HAITI EARTHQUAKE – Crisis Continues Funding Appeal
February 10, 2010
MIND-NUMBING FIGURES OF DEATH, SUFFERING & LOSS
The short-term crisis continues. The Haitian people are not close to the re-building phase. Much more support is needed … and it needs to channeled to the Haitian people and their organizations.
ESTIMATES
- 230,000 dead
- 1,500,000 lost their homes
- Millions displaced inside Port au Prince, or leaving the capital city to the country side
- Hundreds of thousands of people have not received food and shelter
- Skyrocketing cases of diarrhea, skin rashes, measles
The majority of victims were living in conditions of exploitation, poverty and vulnerability before the earthquake. Food, water, shelter, clothing and medical support remain the crucial needs.
BELOW
- What Rights Action has funded (and will continue to fund)
- Organizations we recommend
- Vision of Rights Action’s relief & rebuilding work
- Article: “Haiti numbers – 27 days after the quake”
THANK-YOU VERY MUCH to all who have sent donations
... either to Rights Action or to the groups we recommend. Please consider contributing more funds.
TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS - "HAITI RELIEF"
Make check payable to "Rights Action" and mail to:
UNITED STATES: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091
CANADA: 552 - 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8
Credit card donations: http://rightsaction.org/contributions.htm
Stock donations: Contact Grahame Russell, info@rightsaction.org
INFORMATION: Grahame Russell, co-director, info@rightsaction.org, 860-352-2448
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WHAT RIGHTS ACTION HAS FUNDED - TO DATE
Funds have been sent - cash with people travelling to Haiti, or bank or Western Union transfers - to Haiti.
DIRECT COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Funds have gone to “committees in the sheet encampments throughout the capital. They have organized themselves into blocks and areas and have elected their own leaders. The fastest way I have found to help them overcome the lack of food and water is to distribute money to these committees with a focus on women with infants, small children and the elderly. Because they purchase from the ti marchan or small market place women, it helps the local economy and builds greater solidarity between them.” (Haiti Information Project)
“I have bought shovels, picks and wheelbarrows so they can dig makeshift latrines in the ground. Sanitation has been a great concern as the fear of airborne disease due to human waste increases daily.” (Haiti Information Project)
SURVIVAL KITS
“We put together survival kits based on what Haitians recommended: water purification tablets; flashlight & batteries; matches; masks; bandages; Tylenol; beef jerky; power bars; toothbrush; soap; sugar packets; toothpaste; shampoo. We purchased solar powered battery chargers to give to small communities that have formed in the "tent cities". (Canadian-Haitian couple in Haiti)
ORPHANAGE
“The orphanage "Enfants Demunis". Of the 55 children, 49 survived - 6 were killed. We provided them with: vitamins, medication, bandages, power bars and toothbrushes. They also received survival kits and cash to purchase food. This orphanage is run by Haitians with few supporters.” (Canadian-Haitian couple in Haiti)
MAKE-SHIFT ENCAMPMENTS
“I distributed the money to three camps suffering the sporadic distribution of food and water: Place St. Pierre, Place Boyer and Place Toussaint. They have organized committees and are focusing on women with infants, pregnant women, children and the elderly.” (Haiti Information Project)
“I purchased clotrimazole for a ringworm outbreak and permethrin for scabies among the children. The difficulty with scabies is that they need to take all their bedding and clothing and boil them in water to kill the mites, but they have no extra clothing due to losing everything in the earthquake. I am running around the markets with mothers of the infected families trying to find clothes. … It is especially awful when young boys get it in their genital areas and scratch it till it bleeds into open wounds.” (Haiti Information Project)
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GROUPS WE RECOMMEND – Please consider providing funds directly to these groups
KONPAY - WORKING TOGETHER FOR HAITI (Konbit Pou Ayiti)
Working Together for Haiti strengthens existing organizations, builds national networks, creates relationships between individuals and organizations in the U.S. and Haiti, and supports collaboration and the sharing of technology and expertise. KONPAY focuses on Haitian solutions to environmental, social and economic problems and provides training and funding to grassroots and community-based projects: http://www.konpay.org/; melinda@konpay.org.
