This is the 122th earthquake disaster in Haiti. The first diary was by Dallasdoc and previous diaries are linked below. The idea is to keep resources visible and easily available for those wishing help.
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Join us in the comments for today's news roundup and more. Action alerts and links below the fold.
SheleterBox is up, here.
Female Bangladeshi Forces Carry Hope to Haiti
UNITED NATIONS (WOMENSENEWS)--Marie Eramithe Delva's 17-year-old daughter narrowly escaped a rape attempt in one of Haiti's largest internally displaced persons camps at the beginning of March. The 42-year-old mother and grassroots activist tried to report the assault and the attacker's subsequent threats.
A police officer just laughed and told her it was the problem of Rene Preval, president of the country that on Jan. 12 suffered an earthquake that killed approximately 230,000 people and left upwards of 1.3 million homeless.
snip
That doesn't necessarily mean immediate or direct help for Delva, a co-coordinator of KOFAVIV, a Haitian grassroots female empowerment organization.
"What we need is security," Delva said. "Right now we have none and the rapes are happening not only at night, but in the daytime."
snip
The three-year-old all-female units in Liberia are widely credited with encouraging women to report on sex assault.
“It’s a whole world of difference for women who have been victimized to see women police, and we see the reporting of cases of gender-based sexual crimes increase when they are there,” said Lea Angela Biason, a gender affairs associate for the U.N. Department of Peace keep ing, in a recent interview.
Bev Bell is helping women in Haiti.
IJDH Staff Attorney Nicole Phillips, Esq. on Women: Body and Soul:
Click here to listen
Nathalie Thandiwe from WBAI Paci fica radio, NYC 99.5 FM hosts Women: Body and Soul on the sta tus and needs of women in Haiti in the after math of the earth quake . IJDH’s Nicole Phillips, Esq. joins other guests Marie St. Cyr of MADRE and Bev erly Bell of Other Worlds to speak on the grow ing con cerns about sex ual assault against women and girls in Haiti, and what can be done to fos ter a rebuild ing effort that is fair and gen der equitable.
AARP Foundation (
***) has a
matching gift program going: (h/t Terre)
AARP's matching funds have been exhausted, but they are still covering all administrative costs so that 100% of your donation will find its way to helping people. Donations made through this link end up in the hands of
HelpAge USA. Normally it is best to give directly to your charity, but it's obvious in this case that HelpAge USA
welcomes AARP's assistance.
AmeriCares (****/A) Their donation page is here. AmeriCares restores health and saves lives by delivering donated medicines, medical supplies and humanitarian aid to people in need around the world and here at home.
Burners Without Borders is a small, but particularly interesting group engaged in direct action. (h/t parryander)
California Nurses Association call for volunteers. Another good link is the National Nurses United. In addition:
• @NationalNurses on twitter or by following: #haitiRN
• Call the RNRN hotline: 1-800-578-8225
• Support the RNRN/NNU disaster relief effort in Haiti by donating at Send A Nurse or by sending checks to California Nurses Foundation, 2000 Franklin St., Oakland, CA 94612. Charitable contributions will be used to pay for travel/related costs and medical supplies for volunteer RNs on their emergency nursing mission in Haiti. (h/t Valadon)
CARE (****/A) is one of the world's largest private international humanitarian organizations. They were already in Haiti, and CARE is deploying additional emergency team members to the devastated city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti.
Chances for Children works to identify orphaned or abandoned children who are victims of severe poverty and neglect in Haiti. You can donate to them here.
Can-Do.org is intensely dedicated to working on the local level to provide lasting solutions to some of the world’s most critical issues, from environmental degradation to natural disasters, humanitarian crises to educational inequity. Their donation page is here.
The Aristide Foundation for Democracy (AFD) was created in 1996 by former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide (the first democratically elected president of Haiti) with a simple principle in mind: "The promise of democracy can only be fulfilled if all sectors of Haitian society are able to actively participate in the democratic life of the nation."
Direct Relief International (****) sent a 40-foot container of ongoing aid the day of the earthquake. Direct Relief works with Partners in Health (see below) and their efforts will concentrate on rebuilding hospital infrastructure. h/t Dallasdoc for update.
