Indiana University Bloomington

Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts at IU Bloomington

Educational Resources, Infomation and Advocacy

Educational Resources:

DISCOVERY CHANNEL AND SCIENCE CHANNEL TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE THAT ROCKED HAITI LAST MONTH

Eric Calais, Paul Mann, Carol Prentice, Ross Stein and Roger Bilham helped put together a Discovery Channel Movie that will be broadcast next Thursday. From what we can tell it will be on at 7:00 and 10:00 pm on comcast channel 016

http://press.discovery.com/us/dsc/press-releases/2010/discovery-channel-takes-closer-look-at-Haiti/

Discovery Channel's HAITI'S KILLER QUAKE: WHY IT HAPPENED Premieres Thursday, February 11 at 9PM ET/PT

The magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010 was the strongest to hit the island in over two centuries. Beginning Thursday, February 11, Discovery Channel and Science Channel explore Haiti in the aftermath of the tragic quake, whether it could have been avoided, and what we can learn scientifically from the tragedy.

On Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 9PM ET/PT, Discovery Channel premieres HAITI'S KILLER QUAKE: WHY IT HAPPENED. The special delves deep into the key questions that scientists are racing to answer: Why did the quake happen now? Could it have been predicted? And when and where might the next "big one" strike? Geologist Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado travels to Haiti to explore the enormous forces that caused this disaster.

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A list of literature relating to Haitian History and Culture:

Haitian Lit reading list

Another List of Readings that Provide More In-depth Information on the Historical Background and Current Events in Haiti

C. L. R. James, The Black Jacobins; Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution, 2d rev ed. (New York: Vintage Books, 1963).

Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Amy Wilentz, In the parish of the poor: Writings from Haiti (Maryknoll, N.Y: Orbis Books, 1990).

Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Laura Flynn, Eyes of the heart: Seeking a path for the poor in the age of globalization (Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press, 2000).

David Patrick Geggus, Haitian revolutionary studies, Blacks in the diaspora (Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Press, 2002).

Garry Wills, "Negro president" Jefferson and the slave power (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003).

Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, Haiti: the breached citadel, Rev. and updated ed. (Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press, 2004).

Laurent Dubois, Avengers of the New World: The story of the Haitian Revolution (Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2004).

Laurent Dubois and John D. Garrigus, ed., Slave Revolution in the Caribbean, 1789-1804: A brief history with documents, Bedford Series in History and Culture (Boston, MA ; New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006).

Paul Farmer, The Uses of Haiti, 3rd ed. (Monroe, Me: Common Courage Press, 2006).
Michel Rolph-Trouilliot, Haiti: State Against Nation (1990).

Randall Robinson, An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, from revolution to the kidnapping of a president (New York: Basic Civitas, 2008).

David Patrick Geggus and Norman Fiering, ed., The World of the Haitian Revolution, Blacks in the diaspora (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009).

 

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Information:

Bilateral Aid to Haiti:

This document shows the amount of aid pledged by countries and also includes pledges from corporations:

BILATERAL AID TO AFFECTED GOVERNMENT

The following is a more detailed breakdown:

Haiti-Earthquakes-Pledges_Jan-26-2010

Earthquake information

Information from the Hesperian Foundation: http://www.hesperian.org/

In the face of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, we urge everyone to forward and distribute the following health materials in Haitian Creole and English to every relief worker, resident, and traveler already in or leaving for Haiti.

*Materials available in Haitian Creole:*

Here is a link to a pdf of the the Haitian Creole edition of _Where
There is No Doctor:
http://www.hesperian.info/assets/Where_There_is_no_Doctor_Creole.pdf
Also available as a printed book from 4 The World Resource Distributers
www.4WRD.org
Tel: 417-862-4448
Fax: 417-863-9994
orders@4wrd.org

Link to a pdf of the Haitian Creole edition of _Where Women Have No Doctor_:
http://www.hesperian.info/assets/hesperian_wwhnd_haitian%20creole_2000.pdf

Link to a pdf of the Haitian Creole edition of Sanitation and
Cleanliness booklet:
http://www.hesperian.info/assets/PDF%20Kreyol%20sanitation%20book-1.pdf
produced by our partners _SOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods)
www.oursoil.org

