>From a friend with extensive experience in disaster relief. Some tips on donations for long-term rebuilding effort as well. And good points about distributing donations if possible as organizations reach their capacity.
TL;DNR: I second what's been said about Doctors w/o Borders. Partners in Health also has a strong presence in Haiti particularly and is 100% legit (this is Dr. Paul Farmer's org for those who are familiar with him). --- hi folks, i've gotten a lot of emails (from many of you, actually!) asking for advice about where and how to give to help the survivors of Haiti's earthquake. so, i've decided to send out a semi-mass email. most of you know about my background in disaster relief--so while i clearly don't know everything, and post-disaster areas are notoriously complex, i've got a few thoughts. first, some guiding principles (this wording from Texas in Africa<http://texasinafrica.blogspot.com/> ): 1. Donate to organizations with an established presence, quickly. The ability to charter helicopters, buy tarps, and distribute water is eased considerably if the organization has cash in hand. 2. Work with organizations that have local staff in leadership positions and who are empowered to make quick decisions on the ground. 3. Work with organizations that partner with local social institutions, like houses of worship or community organizations. These groups' social networks and language skills mean that they're quickly able to identify specific problems and solutions, make lists of victims, and respond to traumatized populations in culturally-relevant ways. for folks who want to give and have impact now, i'm suggesting MSF (Doctors Without Borders) <http://www.msf.org/> and Partners in Health<http://pih.org/home.html>because both have in-country staff, strong in-country relationships, and a fantastic track record. unlike in many other countries, MSF was already an important part of haiti's healthcare infrastructure, so they aren't outsiders to the degree that they sometimes are. also, MSF's main building was destroyed, so they'll be in particular need of cash, fast. that said, PIH and MSF are going to max out their capacity at some point, and then we'll need to bolster their efforts by supporting smaller, less-well-known groups. unfortunately, those groups haven't emerged yet--it'll depend on who still has able staff. so, you might consider holding off for a few days to wait and see who they are--figuring that most folks are going to give immediately to the big-name organizations they can easily trust. or you might consider looking ahead to longer term recovery. my main suggestions on that front at this point are Catholic Relief Services<http://crs.org/>and Architecture for Humanity <http://architectureforhumanity.org/>. CRS has been in haiti for 50 years and will likely be one of the long-term recovery partners (in addition to crisis response right now). giving them some support on the front end will make their planning for the next year better. AFH will be focused on the rebuilding effort. they've got a long history with haiti and frankly, they just do good work. i'd encourage folks to think long-term while this is still dominating our thoughts. finally, if you have connections to a faith-based or community-based group that you KNOW is doing EFFECTIVE, EMPOWERING work and still has on-the-ground capacity, i'd recommend giving to them as well. they'll be able to be more nimble than some of the larger organizations and, like i said earlier, can support the Red Cross, Mercy Corp, PIH, MSF, etc. once the bigger organizations' capacity is reached. ok, that's what i have right now. input/questions welcome--but just reply to ME (mary.jordan.sm...@gmail.com) if you find this helpful, feel free to forward it around. love to all, m On Thu, Jan 14, 2010 at 4:31 PM, Patrick Leary <ple...@apertonet.com> wrote: > Digicel is a privately-owned cellular company with operations mostly in > the Caribbean. It is the Haitian nation's largest cellular carrier with > 3 million subscribers. They also operate a major WiMAX network there > (not an Aperto customer). Denis O'Brien, its CEO, said much of the > cellular network is still operational and they are doing a full court > press to get damaged areas back up. The company also donated $5 million, > a collosal amount for a private company that is regional and battling > the giant Cable & Wireless. > > They are not what you'd consider a WISP, but they have a great local rep > as the hire locals mostly and have an institutionalized respect for the > cultures in the markets they serve. They are doing great work and on > their own dime. > > > Patrick Leary > Aperto Networks > 813.426.4230 mobile > > -----Original Message----- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Andy Trimmell > Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 1:24 PM > To: WISPA General List > Subject: Re: [WISPA] Send MONEY Now! > > If anyone knows a WISP that needs anything in Haiti please post it to > the list. I'm sure there's at least one. > > Thank you. > > -----Original Message----- > From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On > Behalf Of Jim Patient > Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 4:11 PM > To: WISPA General List > Subject: Re: [WISPA] Send MONEY Now! > > On 1/14/2010 11:16 AM, Jeremy Parr wrote: > > 2010/1/14 RickG<rgunder...@gmail.com>: > > > >> You guys are the best for doing this but be careful who and where you > send > >> money. Unfortunately, there are a lot of scam artist that will take > >> advantage of situations like this. > >> > > Yes, I would avoid the missionary groups. Doctors Without Borders is > > legit, and the Red Cross is always a fairly safe bet. > > > > Your Red Cross dollars could end up in the dump! I wouldn't give the red > > cross time of day after what we seen on the gulf after Katrina. One of > the shelters had 300 people in it with 1 payphone (Mac can verify this). > > We packed a truck up from Radio Response and sent a crew to the shelter > to install a link, 10 PCs, and 10 VoIP phones. They refused to let us > install the free service for the people and told us the single pay phone > > was good enough! It's tough to walk away from lost crying babies > because of bureaucratic BS! > > There were about 30 trucks full of food and supplies in a parking lot > near our camp waiting for Red Cross paperwork to distribute it to the > people. After over a week in the lot the drivers rather than let the > stuff rot (running out of fuel for refer trucks) opened the trucks and > let us come in with rental trucks (rented by Jeffmo out of his pocket) > and distribute the supplies. The Red Cross never did show up with the > authorization to distribute the supplies and 1 of the drivers was fired > when their boss found out they opened their truck. > > Doctors without boarders are awesome and helped set up the clinic in > Algeres (NOLA West Bank). BTW that clinic was still giving free health > care last year when we were there. > > I did some googlen yesterday and didn't have much luck at finding an > active wisp in Haiti that I could contact. Anyone know one down there? > I will shoot a donation to folks Chris recommended but would also like > to help a brother WISP and I'm sure there is one or two down there that > > need it. > > Jim > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -------- > > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -------- > > > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -------- > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -------- > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -------- > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -------- > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
