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RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian Defense Ministry announced on Thursday that it will send 10 tons of donations to Haiti, which has been devastated by Hurricane Matthew.
According to the ministry, the donations will be shipped on Monday, Oct. 17, by an Air Force plane which will provide logistical support to the Brazilian troops in Haiti. Brazil has had troops in Haiti since 2004, as part of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and has been leading the mission for the majority of its existence.
The donations comprise food, personal hygiene products, clothes, school supplies and other necessities. The government began in April a campaign to gather donations to be sent to Haiti by the end of the year, but the delivery was brought forward given the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Matthew.
Haiti was the worst-hit by the passage of Hurricane Matthew, with hundreds of death.
In addition to the donations, Brazil has also sent 4,540 soldiers to the southern part of Haiti, which suffered the brunt of the damage.
Haiti has been battered repeatedly by natural disasters in recent years. Besides Matthew, the country faced a massive earthquake in 2010 which killed hundreds of thousands of people as well as prolonged periods of drought.