Link to a pdf of a cholera fact sheet in English:
http://www.hesperian.info/assets/environmental/Cholera_EN.pdf
All of the above and other health materials in English and Spanish can
be downloaded here:
http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download.php

Hesperian expresses our deepest sympathies to those who have been
directly and indirectly affected by this disaster. Natural disasters
are made worse by our very human-made systems that impoverish people
and deny their right to health. As we encourage you to donate to the
relief effort, Hesperian recommends these organizations which have
redoubled their work in Haiti to address this most recent catastrophe:

Haiti Action Network, Haiti Emergency Relief Fund
http://www.haitiaction.net/About/HERF/HERF.html

From the New York Times: Donations to Haiti May Be Deductible on 2009 Returns

1/25/10

By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD
If you made a charitable contribution to the relief effort in Haiti, you may be able to claim a deduction on your 2009 tax return.

Normally, contributions are deductible only for the same tax year in which they are made. But both houses of Congress moved quickly to make an exception, which allows taxpayers who itemize their tax deductions to deduct their donations on their 2009 returns for qualified Haiti disaster relief. President Obama is expected to sign the measure shortly.

There are a few stipulations. The contributions, which must be monetary, must have been made after Jan. 11 but before March 1, according to a CCH Tax Briefing (PDF). And donations must be made to a domestic charity that is assisting Haiti.

And remember to keep your receipts. Generally, a bank record or written communication from the charity will suffice, but it should include the charity’s name, along with the date and amount of the contribution. If you made a donation through your cellphone via text message, keep your telephone bill, which must also show the name of the organization and the date and amount of your donation.

Taxpayers can choose to take the deduction in 2009 or 2010.

More tax breaks to help Haiti may be on the way, including an enhanced deduction for the donation of food inventory, CCH said.

For tips on safe and efficient Haiti giving, see our post from last week here. And for a link to advice from aid workers themselves on how to help, click here.

 

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Advocacy efforts:

What actions can I take?  Advocacy Information from the Ford Foundation Fellows Listserv

   a) Contact your Congresspeople (to get your Senator and Representative's number to MAKE A QUICK CALL, visit http://www.contactingthecongress.org/) to support IMMEDIATE RESCUE EFFORTS to Haiti; and

   b) To request TPS for Haitians, not just "halting deportations"

The Obama administration should grant Haitians Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which is regularly granted to the people of other countries who've suffered much less disasters than Haiti; by DHS's own definition, even with the hurricanes preceding this earthquake, Haiti is overqualified.
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=319c96981298d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=828807b03d92b010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

   c) If you want to help and go the extra mile, please WRITE in to media outlets like your local newspaper, and/or news station's website.


Part of the story of Haiti’s poverty is the story of how the country has long been crippled by foreign debt, much of it incurred by the brutal Duvalier dictatorships. In addition, misguided economic policies imposed by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United States further hampered the Haitian government’s ability to provide basic services to its people. The excellent advocacy network Jubilee USA (http://www.jubileeusa.org) is the country’s leading voice calling for rectifying these injustices by canceling harmful debts and reforming our economic policies that affect poor countries.

So in addition to giving money, we can join Jubilee USA in calling on the U.S. government to take two essential steps:

  1. Provide massive aid for relief and reconstruction in Haiti in the form of grants, not loans.
  2. Work for the cancellation of all Haiti’s remaining foreign debt to multilateral lenders and foreign governments.

In a very positive step, the Obama Administration has already agreed to another step that Jubilee and many other have called for since the quake: granting Temporary Protective Status to undocumented Haitians living in the U.S., allowing them to remain in the country and work legally without fear of deportation. Let’s press them to do more to support Haiti’s rebuilding and ongoing development.

Marc Becker, Associate Professor of Latin American History at Truman State University, shares his perspective on the Haitian earthquake:

Click here to read Professor Beckers Observations

More information is available on Professor Becker’s website http://www.yachana.org/reports/haiti/.

 


Indy Helps Haiti Blog: http://indyhelpshaiti.wordpress.com/

Who is Indyhelps Haiti?

