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HELP for Haiti

In the devastating aftermath of the earthquake that has caused unprecedented death, destruction and suffering, everyone is asking: “What can I do to help Haiti?” Just as the international community is responding to the humanitarian crisis, we as individuals can have an impact, too.

For most of us, it is not feasible to travel to Haiti to help right now. But there are several things that you can do stateside that will make a difference:

Give money to a group you trust-we have listed several reputable groups below from which to choose. You undoubtedly know of other organizations.
Join together with community-based, faith-based, and social justice groups that are organizing relief efforts.
Stage a fundraising event in your community.
Begin a dialogue with friends, family and community members about eradicating global poverty. Natural disasters will continue to have a disproportionably devastating affect on the world’s poor. This country will need long-term help.
Pray. As my grandmother said, “More is wrought by prayer alone than the world can imagine.”

As the relief efforts get more organized in Haiti in the coming days and weeks, we will keep you posted on anything that midwives specifically can contribute.

Blessings,

Geradine Simkins
Midwives Alliance President

Updates follow immediately. Click here for a list of some groups you might volunteer with or donate money or necessary items to. This list is not by any means a complete list of all of the wonderful groups assisting Haiti at this time.

International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) update on January 26

Click here for a pdf letter from the ICM regarding Haiti.

Midwives for Haiti Update on January 21

Dear volunteers,

With the heartbreaking news continuing to come from Haiti, so many of you have e-mailed me about traveling to Haiti to assist with health care there or working with our program. I apoligize for all of you I have not answered and have hopefully added you to the list of people who will get our e-mails regularly.

First: We have been asked to assist other organizations who are needing midwives and skilled labor and delivery nurses. So we have volunteer opportunites in 4-5 areas of HAITI as soon as commercial flights allow us to send anyone. ( American Airlines will not fly anyone until Jan 29). So here are your choices of places to go and the dates available.

FIRST- At Hinche, where our midwifery students are working, the hospital is overflowing with refugees from PAP. I have Midwives for Haiti teams all of February and March but none in April. Need volunteers for any week then. Have the 1st two weeks of May covered but not the last two. We need help there from June on, teaching our students, helping out at the hospital and doing mobile prenatal clinics if there is gas to buy. Getting there is a little more complicated but accommodations are very nice and we have a translator/driver team that will do everything you need them to do. We take CNM's, CM's, and CPM's and experienced L&D nurses. Will take neonatal experts also.

SECOND- starting at the beginning of March, Bumi Sedat needs skilled midwives, nurses, doctors and nurse practitioners to work in a birth center/women's health center that they are establishing in Jacmel. This is a temporary structure, well- supplied, with the possibility of becoming a permanent entity. Bumi Sedat is expert in going to catastrophic areas and taking care of women during crisis events. Their team is setting up in February but will need relief by the beginning of March. They will schedule your trip. Please e-mail Heather Maurer at embracethegoddess@yahoo.com or Kelly Dunn at 33dragonfly@gmail.com. These women can move mountains. Let them know your skills and if you speak French or Creole- not a requirement. You would probably fly to the Dominican Republic and go on a ship to Jacmel as the road is bad and flights in are dedicated to flying supplies. see Bumi Sedat website about past projects.

THIRD- Remember Cite Soleil- the biggest slum in the western hemisphere? Haiti Outreach Ministries has land there and their clinic just fell down. So now they think building a birth center is a real possibility if we will help staff it. The first medical team will go March 27-April 3 and they would like two midwives that week to accompany them. You would be seeing women in a clinic with an eye to establishing a prenatal clinic/birth center that would eventually be staffed 24/7 by several of Midwives for Haiti graduates!!! You may be staying on a cot in a tent but you will be in a safe compound and with a medical team. E-mail me if you want to go ANYTIME from March 27 on. Get another midwife to go with you and set a date. This is just outside of Port-au-Prince so you can be there the same day you arrive in the country.

FOURTH- We have two midwives who have previously volunteered for us working with Circle of Health International this week on the border of the DR and Haiti doing emergency medical care. COHI ( see their website) concentrates on women's health and are happy to have CNM's and women's health NP's. They have moved the earth to get to Haiti this week and their team was up all night doing care as soon as they arrived. Email leilani@cohintl.org to volunteer. This organization is experienced in moving into areas where catastrophic events have occurred.

FIFTH- If you cannot go this year, make a contribution to Midwives for Haiti or one of these other organizations for what you would have paid for a plane ticket. Then we can put our Haitian midwives all over Haiti. See websites of all for how to donate.
Or do a fund-raiser. We can send you brochures, pictures, slideshows, videos. Get your Labor and Delivery area to save sutures, cord clamps, bulb syringes, blue surgical towels, fetoscopes or donate to buy a doppler. NO paper drapes, please.

Please: Forward this e-mail to every CNM or DEM you know.

While I wrote this 30 more women died in the world from childbirth related complications. WE are called to change this. WE have the tools to DO it.

