A few people have recently asked me to whom I thought they should donate to help with the crisis/recovery in Haiti. I do have some preferred charities, based on my own experience with NGOs and who/what I have seen in Haiti before the earthquake, and I also have some charities I deeply dislike. But in the interest of not getting sued for slander, I will list only the ones that I think are doing a really good job in their response to the situation now, as well as generally how they allocate their funds (i.e., how much of it actually goes to programming and not into people's pockets):
CURE International A medical NGO who were one of the first groups on the ground in the aftermath, opening operating rooms and wound care services when almost no one else was able to do so. (see the update I have pasted below)
Habitat for Humanity Their disaster response team has put together an interesting long-term recovery plan with quite a bit of potential (see the press release below); they are also better than most about how they spend their money.
Medecins sans Frontieres/Doctors without Borders MSF had been scaling down their activities in Haiti, as they operate mostly in actual emergencies and Haiti was emerging from 'emergency' status. Obviously and tragically, this has changed, and MSF has quickly moved to reinforce their staff both in numbers and supplies. They are skilled, serious, and comparatively efficient.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) CRS has a long-standing presence in Haiti and has built some good relationships with the Haitian people. They run a number of orphanages throughout the country, mostly in PAP, who will be in desperate need of food, supplies, and shelter.
Save the Children A big NGO that has somehow managed to keep focus on its real priorities, helping kids and families. They are also well-established in Haiti, particularly in the areas of nutrition and preventive health.
Mission of Hope I have to give these guys some attention b/c they let us take over a whole section of their compound, but also b/c they appear to be doing really good work -- providing free healthcare to the local community, free education for children (a BIG deal in Haiti), and housing a number of children. These people live simply, raising their own food stock and living in austere conditions in their guest house, and many of them have learned Creole so that they can communicate better with the community around them.
Hearts with Haiti This NGO provides a lot of funding to an orphanage that was extensively damaged by the quake. Their orphanage, St. Joseph's, has been around for quite some time and is well-known for rescuing children who have been living as restaveks (child slaves, essentially) and helping them recover from that experience, while also providing education, job training, and healthcare.
USAID This would be more of an advocacy avenue rather than charitable giving, but if you are interested in trying to help shape the USAID long-term response to the situation in Haiti, contact your Representatives and Senators telling them that you support long-term investment in Haiti, and make suggestions about programs that you think they should put in place and/or encourage them to continue the development initiatives already approved for the northern part of the country, which was not affected by the quake. Congress ultimately decides how much USAID gets for what programs, so let those politicians know that your vote is at least partially linked to their response to Haiti.
All of these agencies can be found by simply putting their name in Google and hitting search. Also, just b/c I didn't list a charity does not automatically mean that it is on my no-fly list; if you are really concerned about that, you can email me privately for details.
This was CURE's first update from Haiti and I am including it b/c it gives a lot of interesting details, but they have since issued a new update wherein they confirm that they are now able to deliver supplies overland from the DR, and also that they have several more medical teams on the ground. Please also notice that they are estimating their total disaster response costs at around $500,000, which really is not that much money in the grand scheme of things. This is possible b/c most of the medical people working for them are volunteers, people freely giving their time and skills to help people desperately in need.
Creating organization from chaos
The CURE team on the ground in Port au Prince is not only bringing life-saving care to hundreds of injured Haitians, but they are also helping to organize and facilitate the work of other medical groups and volunteers. With no centralized coordination in place, the team has been key to getting OR’s up and running.
We were able to get the 18-person team from Dallas, Texas, mobilized to a different hospital. They immediately got to work and divided an open room into three OR’s, created an OR in an open hallway and turned a radiology room in an OR. In just 48 hours, this team performed over 300 operations, including 40 amputations and applied more than 100 casts.
More teams on the way
People continue to step up to respond to the crisis. In the next few days, CURE will be sending more than 25 medical professionals and a substantial amount of donated orthopedic equipment and supplies. These teams will relieve our very weary team members who have been on the ground since last Thursday.
CURE will meet ongoing medical needs
While CURE was one of the first to arrive in Haiti, we will not be the first to leave. The medical needs are staggering - hundreds of thousands are injured and are in need of care. Throughout the upcoming weeks and months, CURE will provide care from a local community hospital in Haiti and hopefully, will also be able to care for patients at our hospital in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
The effects of the earthquake on Haiti are massive and our response must be equally substantial. We estimate that our relief efforts in Haiti will cost $500,000. Please consider joining us to reach this goal and bring healing and restoration to the Haitian people.