We are a group of concerned people and organizations trying to help Haitians with the help they need, partner together in central Indiana (and beyond), and maximize our resources to be the most helpful.
Currently our group is represented by:

This relationship is new and ever-evolving, but our goal is simple: help Haitians.
If you need a direct contact now, contact David Siler at dsiler@archindy.org.


Update from Catholic Relief Services: www.crs.org

Each day more CRS staff from around the globe arrive in Haiti, joining our existing staff of just over 300. Our headquarters building in Haiti was damaged but did not collapse. While aftershocks continued-including a 6.1 temblor this morning- staff slept outside and worked at desks pulled into the streets. Despite enormous logistical challenges, one week after the devastating earthquake CRS staff has unloaded 120 containers (2100 metric tons) of vegetable oil and grains from the U.S. government onto the only operating wharf in Port-au-Prince.  We are in the process right now of arranging for secure transport to our warehouse, where it will be distributed to the growing number of camps. CRS has been asked by the United Nations to lead the response at one of the first formally organized camps, located at a golf course, where as many as 50,000 people are sleeping every night. CRS has arranged to supply the camp with water, food, and plastic sheeting for shelter, which continue to be trucked in from CRS warehouses in the neighboring Dominican Republic, where volunteers are working continuously to keep additional relief supplies coming. CRS has formed six medical teams to provide health care at shelters and area hospitals and CRS teams have already distributed medical supplies and drugs. In addition, Project C.U.R.E. has donated 3000 pounds of additional medical supplies that are en route.

Three operating rooms at St. Francois de Sales Hospital-which withstood the quake - are now running, and surgeries are being performed on the most critically injured patients. Food, water and medical supplies have also been provided to the hospital. An AIDSRelief site, this is one of Haiti's oldest hospitals and one that CRS helped build.  Its mission is to provide free care and treatment for the poor. CRS is extremely grateful for the outpouring of support we have received in response to this calamity. But we can't stress enough how significant the damage is and how many of our brothers and sisters are affected. We are asking you to please support our efforts to help the millions of earthquake victims in Haiti.

Your help is urgently needed. Please donate now.  If you have already given, we thank you so much for your generosity and ask that you consider deepening your support for the people of Haiti with a second gift.

God bless you,
Ken Hackett
President of Catholic Relief Services

 

Update from Partners in Health: www.pih.org


Wednesday morning, a strong aftershock earthquake rocked Port-au-Prince, temporarily shutting down operations at the general hospital in Port-au-Prince, as well as several other PIH sites outside the city. Since then additional smaller quakes continue to disrupt efforts on the ground.
Here's a quick update on our work in Haiti despite these challenges.

PIH's surgical teams continue to race against time to provide surgical care to earthquake victims in Port-au-Prince. Operating rooms at the central general hospital (HUEH) in Port-au-Prince are fully operational again after being temporarily evacuated on yesterday in response to the aftershock. PIH is still coordinating the relief efforts at HUEH and reports having 12 operating rooms opened 24 hours per day. Across the country, we have a total of 20 operating rooms up and running.

To date, PIH has sent 22 plane loads with 144 medical volunteers - orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, surgical nurses and other medical professionals - and several thousand pounds of medical supplies to support the more than 4,500 PIH health care providers already in Haiti.

Despite these accomplishments, our teams throughout the country continue to report a great need for additional medicines (antibiotics, anesthesia and narcotics), medical equipment (anesthesia machines and x-rays), medical supplies (IVs, tubing, irrigating saline), and water.

"There are very sick people and too little space and time," reported PIH Women's Health Coordinator Sarah Marsh from our hospital in St. Marc. She added that we will lose more patients to infection in the coming days if we don't find additional medications, and explained that is only for lack of supplies - not patients - that the surgical team risks performing more operations. A volunteer orthopedist also working from St. Marc stressed that we will need full medical teams on site to manage dressings, skins grafts and other post operative care for another 6-8 weeks.

