CHP Response to Earthquake
DONATE
To DONATE ONLINE to the Colorado Haiti Project click here. Please indicate "use where needed most" for your donation to go to earthquake relief and to support our other programs in Petit Trou. You can be assured that your donations will be used to support all of the programs and activities described under “How Does CHP Define Relief?” with a minimal amount used to sustain the operations of the organization which makes all of this possible.
Or mail checks to:
Colorado Haiti Project
841 Front Street, Suite 100
Louisville, CO 80027
Please write "earthquake" in the memo.
We want to assure Colorado Haiti Project’s donors that we have a total overhead cost of only 11.4%. In addition, if a donor to CHP specifies to us that their gift is to be designated toward a specific program and/or for relief efforts in Haiti, 100% of that amount will be spent for that purpose in Haiti.
IRS Tax Break for Haiti Earthquake Contributions
Volunteer and In-Kind Donation Information
Click here for VOLUNTEER AND DONATION NEEDS AND OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP
While CHP is not primarily a relief organization, our relationship in Haiti will enable us to give effective support in short-term relief and long-term development for the people of Haiti. Here are some other organizations that we know are doing excellent relief in the current crisis:
Episcopal Relief and Development
CHP Updates
Please see below for updates that came in the weeks following the earthquake. For more recent news see the Spring 2010 Newsletter and sign up for our eNewsletter email updates (sent 2-3 times a month).
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February 22 - In Petit Trou, as in many other rural areas, there is a significant influx of people who fled Port-au-Prince after the quake. The carrying capacity of these regions is not sufficient to meet these increased demands brought by outmigration. Our network of 37 women health volunteers, working in 20 zones in the region, started revising their previous census by doing home visits before we left, and the lists of names added to various households showed significant increases. A subsequent estimate by the government also showed an additional 370 families from the area as being homeless due to structural damage or destruction of dwellings.
We have witnessed heavy rains while we were there. Roads west of Miragoane are unpaved and it becomes difficult for vehicles to cross rivers that have no bridges. I am concerned that if international aid organizations do not start to bring a concerted effort at distribution of aid into these rural areas we will begin to see a secondary disaster unfold that could otherwise be prevented with a shift in the strategic response. Although food and water may be in better supply in and around Port au Prince where aid efforts have been primarily focused, food security throughout Haiti will continue to be a significant concern. Ongoing efforts to ensure equitable distribution as well as increased production of agricultural products in Haiti needs to remain a priority.
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February 12 - In Petit Trou our engineer found little serious damage to any of the structures. We were relieved that the buildings were okay, but the whole campus was too quiet. The teachers were all gone and only a few of the support staff were there to welcome us. Soon people arrived from the surrounding community and the pain in their hearts became evident as they told stories of family members and friends who had died. In a classic community organizing approach, the CHP assessment team opened the meeting up to the Haitian people to give them an opportunity to express in detail how the earthquake was impacting their lives. The result was a powerful expression of a people in pain. At the same time, there were signs of strength as various members of the community stated their willingness to move forward in creating a strategic response to the devastation that was flowing into the Petit Trou region with each of the many families and individuals who had migrated out from ground zero in Port au Prince. Our goal is to do a thorough assessment of the various impacts of the quake and begin to shape with the community here our collaborative response.
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February 8 - The CHP assessment team-Paul, Don, Warren and Nic Remmington-have made it safely to Petit Trou. The roads were damaged, so it was slow going. Paul said the difference in the amount of damage to the roads is clear as they move farther from the epicenter. Leogane is just as badly damaged as we’ve heard-rubble. The buildings appear to be safe and the team has spent a lot of time meeting with community members to determine needs and where to go from here. They intend to assess the food situation to see how we can advocate for additional food deliveries to the community. There were apparently three wells damaged, and they brought the tools to fix the issues. They did not go through Port-au-Prince, so do not know the situation there.
