Haiti Relief Update

by Andrew Bruce

Participants at a Ministerial meeting in Montreal on 25 January stressed that “the current situation remains dire, the needs are immense and the Haitian people continue to suffer”. As many as 200,000 people died in the earthquake. In total, more than 130 people have been pulled alive from the rubble, including a 16 year-old girl who was rescued this week, after being buried for 15 days. Rich Stearns, President of World Vision USA, who has been to many disaster zones, said that he has seen nothing to compare with the situation in Haiti. According to UN estimates, 75 per cent of Port-au-Prince will have to be rebuilt. The Red Cross reported this week that some 2 million people are currently “food insecure” and an estimated 800,000 to one million people are in need of shelter.

According to the UN, the logistics of the relief effort are a “nightmare”. Basic medical supplies in Port-au-Prince are dangerously low and there are concerns about a public health calamity, with the onset of the rainy season. Hospitals and clinics have reported shortages of painkillers and antibiotics for patents with fractures, amputated limbs and infections as well as anti-malaria drugs. Senator Bill Frist, who has been carrying out surgery in Haiti, described the situation as a “unique catastrophe” due to the fact that so many of the injured require surgery as a result of being crushed. Some 200,000 survivors are reported to be in need of post-surgery medical care. A total of 200,000 heavy-duty tents have been ordered to cope with the rainy season, which begins around May, and the hurricane season, which is expected to start around June.

There are some signs of progress in the relief effort. According to the Red Cross, the airport in Port-au-Prince is now operating at 170 per cent capacity and the capital’s port is now operating at the level prior to the earthquake. However, fuel and trucks are in short supply and the water supply is extremely compromised. The UN now has 150 health centers and hospitals up and running in Port-au-Prince and is preparing to deploy the extra 3,500 police and soldiers authorized by the Security Council last week. Some 20,000 US troops are now either in Haiti or offshore. Banks started operating again last weekend. Schools in areas of the country that were not affected by the earthquake are expected to open on this week. A new relief “cash-for-work” program is underway, with the UN paying Haitians up to $20 a day to clear rubble from the streets, giving them a guaranteed wage for the foreseeable future.

According to Edmond Mullet, acting head of the UN Mission the reconstruction is not starting at zero but “below zero”, recent development “has been undone” and reconstruction will take “several decades”. A number of international organizations are planning to conduct a post-disaster assessment, which the Haitian government and international community can use to lay plans for long-term reconstruction. The aim is for these plans, which will be discussed in a donor conference at the UN in March, to dovetail with long-term development plans set out before the earthquake by UN Special Envoy Bill Clinton (an overview of the long-term rebuilding priorities, prepared by the BBC can be found here.

The ONE campaign has delivered a petition containing over 150,000 signatures to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urging debt cancellation for Haiti. Next week, it will present the petition to a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Canada and is hoping the petition will, by then, stand at 200,000.

You can sign the ONE Campaign petition here!

According to the ONE campaign, the House of Representatives is circulating a bipartisan letter to Treasury Secretary Geithner urging him to support the immediate cancellation of Haiti’s debt.

Listen to the ONE campaigns conference call on the Haiti relief update here!

Legislative elections scheduled to take place on 28 February have been postponed. A total of 98 of the 99 seats in the legislature’s Chamber of Deputies were to be at stake, along with one third of the 30 member Senate. The offices of the Electoral Council collapsed in the earthquake, members of the UN mission working with the Council were killed and election materials were buried under the rubble. President Préval has announced that he will not seek to extend his term in office beyond its scheduled conclusion on 11 February 2011. Préval has been working in the Judicial Police office since the National Palace and many other government buildings collapsed in the earthquake.

FRESH Initiative Update

A diverse group of Community Organizations, Public Advocates, and Labor Unions (the Good Food, Good Jobs Coalition) teamed up with City Officials to celebrate the passing of the city's FRESH Initiative. The FRESH (Food Retail Expansion to Support Health) Initiative was developed in order to provide nutritious and affordable fresh produce into under-served neighborhoods in New York City by using economic incentives to bring more fresh food providers into these areas.

