Things you can do to Help Haiti right now, hit by Hurricane Matthew
I initally just wrote this on my Facebook as a way to answer the question, “What can we do?” when disaster strikes in a place. I thought I might post it here too.
1.) Learn about Haitian history to understand the factors that contribute to the country’s seemingly endless economic plight:
– http://iacenter.org/haiti/ramsey.htm
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8iwPM64DjI
– https://www.theguardian.com/…/cifa…/2010/aug/16/haiti-france
2.) Understand how the country’s geography makes it vulnerable to natural disasters:
http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/…/…/01/climate-change-in-haiti/
3.) Research and donate to relief or poverty-alleviating local/grassroots organizations that are headquartered/have offices in Haiti.
Suggestions:
– Project St. Anne https://www.gofundme.com/psahurricanerelief
– Medic Samaritan http://www.medicsamaritan.org/
– Our Soil https://www.oursoil.org/
4.) Research and donate to international organizations that have an established record of assistance in Haiti:
– Partner In Health http://www.pih.org/countries
– Direct Relief https://www.directrelief.org/emergency/haiti/
– Doctors Without Borders http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/country-region/haiti
– Food For The Poor http://www.foodforthepoor.org/…
– Catholic Relief Services http://www.crs.org/
Yes, of course, pray, and keep the people of Haiti and the other places hit by Matthew, in your thoughts. But also learn, and act.
Note: I will happily add other grassroots and international relief organizations to this list as long as they have a positive record of assistance.