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February 4 - CHP Executive Director Paul Casey, along with board members Warren Berggren and Don Snyder and structural engineer Nick Remmington left for Haiti this morning. They will be flying into Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and making their way from there to Petit Trou by car and bus. This team will be making assessments in the region around Petit Trou. The focus of our work is in the region around Petit Trou in the western region of the Department de Nippes and will be holding community meetings related to public health, the status of our 12 water wells, and to identify other key needs of the community as they define them.
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January 25 - We have been in contact with a woman living in New York whose elderly mother lives in Petit Trou. She has informed us that four US Marines helicopters arrived in Petit Trou and delivered diesel fuel for the municiple water source at L'Usine, but no other supplies. There are also people swarming into Petit Trou from Port-au-Prince and other areas more severely affected by the earthquake. This influx of people will put a greater strain on the already scarce resources in Petit Trou. CHP Medical Director, Mike Earnest is arranging for a small medical team to go to Petit Trou sometime in February or March to treat those with medical needs.
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January 19 - We have word that there has been some damage to the buildings at St. Paul's, and one of our first steps upon arriving in Haiti will be to have a structural engineer assess the damage. For now, some of the staff are sleeping outside We are still working on getting into Petit Trou by sea or air. A couple qualified CHP volunteers will be traveling to Port-au-Prince to help at a temporary hospital being set up at Hospice St. Joseph, a popular guest house where many CHP mission teams have stayed on their way to Petit Trou. Surgical supplies from Project CURE are going down with them. A CHP board member is also putting his surgical skills to use at a different hospital in Port-au-Prince.
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January 15 - We have heard that the St. Paul's mission is intact -- the school sustained only minor damage, the teacher college was unharmed, the water wells appear to be continuing to pump. Many people have lost family members in the tragedy of Port au Prince.
Back in Petit Trou de Nippes, we understand that St Paul’s school is provisioned for about another week. Our experience after the hurricanes showed how little margin exists in the areas food stocks once the distribution system breaks down. Our staff is working hard to identify whatever extraordinary measures we can use to get supplies to our remote region on the southern peninsula. (Petit Trou de Nippes is located on the northern coast of the peninsula, about 80 miles west of Port au Prince.) We are now working with several scenarios to bring in supplies from Jamaica, the U.S. Coast Guard, or air drops to sustain the current population of the Petit Trou de Nippes region. Outmigration from Port au Prince to the rural villages has started en masse, stretching their capacity.
We are also engaged in the disaster relief effort. We had a pre-positioned health team that was scheduled to leave for Haiti on January 15th, to provide community health care in Petit Trou de Nippes. That date was two days after the earthquake. Our group is now waiting for information about where they can be positioned in Port au Prince.
For disaster relief, there are also excellent programs at Doctors without Borders, Partners in Health (operated by Dr. Paul Farmer of Mountains Beyond Mountains) and Save the Children. You can send a text message stating “Haiti” to the Red Cross at 90999 and they will charge a $10 donation to your cell phone. You can’t believe what $10 can do in Haiti.
The needs in Port au Prince are incredible but we also want to make sure that our colleagues and families in rural Haiti are able to eat, to go to school, and to be ready to help rebuild their country.
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January 14- We have finally heard from our family at St Paul’s in Petit Trou de Nippes! Jean Hilaire Rejouis reached Guillot Tibert last night and got an update. Guillot said that our fifty plus staff members were all unharmed.
We have not yet heard about their families and pray for their well being as well.
The buildings at St Paul’s did not receive much damage. There are a few homes that were destroyed in the area. Sadly, our dear friend, Jean Fritz Bourgogne, lost his wife and niece in Port au Prince. It is probable that many others will be grieving from loss of family members. Please keep them and all the people in Petit Trou and all of Haiti in your prayers.
CHP in the News
Boulder Daily Camera Guest Opinion by Sharon Caulfield
Channel 7 Denver ABC Story 1
Other info
Links to information about the earthquake: