Jean Louisnor Faldor was not home the day the earth shook in Port-au-Prince.  But in a shaky voice he says he wishes he had been there to protect his family.

"I felt violent shaking and lots of noise, but I thought it was a bulldozer or some other heavy machinery doing construction," remembers Faldor.

When he looked around and realized that everyone was running every which way and that it was an earthquake, his heart began pounding inside his chest.

"I remembered that my wife was at home. I ran home and found my house had completely crumbled and my wife and 13-year-old son were trapped underneath," Faldor recounts slowly and methodically, as if he has told this story countless times in the past few days.

His wife and youngest son perished in the 12 January earthquake, and so Faldor and his two older sons moved into an improvised settlement of makeshift shelters near the airport where some 500 families (2,500 persons) wait for help from the Government of Haiti and the international community.

"The only thing I own are my pants," Faldor says. "My sons and I have been here since Wednesday, 14 January. The night of the earthquake we tried to rescue my wife and son and eventually fell asleep on the street in front of our destroyed home," he adds.

Faldor and his sister, who also lost her home and is living with her family in the same settlement, say the Haitian Red Cross distributed water and tarpaulins.

IOM is working with 70 partner organizations to distribute basic household goods, such as kitchen sets, hygiene kits, jerry cans and blankets to people living in the spontaneous settlements.  As of 25 January, aid organizations have already distributed 54,000 jerry cans, 20,000 kitchen sets, 42,000 hygiene kits, 51,000 blankets, 27,000 mattresses and bedrolls, and 6,000 mosquito nets.

The residents are worried because the impromptu settlement was erected on private land, so they are not sure if they will be able to remain there while more permanent shelter solutions are found.

In a race against time, as the rainy season begins in May, IOM and its partners have already distributed more than 10,000 family tents, close to 52,000 tarpaulins, as well as thousands of ropes and toolkits, mosquito nets and kitchen sets. A further 37,000 tarpaulins have been consigned to aid agencies; and 15,000 tents and 63,000 tarpaulins are in stock. 176,000 tarpaulins, while more than 40,000 tents are expected to arrive in the coming days and weeks.

The Government of Haiti estimates the death toll from the earthquake to be over 112,000.  An estimated 700,000 Haitians are living in over 500 spontaneous settlements in the capital, Port-au-Prince.  A further 300,000 fled the city in search of safety and assistance; an estimated 90,000 to 100,000 are staying with friends or relatives throughout the country.