Doctors Without Borders (****/A) (aka Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF) is an international group of medical professionals who work in chronically underserved countries, emergency sites and refugee camps around the world. Here is the latest news of their work in Haiti from their site, MSF Teams Set up Clinics to Treat Injured After Facilities Are Damaged. ***Update (h/t NY brit expat) Inability to get new staff and supplies a serious problem.
Hanger Orthopedic Group is accepting donated durable medical equipment (prosthetics, wheelchairs, walkers, canes and crutches), including gently used equipment, for distribution by Physicians for Peace and Project Hope (both rated 4 stars by Charity Navigator), for Haiti relief. To find one of Hanger's 600 locations near you, click here or call 877-4Hanger.
Help HIV patients in Haiti by donating to GHESKIO through Cornell Medical School. (h/t Hyde Park). To read more about this organization, go to GHESKIO's site and click "English" (the main site is in French).
Healing Hands for Haiti (a physical rehab and prosthetics organization based in Port au Prince), Lamp for Haiti, and a group that umbrellas several projects called Healing Haiti. parryander has personal experience with these groups, so I suggest checking out their comments.
Handicap International has approximately 20 expatriate staff and 130 Haitian colleagues are now involved in Handicap International's emergency response operations in Haiti, which includes caring for the injured, postoperative rehabilitation, the fitting of artificial limbs and the distribution of humanitarian aid and temporary shelters.
Another organization, The Honor and Respect Foundation, was described in a story on Narconews called Getting Help to Haiti. The foundation was created by journalist Reed Lindsay, who is now Telsur's D.C. Bureau Chief, for children who couldn't get into other schools. Their website says that it "seeks to establish funds in support of several specific programs carried out by grassroots groups in the poorest neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince." I have a phone number for a contact there and will get direct information tonight.
The International Medical Corps (***/A+) is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs. Donations can be made here. (h/t glassbeadgame)
Mercy Corps (***/A-) is an excellent organization that is preparing an aid mission. Mercy Corps also allows you to donate through PayPal, Google Checkout and Amazon Payments, if this helps.
Partners in Health (****/A+) has now started a BLOG about its efforts called Stand with Haiti. It has very useful information. Partners in Health is also putting out a call for health volunteers, in case you are a medical professional who can help out that way:
We are deeply grateful for the multitude of people who have contacted us wanting to provide medical assistance. As patients flood to our sites from Port-au-Prince, we're finding ourselves in need of both medical personnel and supplies. In particular, we need surgeons (especially trauma/orthopedic surgeons), ER doctors and nurses, and full surgical teams (including anesthesiologists, scrub and post-op nurses, and nurse anesthetists). If you are a health professional interested in volunteering, please send an email to volunteer@pih.org with information on:
• Your credentials
• Language capabilities (Haitian Creole or French desired)
• Overseas experience (if any)
• Any prior experience in emergency/post-disaster relief efforts
• Availability
• Contact information
As phone lines in Haiti remain down and transportation and communication are difficult, PIH is still in the process of determining where we can set up operations in Port-au-Prince, and how we can transport patients and volunteers to our sites. We will be able to offer more concrete information after these logistical matters are resolved. Once again – thank you for your support. Kenbe fèm.
Physicians for Peace (****) was founded in 1989, dedicated to the ideal that health care in the developing world can best be improved by providing training and education to health care professionals in those countries. They are currently in Haiti, and getting ready for long-term work on rehabilitation and recovery for amputees and handicapped people in Haiti.
Portlight Strategies is gearing up to help Haitians with disabilities in the wake of the disaster.
Project HOPE (****) is one of the oldest medical relief organizations. They currently have people in Haiti working together with the USNS Comfort, as well as on the ground working to deliver medical aid. Their donation page is here
Pure Water for the World, which already has a presence in Haiti and is partnered with USAID to provide clean drinking water to the people of Haiti. (h/t parryander and AntKat)
Saint Damien Hospital Haiti is the only free pediatric hospital in Haiti.
I know there is extensive damage at our new hospital, that the perimeter walls of all three of our Tabarre programs have fallen. I know there is damage to the hospital walls
Donations may be made through this page. (h/t parryander)
Save The Children (****/A) has been working in Haiti since 1985. It has provided emergency relief and assistance to Haitian children and families following various recent disasters, including hurricanes and floods, and they are once again mobilizing.
ShelterBox USA, which provides prepackaged shelter. TexMex is coordinating an impressive effort to drive donations to ShelterBox. As of posting, the number of ShelterBoxes purchased by Kossacks is 132 and counting!
Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from individuals and the warehouses of footwear companies and distributes them to people in need (while also helping the environment). [h/t Cedwyn]
TÉLÉCOMS SANS FRONTIÈRES. Communications infrastructure has been completely destroyed and helping to bring that back online will be a huge help to recovery efforts and to allow Haitians to get in touch with family they may have elsewhere in the world. (h/t yg17)
V-Day (**) is an organization that works to prevent violence against women, and funds safe houses and anti-violence movements. They had a safe house in Haiti, and are now starting a rescue fund.
Veterans of Foreign Wars is assisting in humanitarian efforts in Haiti by providing U.S. service members — with relatives currently located in Haiti — with the funds necessary to purchase airline tickets to the devastated island, so that they may locate, assist or make burial arrangements for relatives affected by the recent earthquake. Funds also may be used to help provide sustenance or other necessities to sustain life.
Whirlwind Wheelchair International provides rugged wheelchairs that are suitable for off-pavement use.
Zanmi Lakay is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for current and former street children in Haiti by providing educational and economic opportunities and resources to help these children while they are on the streets and to help build a life for them off the streets. A Pacifica-based photographer who has been working in Haiti for years is planning to return next week, so donations will go straight to those who need it.
Social Networking Efforts: |
Media Make Change has this to say:
Too often, we hear stories that are told about the survivors, where a narrator with a minimal connection to the tragedy attempts to explain lives that s/he doesn’t truly understand. But Haitian citizens have the right to tell their own stories; they have the right to engage in public discussion about how to remedy the crisis in Haiti.
Check out their 5 Easy Ways to Help page. In particular, they would like to have your old digital camera to put in the hands of a Haitian citizen.
Facebook Group Earthquake Haiti (h/t BCO Gal)
Animals will be in trouble as well. Animal Rescue and Relief. Donations can be made to:
Best Friends Animal Society (****/A-) . The earthquake in Haiti was devastating to humans and animals alike. But today, you can help. 100 percent of your donation will go directly to help animals suffering in the aftermath of the earthquake. Best Friends is a part of the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH), and your support will provide food, water, rabies vaccinations, safety and more for countless animals.
Humane Society International(***) (h/t Mr. Rick)
International Fund For Animal Welfare (****).
United Animal Nations (***). (h/t cany)
World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPCA) (**) (h/t triciawyse)
Long-term Development and Recovery NGO's: |
Architecture for Humanity is going to be primarily working in the reconstruction phase of post disaster situations and will be focused on transitional and permanent housing and community structures. We are partnering with AIDG, Yele Haiti and other local group by supplying them pro bono construction and design professionals, setting up community housing resource centers and support in the design and building of earthquake resistant structures.
Crisis Commons is organizing for Crisis Camp Haiti. CrisisCommons brings together domain experts, developers, and first responders around improving technology and practice for humanitarian crisis management and disaster relief. h/t to Buffalo Girl
FINCA International (****/B) is a microfinance organization whose mission is to provide financial services to the world's lowest-income entrepreneurs so they can create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living. They have a presence in Haiti already and are taking donations for relief. (h/t calNM)
Fonkoze (***) , a micro-lending organization in Haiti. From their Web site:
Fonkoze is Haiti’s Alternative Bank for the Organized Poor. We are the largest micro-finance institution offering a full range of financial services to the rural-based poor in Haiti. Fonkoze is committed to the economic and social improvement of the people and communities of Haiti and to the reduction of poverty in the country.
According to their Web site, their offices have taken quite a hit. This is another one in the category of long-term rebuilding. (h/t parryander and dizzydean)
Habitat for Humanity International (****/A-) is planning a multiphase strategy that includes early recovery and mid- and long-term responses. Habitat is addressing shelter solutions for low-income families. (h/t x)
Heifer International. Though not first responders, this group does long term infrastructural work. HI currently has 16 projects under way with more than 16,000 families and several farmer associations. The projects in Haiti, which are scattered around the country, with none close to Port-au-Prince, range from training in sustainable farming and crop diversity to gifts of livestock, seeds, trees and grains to training in nutrition, aquaculture and fish production. (h/t PrometheusUnbound)
The Jean Cadet Restavek Foundation. Restaveks are child slaves. This is an organization for children run by a Haitian man who is a former child slave.
