“Never doubt
that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
—Margaret Mead
(1901-1978)
Anthropologist
 
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Letter from the Field: Haiti Earthquake Relief

Sunday, 17 January 2010 00:00
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We urgently need your help.

The devastation of the January 12th and subsequent earthquake in Haiti claimed thousands of lives, made millions homeless, and destroyed the already under developed infrastructure and governmental capacity. Many ministries, local organizations and international aid agencies were deeply hurt by the death of their staff and the loss of their facilities. Haiti needs urgent and massive assistance. It is our neighbor and we must be at its side to help save as many lives as possible and rebuild the infrastructure while vastly improving it to turn this terrible tragedy into an opportunity for a new beginning. For those of us who work in Haiti, one thing we know for certain, the resilience of the Haitian people is boundless.

Ecoworks International, a non-governmental Miami-based organization that has been working in Haiti on a long-term project for over one year, has put its program on hold to concentrate on earthquake disaster response and reconstruction.

EWI is focusing on four areas:

  1. Bringing medical teams and supplies to help save lives in the immediate aftermath of the quake
  2. To feed the victims, a program partly funded by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the overseas arm of the American Jewish community
  3. To provide well-designed temporary housing that has been created by architects and engineers and have a well-established track record for comfort and durability and that use non-harmful materials; and rebuild schools
  4. As soon as possible, initiate income generating programs to enable families to earn a living wage and participate in the re-starting of the local economy


Henryka Manès, EWI’s Executive Director was recently in Haiti to help organize the arrival of 100 doctors, nurses and paramedics trained in disaster response, and to implement the feeding program, and start preparing the temporary housing project and the reconstruction of schools.

EcoWorks International has benefitted from the remarkable generosity of many individuals, businesses and communities who are familiar with EWI’s work in Haiti and who have initiated fund raising activities on behalf of EWI. Thanks to those donations, and to its well-established network on the ground, EWI is able to help the victims of the earthquake directly.

Please help our relief effort by making a donation today.