCB digger to clean up the debris. They are also trying to restore a level of hygiene in the area to cope with the sanitation needs of up to 20,000 people.

Sharon, a former pupil of Douglas Academy, said: "With so many thousands of people living out in the open air, sanitation becomes absolutely paramount to prevent the spread of disease. It's important to get good, safe toilets built for public health reasons, and to give people some dignity in this desperate situation.

"We will also be doing hygiene promotion work to help people keep clean and safe. The work of our team will be absolutely vital for making sure survivors, who have already been through so much, continue to stay healthy."

The DEC member agencies are involved both in the short term and the long term, so they will be around for many months to come to help the people affected by the disaster to rebuild their lives.
You can donate by visiting www.dec.org.uk or phone 0370 60 60 900.