ADOPTED REGION: Petit Goave and the surrounding area Petit Goave is a small, impoverished coastal town 42 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince believed to be the epicenter of the January 12, 2010 earthquake. As such, it experienced tremendous devastation but has not received sufficient funds and attention. Through the assistance of our partner agencies, the Union for Reform Judaism was able to identify this community and will be concentrating some of our relief efforts on rebuilding Petit Goave.
PROJECTS FUNDED IN PETIT GOAVE
INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS (IMC) - $116,111 IMC provides health interventions and rapid response to emergency situations and seeks to build local capacity in underserved communities worldwide. In response to the urgent and pressing needs identified in outlying areas of Port-au-Prince, IMC established one mobile clinic and one static clinic with this allocation. The mobile clinic team sees approximately 1,000 patients a week and the static clinic provides medical attention to underserved areas as well as trains clinical health workers to fill the gaps left by the death and displacement of health workers and the damages to Haiti's health infrastructure. URJ funded IMC operates in partnership with JDC.
Update: IMC requested and additional $19,000 to purchase a 22-foot fiberglass boat to serve the coastal communities near Petit Goave, as their current boat was no longer safe to operate in the current rainy season and rougher waters.
AJWS - FONKOZE - $50,000
With these funds, Fonkoze was able to reestablish its operations and rebuild six destroyed community bank buildings,including a building which serves the community of our adopted village, Petit Goave. Funds are being used to provide access to microcredit, business development assistance, financial literacy and business skills training to the Haitian poor, particularly women. This support includes immediate relief for Fonkoze’s employees (including repair or reconstruction of their homes so they are able to run the organizations’ programs) as well as relief for clients by forgiving loans of those who have died, restructuring loans of existing clients who were affected by the earthquake and distributing new loans to individuals in need of capital to get businesses started once again.
CHF International Short-Term Job Creation and Road Rehabilitation Project - $75,000 The Cooperative Housing Foundation (CHF) is a catalyst for long-lasting positive change in low income communities around the world, helping them improve their social, economic and environmental conditions. CHF International has long been involved in community development projects in Petit Goave, Haiti (our adopted area). These funds will help rehabilitate an eroded road in a residential area that heads to a local popular beachfront. The project includes laying pavement, positioning cobblestone to prevent erosion and adding drainage canals along much of the route. This project will create 100 short-term jobs, provide easier access to the beachfront for residents and will lead to commercial investment which will generate employment and tax revenue for the city.
Generator purchased by URJ's Haiti Relief Fun
OTHER PROJECTS FUNDED
GHESKIO EMERGENCY REHABILITATION CENTER - $54,000 GHESKIO is a Port-au-Prince outpatient facility for the care of patients with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. In addition GHESKIO has become a refugee camp and an emergency field hospital for thousands of disabled patients. To better serve their expanded patient base, GHESKIO requested funds to build two steel-framed dome tents with heavy vinyl coast to serve as rehabilitation centers and establish lighting, running water, kitchen and toilets adjacent to the center. GHESKIO has been affiliated with Weill Cornell Medical College in New York since it opened, which serves as its US fiduciary. GHESKIO is the key provider of medical care and assistance to the orphanage supported by Temple Beth El of Hollywood, Florida for children with HIV/AIDS.
AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE (AJWS) - $30,000 AJWS provides general emergency relief grants that meet the immediate needs of communities affected by the disaster. One such organization is MOSCTHA, the Socio-Cultural Movement of Haitian Workers, which was in need of funds for a MOSCTHA's mobile clinic, which provides weekly medicine and personal hygiene supplies to more than 5,000 families that are receiving little-to-no emergency support in rural areas. The NGO was a recipient of prior relief funds from the Union during the hurricanes that struck Haiti several years ago.
MAZON - ALBERT SCHWEITZER HOSPITAL - $30,000 The Albert Schweitzer Hospital, a beneficiary organization of Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger, is providing medical care to over 500 patients a day. Families continue to arrive in great numbers and are treated for injury as well as provided with food and water. Funds were used to purchase and distribute sacs of drinking water, dried foods, charbon (cooking coal), dish soap and utensils.