In the days to come, we will be bringing you stories and first impressions from our team and the patients they are treating. Check our blog (blog.helpcurenow.org) and watch for email updates. Please consider passing this on to your friends and encouraging them to support the work of CURE International in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
With prayers for hope and healing,
Your friends at CURE International
Give online at http://www.helpcurenow.org/haitirelief
or text CURE to 85944 to give a $10 gift
Follow updates at http://blog.helpcurenow.org
And to help support CURE, add the following message to your Facebook/Twitter account: Help CURE in Haiti: http://helpcurenow.org/haitirelief or txt CURE to 85944 to give a $10 gift. Follow: http://blog.helpcurenow.org
This is Habitat's press release following their initial needs assessment in Haiti. They do know a lot about housing/neighborhood planning, and there seems to be some real potential here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Katie Evans
Habitat for Humanity
404-420-6728
kevans@habitat.org
www.habitat.org/newsroom
Habitat for Humanity International CEO Jonathan Reckford visits Haiti’s earthquake-devastated neighborhoods
ATLANTA (Jan. 22, 2010) – Habitat for Humanity International CEO Jonathan Reckford traveled to Port-au-Prince Jan. 19 - 20 to meet with Habitat for Humanity Haiti staff and to tour some of the earthquake-ravaged neighborhoods in the capital city.
“This is the worst humanitarian disaster I’ve seen,” said Reckford. “Video and images cannot convey the devastation and suffering of the people of Haiti.”
Reckford met with Habitat for Humanity Haiti staff at their temporary office. While all 50 Habitat Haiti staff members survived last week’s earthquake; Habitat Haiti’s offices collapsed.
Habitat for Humanity is offering a three-fold response to the earthquake that includes clearing debris from home sites, providing Habitat for Humanity Recovery Starter kits and repairing and rebuilding homes through a transitional housing method.
“We want to help families with shelter right away, while also thinking of longer term housing solutions,” said Reckford. “Our goal is to put families into safe, durable transitional shelters that can be used for long periods and improved upon over time.”
The transitional housing model involves small shelters that can be built quickly and provide permanent base structures that can be expanded over time. The shelters will meet humanitarian standards of adequate living space and provision of water and sanitation. The structures also will be designed with hurricane and earthquake-resistant features.
Donations are urgently needed for recovery and can be made at www.habitat.org and by calling 1-800-422-4828. Additionally, texting “Habitat” to 25383 makes a $10 donation to Habitat’s efforts in Haiti.
About Habitat for Humanity International
Habitat for Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian ministry that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has built, rehabilitated, repaired or improved more than 350,000 houses worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 1.75 million people. For more information, or to donate or volunteer, visit www.habitat.org.
CURE International A medical NGO who were one of the first groups on the ground in the aftermath, opening operating rooms and wound care services when almost no one else was able to do so. (see the update I have pasted below)
Habitat for Humanity Their disaster response team has put together an interesting long-term recovery plan with quite a bit of potential (see the press release below); they are also better than most about how they spend their money.
Medecins sans Frontieres/Doctors without Borders MSF had been scaling down their activities in Haiti, as they operate mostly in actual emergencies and Haiti was emerging from 'emergency' status. Obviously and tragically, this has changed, and MSF has quickly moved to reinforce their staff both in numbers and supplies. They are skilled, serious, and comparatively efficient.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) CRS has a long-standing presence in Haiti and has built some good relationships with the Haitian people. They run a number of orphanages throughout the country, mostly in PAP, who will be in desperate need of food, supplies, and shelter.
Save the Children A big NGO that has somehow managed to keep focus on its real priorities, helping kids and families. They are also well-established in Haiti, particularly in the areas of nutrition and preventive health.
Mission of Hope I have to give these guys some attention b/c they let us take over a whole section of their compound, but also b/c they appear to be doing really good work -- providing free healthcare to the local community, free education for children (a BIG deal in Haiti), and housing a number of children. These people live simply, raising their own food stock and living in austere conditions in their guest house, and many of them have learned Creole so that they can communicate better with the community around them.
Hearts with Haiti This NGO provides a lot of funding to an orphanage that was extensively damaged by the quake. Their orphanage, St. Joseph's, has been around for quite some time and is well-known for rescuing children who have been living as restaveks (child slaves, essentially) and helping them recover from that experience, while also providing education, job training, and healthcare.
USAID This would be more of an advocacy avenue rather than charitable giving, but if you are interested in trying to help shape the USAID long-term response to the situation in Haiti, contact your Representatives and Senators telling them that you support long-term investment in Haiti, and make suggestions about programs that you think they should put in place and/or encourage them to continue the development initiatives already approved for the northern part of the country, which was not affected by the quake. Congress ultimately decides how much USAID gets for what programs, so let those politicians know that your vote is at least partially linked to their response to Haiti.
