It has been over 2 months since the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti. The World has rallied forth many NGO's and organizations to raise donations and awareness even as Haiti has dropped from the headlines. This week in NYC the UN is holding Donor Meetings that are reviewing the Disaster, the long and short term needs. As the week has gone on I have tried to assemble some of the most informative articles regarding the Meeting and the Conditions in Haiti with reports from Aid and Relief Organizations as well as from on the ground journalists. I will update this post as new information arises. In the title bar linked to the Title I have posted Faydra Deon's list of Ongoing Relief Orgs who are still providing ongoing Aid to Haiti. It is estimated that 1.2-1.5 Million Haitians are still living without adequate aid,shelter and food. Schools and Hospitals still need to be rebuilt and Shelter is not adequate against Rains or upcoming Hurricane Season.
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On March 19th, an initial report was issued in preparation for the Meeting that explored needs and conditions, projected needs and costs, PDNA this is the full downloadable link from the ReliefWeb. The PDNA was released by the Government of Haiti and distributed in advance of the meeting.
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This article from Reuters Foundation (AlertNet) explores what Haitians on the ground are requesting and voicing as to current concerns. Sadly most of their concerns are still focused on basic Living Conditions : Food and Shelter are still critical areas of concern.
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ActionAid has a great article exploring as to the lack of Haitian Exclusion in this meeting and raises questions as to whether they were included enough in the dialogue and planning. Hopefully the NGO's and the Haitian Government will realize that part of accountability and transparency means including more citizens.
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Jacquie Charles of the Miami Herald wrote a really thorough assessment of the NYC UN meetings and described the tone , the dialogue and how the focus was set by those advocating for improved transparency as the Money is raised and the Needs still rise. The Shelter issue was explored as there are 1.5 million still living with inadequate shelter as the Rains have arrived and Hurricane season approaches. {{ I encourage you to read this article to really better understand some of the friction, problems and problem solving that went on during this meeting.}}
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Earlier this week NBC ran a report raising serious questions about the American Red Cross and where all the money is that has been raised and is it reaching the Haitian People. (The NBC Report raised some serious questions and I will post the link below). This link goes to the actual Red Cross Report of Donations raised and projected plans and Needs. If you read this report it does raise serious questions as to where the money has been really spent and WHY more has not been spent or delegated to Shelter.
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NBC Evening News piece on American Red Cross 3.30.10 : Robert Bazzell asks some serious questions regarding all of the Donation Money raised and how much is actually reaching the Haitian People. The Video below shows Gail McGovern who is their 7th Director in 7 years, and who came to ARC in June 2008, and had not ever run a non profit before or been involved with the American Red Cross. The ONLY video Update by American Red Cross was made in Jan1010. She came to the Red Cross Summer of 2008 when it was over 200 Million in Debt ( even after massive fundraising of Katrina and Christmas Tsunami). She has much corporate experience, and was offered a $500,000 yearly salary and $65,000 signing bonus. She has no previous experience running or managing a Non Profit or BioMedical Experience.Her last CEO position was with AT&T and she taught at Harvard.As Red Cross has raised almost 400 Million,much of it with Phone Donations, we would hope that there would be research or information available if her Phone Management Experience was valuable to this situation. As she has been battling breast cancer since February (per RC press release) there have not been many updates from her or other CEOs.At this time I am trying to research WHO is in Charge at the American Red Cross for Haiti. Supposedly it is Dave Metzer,but she was supposed to go to Haiti in March for 2nd visit and update,yet there is not public report or update of that visit.(At this point in time I will be doing a followup story soley on American Red Cross in Haiti).
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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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Personal Accounts and Stories from Families and Aid Workers in Haiti are down below. (This also includes Elderly and women and I am still researching latest reports on Orphans,Children and Schools, and medically fragile).
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This article is written from an interview with a Nurse that worked on the ground in Haiti, she works with MERLIN, a Medical Organization based in the UK who has been one of the organizations providing medical care on the ground. First hand ground reports really show how the medical needs are still drastic and ongoing , especially due to the number of Amputations, Infections, head traumas, and even PTSD. ( MSF-Doctors Without Borders, Partners in Health and Merlin are some of the Medical Providers who continue to provide care to thousands).
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British Red Cross has this story of one Family and all that they have been through since the Quake, their story puts the day to day struggles in perspective.
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This account is from World Vision and has video from Doctors who are working in Haiti.
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MSF -USA released a request and a report before the Conference exploring the Medical Needs of Haiti, it is a report that must be read as it show that this Country is still very fragile Medically.
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This report is from World Vision on the condition of 84,000 Displaced Elderly. Of 1.2 Million displaced it is estimated that less than 100,000 are elderly, but their needs also must be reviewed.
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OXfam ( America and UK) both are doing amazing work in Haiti, this is their their Google Map showing where they are doing work and have relief set up.
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UNICEF released a report as to released a report as to the conditions and needs of the Children that is a must read. It is estimated that 800,000 children are orphans and thousands more will be effected by this quake for years to come. The children will continue to need shelter,schools to be rebuilt and medical and psychological care.
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ALNAP has a learning portal with information about ongoing assessments and lessons learned,very helpful site.
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NPR has outstanding post this week explaining the Re-Founding of the Original Haiti Independence Documents,it is worth the read and explains much of Haiti's History. There are many that are concerned in diplomatic circles that Haiti's History will be lost in this Quake Upheaval or that there will be greed and unscrupulous entities attempting to grab lands or or rights from the Haitian People due to the level of poverty and chaos and broken infrastructure.
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Washington Post has an Editorial putting the actual Costs in American Perspective and also delicately explains the fragile Haiti government and infrastructure.
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World Food Programme has pledged 5.3 Billion dollars in food relief in the monthes ahead to continue to meet Nutrional Challenges.This post from 3.31.10 highlights ongoing work and goals.
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Operation Safe continues to work in a variety of settings with Traumatized children offering care and therapy. They went to Haiti this month and I am encouraging you to read their report and support their work. The Little girl above was one of their photos.It truly shows that true aid can help even the smallest Quake Survivor.
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Please stay tuned as I am currently working on a more complete story regarding the American Red Cross Situation as I have ongoing Concerns and Questions about Millions of Missing Dollars and also concerns about actual AID Delivery in Haiti. At this time I encourage people to please give to Charities that are doing amazing work in Haiti, including International Red Cross (Federacion), British Red Cross, Irish Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross, MSF (USA and UK), Merlin (UK) and Partners in Health, UNICEF, WFP,Oxfam and World Vision and CARE.