PRODEV - $51,200
PRODEV, the Progress and Development Foundation, assists in developing positive initiatives in the field of education throughout Haiti. Since the earthquake, PRODEV’s efforts have been directed toward providing temporary educational programs to youth living in displaced persons camps. Funds were provided for start-up costs (purchase of books, school supplies, training of 50 teachers, tent construction, etc.) as well as run the program for approximately 2,000 children. The program is planned for three months, with the possibility of continuation if needed. Partners in Health served as the fiduciary for our funds.
INTERNATIONAL RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT (IRD) - $25,000 In Haiti, IRD has mobilized an emergency response team to provide rapid response and assessment, refugee camp management, food and water provision and distribution of medical supplies. Funds provided emergency sanitation, hygiene materials and emergency shelter to displaced households residing in severely damaged areas of Leogane Commune. Over 1,400 individuals will be served.
AMERICARES - $25,000 AmeriCares delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in crisis around the world. General funds will underwrite the cost of sending emergency airlifts to Haiti which include antibiotics, hospital supplies, primary care medicines, children's products and water purification tablets. Shipments will be delivered to existing hospitals as well as temporary field hospitals and makeshift clinics treating survivors.
Following disasters, Mercy Corps addresses immediate humanitarian needs while preparing communities for sustainable recovery. Mercy Corp's Cash-for-Work program advances post-disaster clean up by providing cash resources in exchange for labor to help individuals address their own immediate needs. Collaborating with local partner organizations and the government, this program ensures that communities effectively make the transition from emergency aid to long-term recovery and self-sufficiency.
DIRECT RELIEF INTERNATIONAL - $25,000 Direct Relief International provides medical assistance to improve the quality of life for people affected by poverty, disaster and civil unrest. DRI was in need of funds to underwrite a key DRI staff position, Haiti Emergency Response Coordinator. This on-the-ground coordinator is responsible for emergency efforts including the distribution of medical material goods, site assessment for medical distribution supplies and the coordination with their two partner agencies: Partners in Health and Damian Pediatric Hospital.
UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION - $25,000 The UN Foundation, the Union's partner in our Nothing But Nets campaign, is working with the United Nation's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which plays a central role in the coordination of immediate relief and response work in Haiti. Union funds assisted in CERF's general emergency response efforts, which include the distribution of medical services and supplies, clean water and sanitation access, emergency shelters, food delivery and infrastructure rehabilitation.
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE (IRC) - $25,000 IRC is collaborating with local Haitian partners to provide general emergency response assistance to those in need. Funds were used to rehabilitate damaged clinics, establish mobile clinics, distribute food, water and water storage containers and dispense basic shelter materials including sheets, blankets, hygiene items and roofing sheets. This allocation has been made through the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief, which convenes all of the Jewish organizations engaged in Haiti relief efforts.
UNICEF - $25,000 UNICEF is at the forefront of efforts to reduce child mortality worldwide. In coordination with other UN agencies, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, UNICEF is responding to the emergency needs of women and children in Haiti. General funding provided basic medical and health supplies, kitchen kits, water purification tablets, sanitation supplies, tarpaulins and tents for temporary shelter.
AFYA FOUNDATION - $18,000 Afya Foundation partners with Partners in Health, a network of hospitals, health-care organizations, corporations and individuals to collect and distribute medical supplies, hospital equipment and humanitarian supplies in Haiti. Afya's goal was to ship at least one forty-foot sea freight container loaded with $150,000 worth of specifically requested supplies to Haiti each week immediately following the earthquake. Materials include: water purification tablets, water, medical supplies including antiseptic, sheets and blankets, diapers and personal care items. Several Reform congregations have begun collection campaigns in partnership with Afya and with this allocation the Reform Movement will be able to cover the shipping costs as well. $18,000 covers the costs associated with shipping one freight container of medical and humanitarian supplies.
