Thursday, January 14th, 2010...2:24 pm
Haiti Earthquake Relief
Five and a half years ago, we traveled to Haiti with our son Kaj, then 7, against state-department recommendations, just weeks after the last Haiti coup, to pick up our daughter Sandra and son Jean (now 11 and 8).
Haiti is a country about the size of Maryland (or the Olympic peninsula) with 9 million people. With no social net, people were literally dying in the streets. It’s the poorest country in the western hemisphere and barely off our shore. The topsoil is eroded. Trees are sparse. It makes the Dominican Republic, with whom they share the island of Hispaniola, look plush and wealthy.
The UN had taken over our hotel on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince and we were moved to a hotel near the palace. We couldn’t step outside without facing guns of various shapes and sizes. With or without guns, people stopped to stare at the trio of rarely-seen white faces accompanying Sandra and Jean. In spite of all they went through, they were a proud and resourceful people.
Our children’s birth family, including two older siblings, live in Petit Goave, basically at the epicenter of this week’s earthquake. We won’t know for some time what may have happened to them.
The shock of this quake comes just as Haitians risked feeling hopeful about entering a more peaceful period in their country’s history. After years of political unrest, being at the mercy of other countries (I’m refraining from going into that here), hurricanes, floods and mudslides, this huge quake takes another bite out of them.
Tens of thousands are probably already dead. Haiti badly needs our aid, and they need it now. Several people have asked us where to send money. A few options are below. Please give any amount you can. We appreciate your compassion.
The work of Dr. Paul Farmer, who many of you know through the book MONTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS, is supported through his organization Partners in Health, which does direct work with the poorest of the poor folks there in medical situations.
Another well-known medical support organization is Doctors Without Borders.
Habitat for Humanity has been in Haiti for 26 years and does good, direct action work there building houses.
The ELCA disaster relief fund gives 100% of donations during disasters to the affected programs and areas.
A good organization we heard of more recently is the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund.
In addition to these organizations, we contributed to Reach Out to Haiti, operated by Barbara Walker, the woman who facilitated our children’s adoptions.
We thank you, and our children thank you, for keeping Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.
8 Comments
January 14th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Deb, thank you for sharing this. Sandra and Jean must be overwhelmed. What an incredibly desperate time for Haiti. We appreciate your suggestions of suitable aid organizations.
January 15th, 2010 at 11:41 am
Thanks for this, Deb. We sent our donation to PIH yesterday.
January 15th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Deb,
Thank you for this. I have done development work in Haiti and have a sponsored child there. I share your feelings about the resilience of Haitains; their amazing vibrance and even joy in the face of such incredible challenges. It makes me so angry when the media – yet again! – moan and groan about Haiti being a “basketcase” country continually mired in despair. It simple isn’t true. They have had more than their share of misery; they are the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere – all that is true. But they don’t give up. I have watched a graduation class of rural health workers in a small Haitian town. They were so proud; so ready to go out into their communities with their little plastic cases full of – bandages, gauze, a pair of scissors, a bottle of aspirin and disinfectant – that’s ALL. I have spoken with an 18 year old who walked 25 miles out of the mountains to receive a goat – which would provide milk and cheese to her entire village – and allow her to go back to school.
It will take a long time, but Haiti will come back. And now – they need all the help they can get. As Deb says, please – give to your favorite charity. May I add Save the Children to that list? They have been on the ground in Haiti for twenty-five years and are gearing up as we speak.
Sorry for being so long-winded. Thank you, Jill Johnson
January 15th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Ken and I have been heart sick watching the quiet desperation in Haiti. Thank you so much for this information. Know that we are in Minnesota thinking about you and your beautiful children.
January 15th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
[...] – two were adopted from Haiti. She writes from a very personal place about earthquake relief here, including organisations doing work in [...]
January 15th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
Thank you all so much. Jill, I remember our talks about Haiti, and Thelma, what a treat to hear from you. Hugs to you all! Jet, your post was just what I needed tonight.
January 19th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
How heavy your hearts must be. Clearly, your children were meant to be here and not there. Clearly, they have some sort of mission or purpose that they couldn’t have achieved in any other way. But that doesn’t change the fact that their roots are in Haiti.
Revisiting that part of their lives has always been an option, but now–I don’t know. Has that door closed forever? I haven’t been to Germany in more than a decade, but if the town I grew up in were destroyed, I’d feel as if my childhood had been amputated. My grief would be profound, and my thoughts are with you all.
January 26th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
[...] Writing Project. And if you’re wondering where to send Haiti relief, I have a list for you at Deb Lund ad lib, along with the short-short version of our trip to pick up our kids. Thanks for making a difference, [...]
Leave a Reply