Haiti, I am sorry…

Haiti I am sorry
We misunderstood you
One day we’ll turn our heads and restore your glory
Haiti I am sorry
We misunderstood you
One day we’ll turn our heads and look inside you
-David Rudder of Trinidad and Tobago

David Josue, a friend of Reed’s originally from Haiti, is now helping Honor and Respect Foundation and our NGO colleagues and sent us this song he first heard 22 years ago! The words released a torrent of tears and we cry openly as our hearts open to our Haitian friends.

In this past week, the mood and energy of our friends in Haiti and our NGO colleagues have assumed yet another tempo. As the intensity of rescue is replaced by plans for relief and recovery, “medical care”, “water”, “food”, “shelter” appear over and over again in emails that crowd our computers.

Since the quake hit, Honor and Respect Foundation has been working with Melinda Miles of Konpay (based in Jacmel, Haiti) and other small NGO’s with years of collective experience in Haiti. This week, HRF helped form Haiti Response Coalition, a growing group of small NGOs, generously pooling our resources-information, networks, ideas-to allow us to be more effective and efficient in Haiti today, tomorrow and in the days, weeks, months and even years to come. We’ve been helping to coordinate teams on the ground in Port-au-Prince under the direction of Amber Munger of AMURT. We are now receiving aid from our Haitian friends as they join us and take leadership positions in helping us in our relief efforts. The warehouse we secured in Santo Domingo has allowed us to have an open channel of delivery of supplies from the Dominican Republic to Jacmel, PAP and other areas devastated. On Saturday, Melinda will be in Port-Au-Prince where she will meet with Reed. Early next week she’ll bring back to HRF a first hand assessment that we will pass on to you.

HRF Board received very said news today. Raymond Lochard of Fonkoze*, who worked with HRF, lost his life in the quake. Raymond was HRF’s contact at Fonkoze ensuring that your donations reached the PAP neighborhoods we supported. Jeanne Vilinsky who takes care of HRF’s finances was informed of his death and recollects how professional and responsive Raymond always was as he helped us facilitate our transactions. Our thoughts are with Raymond, the other two Fonkoze employees who lost their lives with him, and with their loved ones.

*Fonkoze is Haiti’s alternative bank and largest micro-finance institution for the organized poor in Haiti.

Valerie Kaussen, who has volunteered for Honor and Repect Foundation and was in Haiti at the time of the earthquake, thankfully returned uninjured and has taken on the task of being HRF’s point person for the Jakè and Solino neighborhoods. Here is her latest report (from Solino on TeleSUR TV):

“I’ve been in touch with AVS (Solino) representatives several times over the last week. Mark Arthur reported that there are 7 families (55 people total) associated with AVS (Solino), in SERIOUS need. There are 2,500 people in the Solino neighborhood. EVERYONE needs food and water. They do not seem to have a water source. A small coffee can of rice at that time was costing 175 gds (about $4.00), way beyond their means. On Saturday, 1/23, I spoke with Jean-Claude of AVJ (Jakè) They also need food, water purification supplies, and basic medicines for 616 families. There are 16,000 people in the Jakè neighborhood.”

HRF has connected both Jakè and Solino with our Haiti Response Coalition team members in PAP and we’re hoping to give you updates in subsequent emails about our success in assisting them in finding means for a steady flow of relief.

Reed Lindsay was inspired to start Honor and Respect Foundation while working as a freelance investigative journalist and living in Jakè, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. For those of you who know Reed, you may be interested in seeing a few of his news stories from Haiti aired on TeleSUR TV:

Our heartfelt thanks to all of you for your your emails, your thoughts and your generous donations. We are pleased to announce we have topped $50,000 in less than three weeks and will try to double this in the next three weeks, knowing that needs will continue to mount long after Haiti disappears from the daily headlines. Immediate expenditures will be focused on clean water, clean food and mosquito netting…all in an attempt to prevent the spread of infectious diseases which will become more threatening when the rainy season begins at the end of Februrary. We’ll keep you updated as moneys enable us to bring some relief and security and with that hope for the future.