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Nick, thank you for giving us a place to put our concern and our faith into direct action. My prayers won't cease, but I need to do more than pray, and I'll urge everyone I know to contribute. I don't know Nancy, but she's a hero in my book.<br><br><font style="" color="#8064a2"><font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"><font style="" face="Verdana">Keely<br>www.keely-prevailingwinds.com<br></font></font></font><br><br><br><br><hr id="stopSpelling">Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:33:49 -0800<br>From: NGIER@uidaho.edu<br>To: vision2020@moscow.com<br>Subject: [Vision2020] Nancy Casey on the Haiti Earthquake<br><br>
<title>Nancy Casey on the Haiti Earthquake</title>
<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>
</font>
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