Haiti Relief - How to Really Help

In the wake of this heart-breaking tragedy, I urge everyone to consider what resources they might be able to offer towards helping the people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. I have done extensive volunteer work with an organization called the Highland Support Project. Their director, Ben Blevins, wrote this blog entry. Please read it, look at the links, and make a donations to one of these organizations. It is important to know who you are giving money to and in what way those dollars will be used to help this country.

I'm sorry, Blogger does not handle copy & paste well. I went to a lot of trouble to include the necessary links, please mouse over the words to see them.

"We all want to help the people of Haiti as they deal with the horrific consequences of yesterday’s earthquake. While HSP isn’t capable of doing emergency relief work outside of Guatemala, we can recommend good folks who do, that you can donate to. Personally, I’ll be donating through Oxfam to help provide immediate emergency assistance.

HSP’s sister nonprofit in Guatemala, AMA (Asociacion de Mujeres del Altiplano), is also planning to donate funds as an organization. The impoverished Mayan women in AMA’s women’s circles plan to raise $250 for women and families in Haiti by the end of this week. These AMA women and their families live on an average of $300 a year, less than $1 a day, making their donation all the more meaningful.

AMA's intentions remind us of the parable of the Widow’s Gift (Mark 12:41-43), in which a poor widow gives her last two copper coins, and thus the greatest gift of all – all she has. AMA will be making their donation through Rights Action, an organization that supports grassroots humanitarian organizing internationally.

Give Now to these HSP recommended organizations

Oxfam has long experience in Haiti and is rushing in teams from around the region to respond to the situation where our assistance is most needed.

Rights Action funds and works with community development, environmental justice, human rights and disaster relief organizations in Guatemala and Honduras, and also in El Salvador, Haiti, Oaxaca and Chiapas.

Direct Relief has an ongoing "Emergency Pre-Positioning Program" and a program in Haiti that stages essential medical materials on site with key partners for immediate use in emergency situations

Learn More about how to best support emergency relief and long-term aid

This post from the Blood And Milk blog is a good summary of relief vs. aid funding:

“Humanitarian relief programs are focused on rapid start-up, and rapid impact. Implementers of humanitarian programs need to gear up as fast as possible, and start providing necessary assistance as fast as possible. Their primary focus is not building local capacity, sustainability, or monitoring and evaluation. Their primary focus is getting help to people in need. They end when the emergency ends. Relief can come from the outside, and it is a response to some kind of breakdown or disaster....Development programs are focused on achieving long-term change of some kind, with the intent of improving people’s lives and the lives of their descendants. They involve rigorous planning and ongoing operational research. They are rooted in local capacity building, because they are aimed at change which continues after the project ends. Even if it has outside support, development in the end has to come from inside.”

The blog, Good Intentions Are Not Enough has a great post entitled “Choosing organizations to donate to after the Haiti earthquake.”

AidWatch has posted “Haiti Earthquake: Help Navigating Complex Terrain of Disaster Relief.”

Tales from the Hood, written by an experienced aid worker, has a post—“Haiti”—just out providing information for donors as well

Philanthropy Action has also posted “Advice for Donors to Haiti - providing advice based on research from the World Bank and the Fritz Institute”

An article “Haiti's Coming Public Health Challenges”, written byAlanna Shaikh at UN Dispatch.

An article from Michael Maren, the author of The Road to Hell – “From an expert: Haiti Donation Advice”"

Really. These things are so. very. important. Know who's getting your money. Know where it's going. Help the best way possible.