Our sites in the Central Plateau and the lower Artibonite are dealing with increasing numbers of patients and families seeking both medical treatment and refuge from devastated Port-au-Prince. Finding space and beds for post-operative care has become the next major challenge. In Cange, PIH's 104-bed facility is overflowing: the church is serving as a triage center and the school as a recovery room. People are arriving in Cange at all hours of the day and night; many simply have nowhere to go.
"Our houses were crushed and our businesses destroyed. So we came to Cange," said one man who arrived in a bus with 12 relatives, including his mother-in-law who was critically injured. In Belladaire, near the border with the Dominican Republic (DR), up to 1,000 people are camped out at PIH's hospital in temporary shelter, searching for family members and medical treatment. We expect that people will continue to return to the countryside, having lost their family, livelihoods, and homes in the capital city, and meeting the needs of this displaced population will be a major task in PIH's long-term rebuilding efforts.

Finally, recognizing that many of our own Haitian staff, who are working tirelessly to save the lives of others, have also lost their own families and friends, PIH is also developing a post-trauma mental health and social service program to serve both staff and patients.

The task ahead is a monumental one. And even as we heal wounds, mend broken bones, and provide basic necessities (food, water, shelter), its true magnitude grows before our eyes. But we know from 20-plus years of accompaniment the resiliency of the Haitian people. Through poverty, strife, hurricanes, disease and hunger, our Haitian friends and colleagues continue to amaze us. Their determination, spirit, and ability to overcome and survive is inspirational and humbling.
Partners In Health is determined to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to ensure that their struggle succeeds.


Information about Haiti from the American Library Association-IRC (International Relations Committee)

The Bibliothèque Haïtienne des pères du saint esprit in Saint Martial College collapsed.  The St. Louis de Gonzague library building was significantly damaged, but it is still standing.  At least part of the National Library collapsed.  Most of the university libraries collapsed too.  Those libraries contain old collections from the 16th century.  Several manuscripts were brought by the missionaries who came from Europe. Other have been collected in the Caraibs, most notably,
publications on the Haitian revolutions, transcriptions of vaudou oral traditions, and personal documents from the 18th century).
 
We think it's urgent to run an international campaign for saving these collections, at least in France, the US and Canada. We have to create a dedicated committee to launch the campaign and raise money. We are already in contact with the French IFLA committee (International
Federation of Library Association), the Foreign Affairs (through its agency CulturesFrance) and the culture ministry.  In the US, we will work with Professor Laurent Dubois, Duke University, who has a good knowledge of these collections and is ready to rally the community of archivists and historians. Patrick Tardieu who is in Canada now will help us too, to have a better understanding of the situation.
 
We must take the following steps:
 
1. Open a dedicated fundraising Paypal account at least in the US and France for the operation (not only focused on the emergency of saving these collections but also on the effort of rebuilding in the next months).
 
2. Work with organizations such as IFLA, UNESCO and the FOKAL Foundation (its director, Elizabeth Pierre Louis, who we well know is still missing for the moment) in order to avoid the redundancies. 
 
3. Prepare to form a team of curator, archivists, historians and logistics coordinators who would be ready to go there in the next weeks or months.
 
For the moment we have good contacts in Guadeloupe. We might need to find places in Canada and in the US. People are mobilizing there and could prepare rapidly to host the collections for a while. Patrick Tardieu told me that we maybe could host them in other places in Haiti if the roads are in good condition.  We'll check up on this point next week. Our principal enemy will be the rain for now. The collections could be destroyed forever. Most of these pieces are unique.
 We'll have more info hopefully next week on the collections and the situation there. Don't hesitate to share the news you have.
 
Thank you for your mobilization. I'll be reachable during the week end on my cell phone : +33.6.82.99.36.84.  BSF sent a first communiqué today in memory of Mamadou Bah, a good friend of ours, who worked at the UN in Port au Prince.
 
You'll find it at this address: http://mim.io/15f12?fe=1&pact=555218280
 
We have no news from Nixon Calixte who was coordinating the University Libraries network in Haiti.
 
Jérémy Lachal
Directeur - BSF
jeremy.lachal@bibliosansfrontieres.org
+33.(0)6.58.43.85.56 - +33.(0)1.43.25.75.61
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Bibliothèques Sans Frontières
69 rue Armand Carrel, 75019 Paris
www.bibliosansfrontieres.org

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