It is a long litany of disasters: hurricanes, floods, landslides, hunger, poverty, violence, political uprising and corruption.

But these are nothing compared to the latest tragedy to shake the very foundations of the small Caribbean island of Haiti.

As the piles of bodies crushed in last week’s earthquake, measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, flash across our television screens, it is not the first time that aid worker Anne Wilkinson has witnessed death on Haitian streets.

A further 6.1 tremor that struck west of Port-au-Prince yesterday sent already traumatised citizens running into the streets, screaming in terror.

Returning from Port-au-Prince in 2005, Anne described a courtyard strewn with elderly people left to die because no one could pay medical costs.

Sitting in her Ilkley home, she has just watched two children being pulled out of the wreckage on TV. She is amazed that their bodies, surely weakened by poverty and hunger, have endured without food or water for so long.

“Their life is one of abject poverty,” she says. “The people are doing what they can to survive but they have no skills, no education.”

Organising fundraising cream teas and coffee mornings in the heart of Ilkley is a far cry from the devastation wreaked by the strongest earthquake to hit Haiti for 200 years.

But Anne is proof that these efforts, miles away from the epicentre of disaster, can make a difference.

A supporter of The Haitian Project, she spent five years teaching maths at the only free secondary school in Port-au-Prince – a scheme which not only gave children from the slums the chance to better their lives but which also supported the local community, providing the only clean drinking water in the neighbourhood.

Amazingly, the Louverture Cleary school has stayed open throughout the earthquake and its aftermath.

“There has been some structural damage,” she says. “Some of the students have been injured but the school itself is staying open because it is the only safe haven for the students.

“The American volunteers there, in their early 20s, have been given the opportunity to go home but they have said ‘no’. They want to stay and help with the relief work.”

She is eagerly awaiting news of two of the school’s success stories – former students Anias and Lucknel, who defied the odds and embarked on careers as doctors.

Through Anne’s fundraising efforts, people had pledged £1 a week to put them through the first two years of medical school. They were believed to be in the hospital at the time of the earthquake, but no one has heard from them.

Other charitable schemes supported by the Ilkley Haiti Fund have also not escaped the damage. St Joseph’s Orphanage in Petionville, one of the worst-hit areas, was due to celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, but Anne says the building has been flattened.

“I’m afraid those celebrations will be put on hold as that building is just a tangled mess. There have been two people injured, seriously but not life-threatening.”

Another orphanage in Kenscoff, called Wings of Hope, which cares for mentally and physically handicapped children, has suffered structural damage, with children now confined to two or three rooms of the building, unsure whether their home is safe.

At the time of writing, roads to a third orphanage, Trinity House in Jacmel, were still impassable.

Estimates of the death toll following last Tuesday’s quake are now around 200,000, with some 70,000 bodies recovered.

European Commission analysts estimate that 250,000 were injured and 1.5 million have been made homeless.

Supplies are now reaching those in need, but rescue efforts have been hampered by the damage to the port, roads blocked by debris and organisation in an already unstable environment.

Anne describes the majority of buildings in Haiti as either mud huts with tin roofs or unfinished concrete blocks, many built on unstable, hillside foundations. Close together, they are prone to collapsing in a ‘domino’ effect.

“They tend to build one storey but leave the roof incomplete so they can build the next level when they have got the money, but the foundations are not necessarily strong enough to support three or four storeys,” she says.

Now 73, Anne’s interest in Haiti was first sparked by footage of thousands fleeing the island in overcrowded boats in the 1950s and 60s. The country is one of the poorest in the world, and has suffered many natural disasters, including devastating hurricanes in 2008, which washed away roads and bridges.

Political and social unrest has also been a problem, with UN peacekeeping troops drafted in to contain violence after the ousting of former president Jean Bertrand Aristide in 2004.

Retiring as a teacher in Barnsley in 2001, Anne felt that the time was right to use her skills in a country where around 80 per cent of the population cannot read or write.

Despite describing the Haitians as “cheerful” people, she is not surprised by the reports of violence and looting following the quake.

“Everything that people will have saved for for years will just have gone,” she says.

“There’s no such thing as insurance over there and there’s no government help. It’s up to the individuals to protect themselves and their families.

“It’s no small wonder that they are rioting and raiding the shops when they see food on the shelves.

“These people are desperate. They haven’t eaten for days and probably not much before that.”

With her in-depth knowledge of the country, she has set up a disaster fund to channel money to those most in need.

The money will be sent directly to Haiti and used via Beyond Borders, an organisation whose workers she personally knows and who can distribute help quickly and fairly.

“This money will go directly to the people there,” she says. “The best thing we can do is to make people aware. Certainly the school and the orphanages are going to require a lot of support. It’s not all going to be rebuilt in a month.”

To make a donation, send a cheque made payable to Ilkley Haiti Fund to Ilkley Baptist Church or to Mrs Wilkinson at 6 Eaton Road, Ilkley, LS29 9PU. Money can also be paid into the fund at Lloyds Bank.

Further information on projects supported by the Ilkley Haiti Fund can be found at beyondborders.org and thehaitianproject. org.