The ARISTIDE FOUNDATION has established a medical facility at its headquarters in Tabarre and adjoining former medical school of Haiti (the one taken over by U.S. Marines in 2004 and used by UN troops until recently). Thousands of people are receiving treatment. Services are being provided by Haitian doctors, students and Cuban doctors. Contributions may be done through the “Haiti Emergency Relief fund”: http://www.haitiaction.net/About/HERF/HERF.html.
INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE & DEMOCRACY IN HAITI
The IJDH works with the people of Haiti in their non-violent struggle for the return and consolidation of constitutional democracy, justice and human rights, by distributing objective and accurate information on human rights conditions in Haiti, pursuing legal cases, and cooperating with human rights and solidarity groups in Haiti and abroad: http://www.ijdh.org/; brianhaiti@aol.com.
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VISION OF RIGHTS ACTION’S RELIEF & REBUILDING WORK
- get funds to Haitians and their organizations & projects (including North American organizations with long-term commitments and involvements in Haiti)
- get funds to Haitian groups and people who are providing money and support directly to affected people and communities: food, water, clothing, shelter, medical attention, meds, burial support for loved ones
- get funds to Haitian groups and people who have a medium- and long-term vision of re-building their communities and country in a just and fair way, that is environmentally respectful and healthy, that is based on full democratic participation, based on ending the impunity of the wealthy and powerful sectors, and that eliminates the causes of exploitation and poverty and the resultant extreme vulnerability of most Haitians
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HAITI NUMBERS – 27 DAYS AFTER QUAKE
9 February 2010, by Bill Quigley (quigley77@gmail.com)
890 million. Amount of international debt that Haiti owes creditors. Finance ministers from developing countries announced they will forgive $290 million. (Wall Street Journal)
644 million. Donations for Haiti to private organizations have exceed $644 million. Over $200 million has gone to the Red Cross (who had 15 people working on health projects in Haiti before the earthquake) and $40 million has gone to Partners in Health (which had 5,000 people working on health in Haiti before the quake). (New York Times)
1 million. People still homeless or needing shelter in Haiti. (MSNBC)
1 million. People given food by the UN World Food Program in Port au Prince – another
million in Port au Prince still need help. (UN World Food Program)
300,000. People injured in the earthquake, reported by Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. (CNN)
212,000. People reported killed by earthquake by Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. (CNN)
63,000. There are 63,000 pregnant women among the displaced by the earthquake. (UN Populations Fund)
17,000. Number of United States troops stationed in Haiti, or off the coast, down from a high of 22,000. (AFP)
9,000. United Nations troops in Haiti. (Miami Herald)
7,000. Number of tents distributed by United Nations. (Miami Herald) President Preval of Haiti has asked for 200,000 tents. (Reuters)
4,000. Number of amputations performed in Haiti since the earthquake. (AFP)
900. Number of latrines dug for people displaced from their homes. Another 950,000 people still need sanitation. (New York Times)
0.75. An hourly wage of 75 cents per hour is paid by the United Nations Development Program to people in Haiti hired to help in the clean up. The UNDP is paying 30,000 people to help clean up Haiti, 180 Haitian Gourdes ($4.47) for six hours of work. The program hopes to hire 100,000 people. (United Nations News)
1. For every one dollar of U.S. aid to Haiti, 42 cents is for disaster assistance, 33 cents is for the U.S. military, 9 cents is for food, 9 cents is to transport the food, 5 cents to pay Haitians to help with recovery effort, 1 cent is for the Haitian government and ½ a cent is for the government of the Dominican Republic. (Associated Press)
* * *
THANK-YOU VERY MUCH to all who have sent donations
... either to Rights Action or to the groups we recommend. Please consider contributing more funds.
TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS - "HAITI RELIEF"
Make check payable to "Rights Action" and mail to:
UNITED STATES: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091
CANADA: 552 - 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8
Credit card donations: http://rightsaction.org/contributions.htm
Stock donations: Contact Grahame Russell, info@rightsaction.org
INFORMATION: Grahame Russell, co-director, info@rightsaction.org, 860-352-2448
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