Nadene Brunk
Midwives for Haiti
8008 Gardenwood Terrace
Richmond, VA 23227
804-389-0447

Circle of Health International Update on January 19

As you know, Haiti is suffering from the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. Before the earthquake, Haiti already suffered from the highest rate of maternal mortality in the Western hemisphere, with 607 women per 100,000 dying in childbirth, and we fear that the disaster will only worsen the situation for women. Circle of Health International (COHI), a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting women's health in crisis situations, is doing everything they can to make sure that women's unique and vital health care needs do not fall through the cracks as the world responds to the crisis in Haiti. COHI will be sending teams to provide much needed women's health care and other support to women in Haiti, and coordinating a comprehensive response to women's needs in Haiti.

COHI is sending their first team of midwives and public health professionals to Haiti, leaving on Tuesday, January 19, to identify and begin addressing women's specific health needs in the aftermath of the earthquake. They will focus solely on women's health, including the 37,000 or so pregnant women who are among the affected survivors, and will lay the groundwork for the COHI teams that will follow them in the upcoming weeks.

Financial donations are badly needed (see www.cohintl.org), as well as donations of the midwifery/medical supplies listed below.

If you have supplies that you are able to donate, please contact us at info@cohintl.org, and let us know where you are located and what you are able to contribute.

The goal is to send a new team every 2 weeks or so, so the need is on-going. Please feel free to forward this to anyone who may be able to help. To learn more about COHI or make a monetary donation, please visit www.cohintl.org

The following items are desparately needed. If you could make a donation of any of these items or cash, please contact us as soon as possible, and we will let you know how to get the materials to us.

Umbilical Cord Tie,
Sterile blades, stainless steel #10
Gloves
Hand towels
Under-sheeting
Soap, anti-bacterial
Washbasin, Rectangular,
Soap dish w/ridges,
Povidone/Iodine prep solution
Backpacks w/DRI & BD logos
Headlamps
Plastic Apron*, reusable
Sport bottle, 20 oz.
Alcohol Swabs BD 100

Doppler and dop gel
Fetoscope
Blood pressure cuff (sphygmo)
Stethoscope
Tape measure
Gestation wheel
Sterile gloves pair
Curved Kelly clamps
Blunt scissors pair
Episiotomy scissors (long/curved) pair
Needle holder
Ring forceps (sponge-holding)
Toothed (tissue) forceps
Metal box for instruments
Bulb syringe
Urinary catheter (disposable)

Extras to consider:
Neonatal resuscitation (ambu) bag 1
Baby scale 1
Anemia test kit

Thank you very much on behalf of Circle of Health International and the women of Haiti!

Organizations Working in Haiti

Midwives for Haiti

We are a 501 (c) 3 organization in existence for 3 years.

Nadene Brunk
Midwives for Haiti
8008 Gardenwood Terrace
Richmond, VA 23227
804-389-0447

Yayasan Bumi Sehat

Hello all! We are planning to go to Haiti in the next week and a half. We are small, strong team of disaster relief specialists and midwives from Bumi Sehat, NGO. We will be flying into Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. From there we will hire a boat or truck to carry all of the supplies that we be sourcing out in Santo Domingo. Then we will be going over land ,200 miles through the border towns of Jimani or Dajabon. We will then be going into Haiti and looking for a rural location to set up a small clinic for immediate health care. This clinic will be helping women with a safe place to birth and immediate mental and physical trauma. We will be hoping to link up with another organization to have a transport vehicle to transport patients with more serious health needs to a larger facility.

Bumi Sehat was able to set up a clinic in Aceh in the most perfect location. We went into Aceh with a truck and supplies coming from Medan and opened a clinic that saw over 70 patients per day. I am very proud to tell you all that very same clinic is STILL up and running. It is the ONLY clinic in Aceh that did not shut it's doors after the focus of the world was off of the victims of the tsunami. We are going into Haiti with this very same idea. Our goal...to set up a clinic that will attract other NGOs and local community members to help their own people.

We are planning on receiving help and support from larger organizations. We will be looking toward OXFAM to help us get clean water once we have a location. They were able to get clean water to our clinic in Aceh within hours of us opening. We will look toward UNICEF to supply us with birthing kits and infant supplies. They were our right hand in getting lost supplies to the traditional midwives in the region. WHO was our savior for malaria medicine, which we were able to put to use to save the lives of 2 children that would have died, had the medicine come even 1 hour later. We were able to link up with the Spanish Red Cross that gave us transportation in and out of the Aceh region. Catholic Relief Services gave us our moped to get patients to larger facilities. We will be using debris and materials that are available to build a structure that can offer a safe birthing space and medical aide to all. Our plan is to go in for 1 month leaving it to local professionals that will be connected to the other NGOs that are still there. Our clinic will be a resource center to connect the people with the aide that is available. This is the the most important action. The amount of supplies and aide that come into a disaster relief area is huge. The trick is to direct those supplies and aide to the people. Rural communities are easily over looked. We will be in communication with all surrounding communities to help them receive what they need.
This is the very same model that we used going into Aceh. Bumi Sehat, Aceh has helped over 1,000 people and has staffing volunteers from all over the world. It is managed and run by locals that have kept it's dream and vision alive.

