The situation in Haiti is horrific. Here are some of the better analyses, by Peter Hallward, Jacques Depelchin, and from Democracy Now! – Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine is already being put into practice in Haiti.
So what to do? Please give, as my family has, to these organisations – they’ll be helping people in the disaster, and helping a democratic recovery afterward. [Hat tip: Food First.]
Haiti Action
Haiti’s grassroots movement – including labor unions, women’s groups, educators, human rights activists, support committees for prisoners and agricultural cooperatives – will attempt to funnel needed aid to those most hit by the earthquake. Grassroots organizers are doing what they can with the most limited of funds to make a difference. Please take this opportunity to lend them your support.
http://www.haitiaction.net/About/HERF/1_12_10.html
Partners in Health
Founded by Dr. Paul Farmer, this nonprofit health delivery program has served Haiti’s poor since 1987. To donate for earthquake relief, go to
https://donate.pih.org/page/contribute/haiti_earthquake?source=earthquak…
In an urgent email from Port-au-Prince, Louise Ivers, Partners in Health clinical director in Haiti, appealed for assistance from her colleagues in the Central Plateau: “Port-au-Prince is devastated, lot of deaths. SOS. SOS… Temporary field hospital by us at UNDP needs supplies, pain meds, bandages. Please help us.”
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
Doctors Without Borders was working in Haiti prior to the quake with a staff of 800. Here is a report on January 13, 2009 with a link to their donation page.
http://doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=4148&cat=field-news
Grassroots International
Long time Food First partner Grassroots International has a long history of working with organizations on the ground in Haiti. Grassroots has committed to the extent possible to, “provide cash to our partners to make local purchases of the items they most need and to obtain food from farmers not hit by the disaster.”
http://www.grassrootsonline.org/news/blog/all-hands-responding-haiti-eme…
Hi Raj –
Thanks for this list. I included a couple of your suggestions that didn’t overlap with mine in a similar list circulated on FB.
Do you know the organization SOIL? http://oursoil.org/ They seem to be doing things along the lines of the larger sustainability picture. Thought I would give them a plug and also mention that their missives from Haiti re: human solidarity and compassion are a nice reality check to the sensationalism of media reports of violence etc. As a seasoned disaster relief worker myself i know it is vitally important to dispel these myths.
LisaRuth Elliott
(of Shaping SF and other path-crossing things)
I feel lucky to have witnessed your talk in Seattle and to have heard your (and my friends’) reasoning as to why not all ‘aid’ is helpful long-term, as I’d previously assumed.
As I spread the word to my friends, and to organizations ready to start raising funds, I’d like to quote Raj and link to this site (rather than explain myself) for why some ‘aid’ is not helpful.
Can someone post here whether, and perhaps a link to where, there’s a good article/video/blog post on that?
Thanks,
~Briana
I witnessed Raj in Seattle and heard his (and also my friends’) reasoning as to why not all ‘aid’ is helpful long-term, as I’d previously assumed.
As I spread the word to other friends, and to organizations ready to start raising funds, I’d like to quote Raj and link to Raj’s site (rather than explain the reasoning by myself) for reasoning as to why some ‘aid’ is not helpful long-term, and why it’s important to support wisely.
Can someone post here whether, and perhaps a link to where, there’s a good article/video/blog post that would motivate organizers to switch charities?
Thanks,
~Briana