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<TITLE>Nancy Casey on the Haiti Earthquake</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>Greetings:<BR>
<BR>
I'm sure that Nancy Casey, who makes yearly humanitarian trips to Haiti, will not mind me sharing this with the Vision.<BR>
<BR>
As I'm sure you know, a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti yesterday.<BR>
<BR>
Most of the news from the media is coming from the capital and other<BR>
cities where the situation is very bad. Most construction is of concrete<BR>
that is skimpy on cement and rebar. (Once I heard a homeowner argue with<BR>
a handyman over whether a repair was going to require 4 or 6 nails.) The<BR>
poorest people live in shacks made of materials propped together. In the<BR>
cities, the destruction, terror and suffering going on now are on a<BR>
scale that is hard for us to imagine. Survivors won't have access to<BR>
clean water, sanitation will go south, the roads that bring food from<BR>
the countryside are surely broken and every family has lost loved ones.<BR>
<BR>
The disaster on LaGonave has a somewhat different flavor. Casualties and<BR>
damage are less in the countryside than in the capital. Life is lived<BR>
outdoors. There are fewer buildings and fewer people inside them. They<BR>
experienced shock after shock (see below). Many houses fell down. People<BR>
were hurt, but I don't know that anyone was killed. People are frantic<BR>
for family members on the mainland, especially children going to high<BR>
school in Port au Prince. Cracked cisterns will cause water shortages.<BR>
The transportation system that brings food to the island--docks, roads,<BR>
vehicles, ships and boats--is entirely disrupted, so in a few days there<BR>
will start to be a critical food shortage there.<BR>
<BR>
The good news/bad news is that the progressive community on LaGonave has<BR>
experience with this kind of catastrophe--in the aftermath of the coup<BR>
of 2004 and the hurricanes of 2008, they faced crises of similar<BR>
magnitude (from which they are still recovering). Even now they are<BR>
organizing their response. There will be a fund to expand school meal<BR>
programs to include families. They might charter a boat to bring food<BR>
over from the mainland. They will know what to do. There will be a fund<BR>
to expand the reconstruction program put together after the hurricanes.<BR>
<BR>
More good news is a coalition of groups called "Farming is Life". They<BR>
have been working for many years to heal environmental damage and strive<BR>
for food sustainability. Every year they make gains towards the goal of<BR>
making the island less vulnerable to these kinds of food crises.<BR>
<BR>
So here's the pitch: You can put money straight into the hands of people<BR>
who truly need it in the throes of this disaster by sending a check to<BR>
the VP Foundation PO Box 9757, Moscow, ID 83843, fiscal agent for this<BR>
work in Haiti. On your check you can write:<BR>
FOOD and the money will ward off starvation<BR>
SHELTER and the money will go to the reconstruction of homes<BR>
FARMING and the money will support long-term food self-sufficiency.<BR>
Or you can write "as needed."<BR>
<BR>
You can also donate online using PayPal. Go to vpfound.org/support.html<BR>
and click on Courageous Women.<BR>
<BR>
LaGonave is a remote hinterland of Haiti, so help that emmanates from<BR>
the capital might or might not trickle there. The support you send is so<BR>
much more than a drop in the bucket. Thank you very much.<BR>
<BR>
Nancy Casey<BR>
<BR>
p.s. A group of us from Moscow (4 people) have been planning a trip to<BR>
LaGonave and will still probably go in March.<BR>
<BR>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
From Benaja, the school secretary, on the night of the earthquake<BR>
writing in Matenwa on LaGonave via satellite connection<BR>
<BR>
” 7:16 pm: Until now everything is ok around here, I mean Matènwa, Plèn<BR>
Mapou, Bwa Nwa, Nan Kafe, Grande Source. You know, people are yelling<BR>
everywhere, because it’s the first time this has happened in Haiti like<BR>
this. There are a lot of houses broken everywhere, thank God we are safe<BR>
here. But almost every 10 to 20 mn, we feel the earthquake. But in Port<BR>
au Prince there is a lot of damage.”<BR>
<BR>
8:20: Up to now the tremors are still intense. You know that people are<BR>
not used to this kind of thing, it is really difficult. People are<BR>
running around, they are trying to get in contak with their families,<BR>
there is shouting everywhere. You know that many people in Matènwa have<BR>
children in Port Au Prince, which is worrying everyone. The cement roof<BR>
is shaking tremendously.<BR>
<BR>
8:34 One just passed now. It had a lot of force. I would say almost as<BR>
bad as the first one, if not the same.<BR>
<BR>
9:10: The school yard is filled with people now. Bernise went to get<BR>
Anita [her Mother, known for her coffee] and even she is here in the<BR>
lakou. SHe is lying down in the yard where the children usually play<BR>
ball. It is like a huge funeral in the yard tonight. It is totally<BR>
filled with people. Thank you for this big meeting place that is<BR>
equipped with light. No one wants to go inside anyone’s house to sleep.<BR>
<BR>
After midnight there was another one that felt just as harsh as the<BR>
first one.”<BR>
<BR>
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