Konpay is associated with the journalist Reed Lindsay. It focuses on Haitian solutions to environmental, social and economic problems and provides training and funding to grassroots and community-based projects. KONPAY is supporting Haitian-led efforts to reforest Haiti and protect the environment.
The Lambi Fund (***) is a secular non-profit nonprofit whose mission is "to assist the popular, democratic movement in Haiti. Its goal is to help strengthen civil society as a necessary foundation of democracy and development. The fund channels financial and other resources to community-based organizations that promote the social and economic empowerment of the Haitian people." They support "projects that embrace the following principles: non-violent, non-partisan, community-based, promoting the advancement of women, using education and training for empowerment, and promoting the overall democratic movement."
SOIL is based in Haiti (founded by two American females) and although their regular mission is :Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting soil resources, empowering communities and transforming wastes into resources in Haiti, they are in the streets in PAP providing normal disaster relief services and translation (they speak Kreyol). They have said that all donations in the next 30 days (at least) will go directly to their relief work rather than their usual mission. They have been in Haiti for several years and are very familiar with the people and communities (h/t Royce)
By dharmafarmer, a photo diary on relief efforts.
Scioto provides helpful information about the circumstances under which various credit card fees may be waived for charitable donations.
VA gentlewoman has a diary about the infrastructure details for Haiti.
Mokurai has contributed The Real Story in Haiti and Haiti: Dimensions of Disaster.
FishOutofWater takes a moment to explore the benefits of Partners in Health's commitment to solar powered health centers.
Meteor Blades points the way to a better and more sustainable future for Haitians in Haiti Could Use a New Deal.
As the MSM (in the United States) turns attention away from Haiti, Deoliver47 reminds us that things are not suddenly all better: Raining Disease and More Deaths.
For some good pre-earthquake background on Haiti, see Daisy Cutter's Book Review: "Damming the Flood" by Peter Hallward, pt 1. This diary was published in July 2008 and presents a history of Haiti up to 1999 using Hallward's book as a reference. Excellent.
Two recent diaries by Deep harm remind us that the rains are coming and tents are needed.
Thank you for your reads, recs, and donations. If anyone has any additional information, updates, or corrections, please comment--the comments in all of the diary versions thus far have been gold mines of information. It would be impossible to incorporate all of the information gathered in the comments into the diary, but I will updated as necessary/possible. If you would like to keep this list of links visible, please consider volunteering to post a diary so we can keep this effort going.
Many Kossacks helped this community assemble one of the most exhaustive lists of aid organizations working in Haiti, now placed in the dKosopedia wiki by the wonderful Norbrook. Please visit that list, which has been updated here over the past ten days to reflect the input of our wonderful and humane community. As the Shelterbox Diaries have shown in raising funds for over 1200 Haitians to have a place to stay, we are liberals who walk our talk about caring for our fellow human beings.
Past diaries in this series: |
This series was created by Dallasdoc and has been maintained with the help of (listed alphabetically): Aji, ALifeLessFrightening, allie123, AntKat, Avila, betson08, big spoiled baby, cosmic debris, Deep Harm, Deoliver47, Frederick Clarkson, J Brunner Fan, Jimdotz, maggiejean, marabout40, Norbrook, OHknighty, oke, parryander, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, Pluto, RunawayRose, swampus, and thebluecrayon. All of these previous diaries can be found by clicking here (listed in reverse chronological order).
UPCOMING DIARIES
Thursday: allie123
Friday: RunawayRose
Saturday: ***open***
Sunday: LaFeminista
If you would like to volunteer to contribute a diary to continue this series, please volunteer in the comments below. Norbrook has created a Google documents file** with the source code for our usual introduction and the list of charities the community has developed. Doing one of these diaries, thanks to Norbrook, is not nearly as demanding as it was early in the series. Also, updates need to be made far less frequently. You don't need to set aside huge chunks of time for it and it's easy to multi-task if you have other things to do, as long as you're able to check the comments every 30 minutes or so.
**There is also a backup to the original google doc. See this comment for more details.
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The icons and March 13 formatting revision of this diary series are courtesy of the html artist known on Daily Kos as Pluto. The "Help Haiti" image at the top of the diary that has become the "logo" of this series is courtesy of AuntKat.