March 28, 2010
Just received a text from our good friend and fellow volunteer Elaine from Plenty. She has arrived in Port au Prince and is waiting for a flight to Jacmel. Be safe Elaine!
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February 25. 2010
Thanks Elaine, Nikki, Shannon and Jim!
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February 17, 2010
The New Orleans to Haiti Barge Initiative, a program of The Louisiana/Haiti Sustainable Village Project, will deliver 100,000 cubic tons of donated medical supplies, tents, household goods, and food to the port of Jacmel on March 1 and is seeking volunteers to help pack the items. The donations will be sorted and packed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the LHSVP warehouse at 600 Edwards Ave. and Pepsi Street in Elmwood.
Dario Lopez-Mills/The
Associated Press
The barge will leave from New Iberia and sail to Haiti, where the goods will be distributed throughout the southern region of the country to provide relief to the population affected by the Jan. 12 earthquake. The barge and tugboat were donated by companies with operations in Louisiana. The Louisiana/Haiti Sustainable Village Project, formerly the Haitian Emergency Village Project, is asking businesses, individuals and organizations for financial contributions and for additional goods to fill the remainder of the barge to capacity. Currently, donations account for 60 percent of the space on the barge. Contributions can be brought to 600 Edwards Ave., Thursday and Friday. A truck will carry the additional relief items from the warehouse to New Iberia on Feb. 27 at noon. The Louisiana/Haiti Sustainable Village Project is a group of more than 40 disaster recovery and urban infrastructure professionals working to build an emergency village in Haiti that will provide housing, infrastructure and other services that constitute communities rather than camps. The Louisiana/Haiti Sustainable Village Project has already airlifted more than six tons of medical supplies to the medical teams in Jacmel and La Vallee de Jacmel in Haiti and is preparing to send a second team of medical and other professionals to the area. Financial contributions to the Louisiana/Haiti Sustainable Village Project can be made online through the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation. For additional information about the barge initiative, send e-mail to louisianahelpshaiti@gmail.com or call 800.971.6640.
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February 13, 2010
United Peace Relief is working with Plenty to gather donated supplies for Haiti. There is a barge leaving a New Orleans port on Saturday, February 20th and headed for Haiti. Warehouse space to store supplies until Saturday has been secured. Security will be provided by the Canadian Army with distribution by the Mayor of Jacmel. We have been asked to spread the word. Let's fill this vessel!! If you are in New Orleans, surrounding area or are up for a road trip and would like to help get supplies to Haiti, here is your chance to make a difference now. The call has been put out for:
Tents
Tarps
Non-perishable food
diapers
sanitary napkins
non-latex gloves
pregnancy tests
For more details on warehouse location and deliveries, please contact Elaine Langley at elaineml@bellsouth.net. Elaine Langley and Jim Selin are in the New Orleans area and available to coordinate your donations.
NEED VOLUNTEERS: There will be a need starting Wednesday (2/17) for 32 volunteers a day to organize donated supplies and preparation for loading on boat to Haiti. Spread the word! If your organization still had volunteers in the New Orleans area, can you spare some to help with this? Contact Elaine Langley at elaineml@bellsouth.net.
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February 10, 2010
Locations to ship tents:
West Coast: Penny Tyrrell c/o Bumi Sehat Haiti-Tent Drive, 93 North Polk, Eugene, OR 97402
East Coast: Andre Gillis c/o Bumi Sehat Haiti-Tent Drive, 417 North Front Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123
If shipping is not an option for you, please go to our Donate page, mark your donation for Haiti tents and we will forward your donation to Bumi Sehat
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January 25, 2010
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January 24, 2010
Helpful information courtesy of American Rainbow Rapid Response
ARRR Is working to fill shipping containers to send to Haiti. First one leaves January 25th. Items requested are Tents, Dry Bulk food, Water purification equipment and NEW hot weather clothing. THE BEST WAY TO HELP AT THIS TIME IS TO START A DRIVE ! We will be working closely with the Conscious Alliance, Christian Disaster Response and other partner agencies to deliver immediate aid.
In Kind Physical donations can be sent toCDR c/o ARRR 209 Bridgers Ave Auburndale, FL 33823
We will be offering Volunteer opportunity as we gain more information. Safety is a very real concern while working in Haiti. And we discourage people from showing up until your health and safety can be guaranteed. Haiti has along history of political instability. There is no security in Haiti at this time. And a looming public health situation that will increase as decay sets in. All persons traveling to Haiti for relief work will need to be completely self sufficient and have ALL available vaccinations.
Advice from Martha Salyers (CDC liaison to western North Carolina) on people wishing to go to Haiti and volunteer:
· Exactly what medications/ vaccinations people need will depend on their health status. People who hope to go should see a travel medicine specialist (like your local Health Department) to determine these and review possible interactions with other medications, things not to take while pregnant, etc.
· People should have their “routine” or usually expected vaccinations up to date. These can include seasonal flu, H1N1 flu, chickenpox, polio, measles/mumps/rubella (MMR), diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus (DPT, DTaP) or the pertussis/tetanus booster for children 10 & older and adults (Tdap). This is because many of the diseases we no longer see in the US and for which we vaccinate still occur commonly in other parts of the world.
· Other recommended vaccinations:o Hepatitis Ao Hepatitis Bo Typhoido Rabies
· People should also use malaria prevention (prophylaxis). There are a few different kinds, and it’s important to take the correct one for your destination (Travelers to Haiti, for example, can take atovaquone/proguanil, chloroquine, doxycycline, or mefloquine.). Some malaria prevention medicines must be started 1-2 weeks before travel. With malaria, it’s not enough just to do mosquito bite prevention, which can be very difficult in disaster situations.
· Note that most of the vaccinations are given in a series, which in some cases can be accelerated. For example, usually hep A and B are given in 3 shots over 6 months, but can be given within a minimum of 21 days (0, 7, and 21-30 days with a 4th shot booster at 12 months). Typhoid is 1 shot or 4 oral capsules every other day. Rabies (before exposure, i.e. given before any bite or other exposure) is 3 doses over 21-28 days.
· Vaccines usually take 1-2 weeks to become fully effective.
· Therefore: if people are thinking of going to Haiti and have not begun to get their vaccines, it will take at least a month BEFORE TRAVEL to become fully protected from the vaccine-preventable diseases above and at least 1-2 weeks to be protected from malaria.
· People who have objections to vaccines or antibiotics should consider not going. One, getting one of these diseases is no fun and in some cases potentially fatal. Two, getting one of these diseases while in a disaster response turns you into part of the problem, not part of the solution, and means that scarce resources will be used on you rather than on a disaster victim.
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