Apr 22 2010

Please Remember Haiti

(3 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

My son just got back from a week in Haiti.  Haiti was impoverished beyond belief before the earthquake.  And now it is difficult to describe the pervasive suffering.  His descriptions bring me to tears.

And then there’s this:

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (AP) — After the Haitian national soccer team couldn’t eat another bite of chef-prepared pork or ice cream, and before going back to its cabins at a Texas resort, coach Jairo Rios asked for a favor.

Tents. As many as they could haul back to Haiti.

”I eat well here. I sleep well,” forward Charles Herold Jr. said in French, speaking through a translator. ”But I cannot help but think of my friends and family who don’t have that. I can’t get that off my mind.”

I can’t get that off my mind either.  I hope you won’t be able to get it off your mind.  The futbol players can’t get it off their minds, either:

Players are already wrestling with the guilt of their relatively better fortunes. Forward Eliphene Cadet, 29, escaped from his house in Port-au-Prince after the roof caved on him and two children.

Leaving Haiti meant leaving his family in a tent in a field, near where his house once stood. Other players left their families in similar conditions.

”All the guys talk about it,” Cadet said. ”I know that they’re here. There are still tremors now. That’s our biggest worry.”

So as the rains come, shelter is extremely important.  And of course medical aid continues to be important.  And, of course, drinking water and sanitation are critical.

There are so many of us, and we have so much.  Can we use this essay to develop a list of organizations that will accept our small donations to continue aid in Haiti?  Can we work together on this?  Can we make some donations?

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simulposted at The Dream Antilles and dailyKos

4 comments

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  1. by providing links to appropriate organizations that are still focused on Haiti.  Please help by providing your ideas.  Please make a small donation to a worthy organization.

    No tips for me; just $ to help people who need it.

    • TMC on April 22, 2010 at 16:41
    • #

    MSF has been in Haiti since 1991 operating hospitals and clinics.

    Three Months After the Earthquake

    The earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12 brought even greater uncertainty to a population that was already extremely vulnerable. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been working in Haiti since 1991 and was therefore able to react immediately to the earthquake, working out of temporary facilities after its own structures were damaged, performing emergency triage and surgical interventions wherever possible, and bringing in hundreds of tons of supplies on an almost daily basis, including an inflatable hospital, as part of one of the largest responses in the organization’s history. All of this was done with the active and tireless participation of Haitian staff members who had themselves suffered great losses in the earthquake.

    This video explains MSF’s mission around the world.

  3.  The American Friends Service Committee.

    The Situation

    On Tuesday, January 12, a large earthquake, measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, struck Haiti, killing tens of thousands and leaving untold numbers wounded, homeless, and without basic needs. Search crews are still finding survivors in the resulting rubble.

    Those who survived the earthquake are in need of clean water, medical attention, shelter, and other basic necessities.

    Supporting Haitians in the U.S.

    AFSC’s offices in Miami and the New York metropolitan region are supporting Haitians in the U.S. filing for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).  On Friday, the Obama administration extended TPS to Haitians, a policy AFSC has long advocated.

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