All of these agencies can be found by simply putting their name in Google and hitting search. Also, just b/c I didn't list a charity does not automatically mean that it is on my no-fly list; if you are really concerned about that, you can email me privately for details.
This was CURE's first update from Haiti and I am including it b/c it gives a lot of interesting details, but they have since issued a new update wherein they confirm that they are now able to deliver supplies overland from the DR, and also that they have several more medical teams on the ground. Please also notice that they are estimating their total disaster response costs at around $500,000, which really is not that much money in the grand scheme of things. This is possible b/c most of the medical people working for them are volunteers, people freely giving their time and skills to help people desperately in need.
Creating organization from chaos
The CURE team on the ground in Port au Prince is not only bringing life-saving care to hundreds of injured Haitians, but they are also helping to organize and facilitate the work of other medical groups and volunteers. With no centralized coordination in place, the team has been key to getting OR’s up and running.
We were able to get the 18-person team from Dallas, Texas, mobilized to a different hospital. They immediately got to work and divided an open room into three OR’s, created an OR in an open hallway and turned a radiology room in an OR. In just 48 hours, this team performed over 300 operations, including 40 amputations and applied more than 100 casts.
More teams on the way
People continue to step up to respond to the crisis. In the next few days, CURE will be sending more than 25 medical professionals and a substantial amount of donated orthopedic equipment and supplies. These teams will relieve our very weary team members who have been on the ground since last Thursday.
CURE will meet ongoing medical needs
While CURE was one of the first to arrive in Haiti, we will not be the first to leave. The medical needs are staggering - hundreds of thousands are injured and are in need of care. Throughout the upcoming weeks and months, CURE will provide care from a local community hospital in Haiti and hopefully, will also be able to care for patients at our hospital in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
The effects of the earthquake on Haiti are massive and our response must be equally substantial. We estimate that our relief efforts in Haiti will cost $500,000. Please consider joining us to reach this goal and bring healing and restoration to the Haitian people.
In the days to come, we will be bringing you stories and first impressions from our team and the patients they are treating. Check our blog (blog.helpcurenow.org) and watch for email updates. Please consider passing this on to your friends and encouraging them to support the work of CURE International in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
With prayers for hope and healing,
Your friends at CURE International
Give online at http://www.helpcurenow.org/haitirelief
or text CURE to 85944 to give a $10 gift
Follow updates at http://blog.helpcurenow.org
And to help support CURE, add the following message to your Facebook/Twitter account: Help CURE in Haiti: http://helpcurenow.org/haitirelief or txt CURE to 85944 to give a $10 gift. Follow: http://blog.helpcurenow.org
This is Habitat's press release following their initial needs assessment in Haiti. They do know a lot about housing/neighborhood planning, and there seems to be some real potential here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Katie Evans
Habitat for Humanity
404-420-6728
kevans@habitat.org
www.habitat.org/newsroom
Habitat for Humanity International CEO Jonathan Reckford visits Haiti’s earthquake-devastated neighborhoods
ATLANTA (Jan. 22, 2010) – Habitat for Humanity International CEO Jonathan Reckford traveled to Port-au-Prince Jan. 19 - 20 to meet with Habitat for Humanity Haiti staff and to tour some of the earthquake-ravaged neighborhoods in the capital city.
“This is the worst humanitarian disaster I’ve seen,” said Reckford. “Video and images cannot convey the devastation and suffering of the people of Haiti.”
Reckford met with Habitat for Humanity Haiti staff at their temporary office. While all 50 Habitat Haiti staff members survived last week’s earthquake; Habitat Haiti’s offices collapsed.
Habitat for Humanity is offering a three-fold response to the earthquake that includes clearing debris from home sites, providing Habitat for Humanity Recovery Starter kits and repairing and rebuilding homes through a transitional housing method.
“We want to help families with shelter right away, while also thinking of longer term housing solutions,” said Reckford. “Our goal is to put families into safe, durable transitional shelters that can be used for long periods and improved upon over time.”
The transitional housing model involves small shelters that can be built quickly and provide permanent base structures that can be expanded over time. The shelters will meet humanitarian standards of adequate living space and provision of water and sanitation. The structures also will be designed with hurricane and earthquake-resistant features.
Donations are urgently needed for recovery and can be made at www.habitat.org and by calling 1-800-422-4828. Additionally, texting “Habitat” to 25383 makes a $10 donation to Habitat’s efforts in Haiti.
About Habitat for Humanity International
Habitat for Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian ministry that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has built, rehabilitated, repaired or improved more than 350,000 houses worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 1.75 million people. For more information, or to donate or volunteer, visit www.habitat.org.
1 comment:
Excellent stuff Julie. Have already forwarded this information onto people who have been idle to this point. So resourceful!
~Richard Cuvilly
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