Project Papillon Community Center - $12,000 Project Papillon is an orphanage in Port-au-Prince for children with HIV/AIDS. Project Papillon is supported by Hollywood CARES, a project of URJ Temple Beth El of Hollywood, Florida. In the summer of 2010, Project Papillon opened a community center serving over one hundred neighborhood children each week. The center provides recreational and educational activities as well as psychological trauma counseling. The community center needed funds to purchase a diesel generator and computers. The generator will provide power to run the facility's lights, refrigerator, computers and air conditioning; the computers will be used for recreational and educational purposes.
UNITED ISRAEL APPEAL CANADA/ISRA-AID - $10,000 CAD To date there has been approximately $10,000 CAD raised in Canada. Funds from the CCRJ will go to United Israel Appeal Canada for its support of IsraAid, the coalition of Israeli NGO disaster relief specialists. Fund proceeds qualify for Canadian government matching dollars which will be allocated to Canada's Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. Below is information provided by CCRJ:
Within minutes of landing at the airport, the volunteer medical professionals from IsraAid traveled to the main Port-au- Prince Hospital, where they joined local doctors at the collapsed facility, to treat thousands of wounded and desperate earthquake victims. In addition to providing life-saving medical services, IsraAid personnel are assisting with rescue efforts and logistical support for relief. The IsraAid operation is part of a huge Israeli relief effort. Two IDF teams, comprised of search and rescue personnel and canine operators were part of rescue missions. In addition, the IDF Medical and Rescue Team treated patients at a field hospital in Port-Au-Prince. This field hospital treated 500 patients a day and included 40 doctors, 25 nurses, paramedics, a pharmacy, a children's ward, a radiology department, an intensive care unit, an emergency room, two operating rooms, a surgical department, an internal department and a maternity ward.
Is there a way we can collect hygeine items & send them to Haiti?
Most relief organizations are discouraging donations of anything other than funds at the present time. Although the needs are great, there is a bottle-neck of aid getting in and organizations only want to gather what can be properly distributed. The only organization I have heard accepting donations is Afya (www.afyafoundation.org). The following information is on their website: "All donations are greatly appreciated, but for maximum utility and safety, ALL DONATIONS MUST BE PRE-APPROVED. Please contact us with a list of proposed donations. E-mail us your list to: contributions@afyafoundation.org or call us at (914) 207-1008." More information is available on their site.
Is there a way we can collect and send tents to Haiti? I read this morning that there is a desperate need.
It is great to hear that so many people want to do so much to assist Haiti. You are correct that there is a need for tents along with so many other things. Most relief agencies, however, prefer to get tents from their own suppliers that meet their own specifications and most relief organizations are discouraging donations other than financial right now. That being said, the Afya Foundation (see my prior comment for contact info) does have tents listed on their website list of items they are collecting, but be sure to contact them directly before initiating a collection drive to confirm what they can actually use. Be sure to budget into your project the cost of getting whatever you collect to Afya's headquarters in Yonkers, NY and consider whether that would be a cost-effective initiative for your congregation. And if possible, find out what it will cost Afya to ship the tents to Haiti so they don't have to raise funds from others to ship your donations. I'm sure they would appreciate that added support. Thanks for your enthusiastic support of Haiti during this crisis! RMJF
So URJ didn't do anything, it just sent money to other places. Did URJ take a percent before the money was allocated to other places
You are correct that the Union for Reform Judaism does not have field staff on the ground to provide direct assistant the way other organizations, like Direct Relief International or Doctors Without Borders, do. The Union does not take any percentage for overhead or administrative expenses. We do, however, take the direct costs that we incur, such as credit card fees. This information is noted clearly on our website (www.urj.org/haiti), where the allocations are also listed. We work collaboratively with the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief and other partners to review and vet proposals from relief organizations to be sure the funds entrusted to the Union are used appropriately for disaster relief efforts in Haiti. By coordinating a fund on behalf of our congregations and members, we are able to do something much more significant in the name of the Reform Movement than each of us individually might do. Other Jewish organizations collecting funds for Haiti operate similarly, including local federations, other religious streams and most national Jewish organizations that do not maintain field staff for disaster relief.
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