HAITI EARTHQUAKE  --  RAIN SEASON BEGINNING; DEVASTATION CONTINUES
March 23, 2010
ESTIMATES
230,000 dead; 1,500,000 lost 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
CNN NEWS PIECE – INTERVIEW WITH ACTOR/ ACTIVIST SEAN PENN IN HAITI
Rain season is beginning.  Earthquake victim-survivors are being flooded out of displaced person camps:
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2010/03/19/ac.penn.haiti.camp.cnn.html
The CNN piece does not provide critical analysis of the historical injustices and inequalities, that had a majority of Haitians living in permanent conditions of poverty and vulnerability before the January 12 earthquake.  Nor does it properly analyze the current political problems (both Haitian and from the “international community”).
However, the CNN piece does show the utter urgency of the situation.
Being relocated to secure living areas, and providing food, water, shelter, clothing and medical attention 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
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
THANK-YOU to all who have sent donations, either to Rights Action or to the groups we recommend.  Please consider contributing more funds.
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WHAT RIGHTS ACTION HAS FUNDED - TO DATE
Funds have been sent (cash with people travelling to Haiti, or bank and Western Union transfers) to Haiti:
SOPUDEP
Located in Petionville, Port au Prince, the SOPUDEP (http://sopudep.org/) school is a comprehensive school serving the poorest residents of the city.  Founded in 2002, the school has grown to over 554 students, many of whom receive their only regular meal through the school's hot lunch program.
BAI (Bureau des Avocats Internationaux / Office of International Lawyers)
The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH)’s Haiti-based affiliate, the BAI (http://ijdh.org/about/bai) in Port-au-Prince, has helped victims prosecute human rights cases, trained Haitian lawyers and spoken out on justice issues since 1995. The BAI used to receive most of its support from Haiti’s constitutional governments, but since February 2004, it has received most of its support from the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), and no support from any government or political organization.
Since the earthquake, besides their on-going long-term work, SOPUDEP and the BAI have been working 24/7 to provide emergency response (food, shelter, meds, clothing) to survivors of the earthquake and to participate in the debate about what kind of economic development model will be “re-built” in Haiti.
DIRECT DISPLACED CAMP SUPPORT
Funds have gone directly – via American and Haitian activists in Port au Prince - to Haitian people who have formed their own committees in the sheet encampments throughout the capital.  Kevin Pina: “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.”
“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.”
“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.”
SURVIVAL KITS
Canadian-Haitian couple in Haiti:  “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".”
ORPHANAGE - "ENFANTS DEMUNIS"
Canadian-Haitian couple in Haiti:  “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.”
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U.S.-based GROUPS WE RECOMMEND – Please consider supporting these groups:
INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE & DEMOCRACY IN HAITI (http://www.ijdh.org/)
The IJDH works with the people of Haiti in their non-violent struggle for the 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.  Write to: brianhaiti@aol.com.
KONPAY - WORKING TOGETHER FOR HAITI (http://www.konpay.org/)
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.  Write to: 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.
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VISION OF RIGHTS ACTION’S RELIEF & REBUILDING WORK
get funds to Haitian groups and people (including North American organizations with long-term commitments and involvements in Haiti) that 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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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
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.

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