The Caribbean nation was ill-prepared for the devastating temblor that hit the island on Jan. 12, killing up to 300,000 people and leaving many more wounded and homeless, the president of the Haitian Red Cross Society said.

“The situation is still very difficult for the people,” Michaele Amedee Gedeon told The Associated Press in an interview at the International Red Cross Federation’s headquarters in Geneva.

The Red Cross movement has received 920 million Swiss francs ($800 million) in funds and material contributions for Haiti, where it expects to be providing emergency aid for an unprecedented 12 months. In most disasters the emergency period is set between three and six months.

“It is the first time we prolonged it because there are so many destitute in Haiti now that we have to take care of their very basic needs,” said Gedeon.

Apart from providing health care, food and materials for shelter, the group is running much of the sewage system in the capital Port-au-Prince.

“We had to take some initiative on sanitation,” said Gedeon, noting that the risk of disease remains high in a country where functioning toilets and clean water are a luxury.