We cannot move forward with this vision until we have funding. Going into a country that is completely destroyed and helping people 24 hours a day is the easy part of this journey. The difficult part is raising funds in order to do our work. The more money that we raise, the more supplies that we can purchase and bring directly to the victims of this horrible nightmare.

By donating money to our cause you will help in a dream to get birthing mothers to a safe place. You will be helping Haitians with general medical support. You will be helping to create a resource center that will eventually be a pride a joy of a community. We do not have any overhead, we do not have any office bills to pay. We will be using every cent to buy supplies that will be going directly to the people of Haiti. Our list is long for the medical supplies that we will have to bring from the US.

Bumi Sehat is doing all that we can to raise money and supplies from other support organization
This letter is a preliminary course of action. We will be getting more concrete times, dates and bank account information within this next week.

We will also send out mass e-mails to our supporters, so that they all know what is happening. We plan on bringing a movie camera to document our journey.

Please plan parties and fund drives to help us raise the money that we need. We also understand that not all of you can help with money , but you can certainly help with raising awareness and prayers. This is the most basic form of raising consciousness and that is what will help the people of Haiti the most. Please feel free to pass this on to your other friends and family.

Deepest Gratitude,
Kelly Dunn, Ibu Robin Lim, Josh Sarvis and Renee Bisnaire

http://www.bumisehatbali.org/

US Bank is the bank that you can direct deposit funds into or pass on the info to others.

US BANK
Acct. name- Dragonfly
routing # 1230002200
acct.# 153690811358

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=earthquake&subsource=homepage

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

Konbit Sante

Started in 2000, Konbit Sante Cap-Haitien Health Partnership is a Maine-based volunteer partnership to save lives and improve health care in northern Haiti. Rather than developing a second, parallel health system, Konbit Sante works with the Haitian Ministry of Health and with Haitian colleagues to build capacity within the public system for Haitians to care for Haitians. The Executive Director of Konbit Sante flew to Haiti on January 16 to meet with the officials from the Ministry of Health and Konbit Sante staff to establish priorities of need for earthquake victims and will send regular updates on Konbit Sante’s facebook page.

http://www.konbitsante.org/Donate_Now/

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

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.”

https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5123/t/6631/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1694

Agricultural Missions

Agricultural Missions is an 80 year old ecumenical organization with long term partnerships at the grassroots level in Haiti, who stand at ready to funnel resources to long term grassroots agricultural development. Donations can be sent as checks made out to Agricultural Missions,Inc (AMI) with 'Haiti recovery' written in the memo line, to Agricultural Missions, 475 Riverside Drive, Rm 725, New York, NY 10115. To donate go to:

http://www.agriculturalmissions.org/donations.htm

Circle of Health International

(COHI) is currently putting together a team of women's health experts (practitioners, public health experts, trauma specialists, etc.) to help with the response in Haiti. This response will be organized by COHI and will collaborate with a local women's health organization in Haiti, a model that has worked well for us in the past and will allow us to better serve the women most in need. Please consider the two following ways to help:

1. Identify yourself as a volunteer.

Volunteers must be capable of traveling down to Haiti for immediate assistance and for a time period of 2-3 weeks. Living conditions are unknown as of yet and so please be flexible a living conditions may be rough. Please send your interest letter, resume and French/Creole language proficiency to info@cohintl.org

We'll put together a team of women's health experts able to deal with the numerous needs of the women in the area and will be in touch regarding our decisions on team members.

2. Monetary and in-kind donations.

Help COHI travel and supply women and children the necessities they deserve.

Donate towards women's health relief efforts in Haiti now.

Go to http://www.cohintl.org/05news/_newsletters/0110_haiti/index.html

Please click "Add special instructions to the seller" during your donation process and note it to be used for 'Haiti Relief 2010'

If there are funders out there you know of who are interested in helping COHI with our work, please make the connection so that we can really get things moving.

Supplies are also needed at this time, especially medical supplies, please let us know if you're able or interested in donating and we can best figure out how to transport these supplies to our location.

Convoy of Help

In the wake of Haiti’s 7.0 earthquake, Convoy of Hope relief teams are on the ground in Port-au-Prince distributing food, water, medicine and more. Water purification units are also being implemented.

When the earthquake hit, Convoy’s country director was in Port-au-Prince. And because Convoy’s warehouse was fully stocked, the team was able to begin responding immediately with 50,000 meals.

One load of relief supplies is being airlifted shortly and another truckload of food and medicine just arrived from the Dominican Republic. Additional loads are being readied for immediate shipment and distribution at several points of distribution in Port-au-Prince.

Security personnel have been retained to protect the relief workers. Volunteer teams are being asked to register at goteams@convoyofhope.org. However, until Convoy of Hope can ensure their safety, volunteers will not be deployed.

“The best way to assist the people of Haiti right now,” says Hal Donaldson, president of Convoy of Hope, is by making a cash gift. “This is a major disaster that requires a major response. We’re encouraging people to join with their family and friends and make a sacrificial gift so more people can receive help. Our pledge is to stretch every dollar to minister to as many suffering people as possible.”

http://www.convoyofhope.org/