To qualify for these economic incentives, new supermarkets must apply and fill out a public questionnaire that is posted on the NYC Fresh website. The first two supermarkets have applied to qualify for the zoning benefits of the FRESH Initiative for locations in the South Bronx.

The first is Foodtown. They are applying for a store to be located in the Norwood section of the South Bronx. See their questionnaire here and their NYC Industrial Development Association (NYCIDA) Public Hearing materials here.

The second supermarket looking to take of advantage of the city's new FRESH Initiative is Western Beef. They are looking to move into the East Tremont, Bathgate section of the South Bronx. See their FRESH questionnaire here and their NYCIDA Public Hearing materials here.

You can keep track of what projects are being initiated by the FRESH Initiative by going to the NYC FRESH Initiative website. NY Faith & Justice will continue to send out updates periodically as well.

Helping Haiti: A letter from Peter Heltzel

Dear Friends:
 

 

 

 
Since the first announcement of the earthquake in Haiti, my heart has been moved to respond. Having served down at Ground Zero in 2001, I am particularly attuned to suffering after a catastrophic event. Many of you are probably wondering the best way to help. I have two good friends, John Engle and Kent Annan, who co-direct a ministry called Haiti Partners. They are both in Port-au-Prince now and I know they will put our money to good use. If you want to help, you can support John and Kent’s Haiti Partners Earthquake Response Fund by clicking on their website:
 

 

 

 
http://www.haitipartners.org
 

 

 

 
John and Kent are also organizing a program for volunteer teams to go to Haiti this Spring. Lord willing, I hope to go over, so please let me know if you are interested in serving on a volunteer team. Kent will also be sending updates from Haiti, so let me know if you would like to receive email updates about the situation in Haiti.
 

 
As we celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. this week, let us remember the suffering of our sisters and brothers in Haiti.
 

 

 

 
Hoping against hope,
 

 

 
Peter Heltzel

*Peter Heltzel is a Board member of NY Faith & Justice and a professor at New York Theological Seminary. He is also the author of Jesus and Justice: Evangelicals, Race, and American Politics.

A Call to Prayer

A Pastoral Prayer of Comfort and Hope for Haiti and Egypt

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” – Luke 4:18-19

At the annual gathering of Christian Churches Together (CCT), we have met once again to deepen our fellowship as a diverse group of national Christian leaders. In the midst of this time together, and here on the eve of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we have been deeply affected by recent events that have led to the suffering of parts of the body of Christ.

We grieve the devastation and loss of life caused by the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti. We mourn the death of brothers and sisters, including Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot of the Catholic Church and other faith leaders. In the face of devastating scenes of the “living walking among the dead,” we seek to be icons of the living Christ. We pray that our affected brothers and sisters will be comforted and encouraged by our pastoral presence that includes prayers, visitation and physical aid that our churches have rushed to provide. Such a presence seeks to give witness to Christ’s work of healing and hope.

Likewise, as we “mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15), we are one with our brothers and sisters in the Coptic Orthodox Church who have suffered when parishioners were gunned down in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, after Christmas Eve services. We lament the use of violence in the name of God.

In the midst of the world’s suffering, we pray for God’s compassionate and healing spirit.

We bow our heads in prayer to Him “Who loosens the bound and uplifts the fallen, the Hope of those who have no hope and the Help of those who have no helper, the Comfort of the fainthearted and the Harbor of those in the storm”, to look, with a compassionate eye, on those who are suffering, and to be as He is, full of mercy, full of compassion, full of love. For He grants us more than we ask for, and more than we need, and more than we understand. – Adapted from the Coptic Liturgy of St. Basil, the Litany of the Sick

Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT-USA) is made up of 36 communions/denominations and six national Christian organizations, representing over 100 million Americans. We are the broadest, most inclusive fellowship of Christian churches and traditions in the USA, with national leaders from five Christian families — African American, Evangelical/Pentecostal, Historic Protestant, Orthodox and Roman Catholic. Our mission is to enable churches and Christian organizations to grow closer together in Christ in order to strengthen our Christian witness in the world.

For further information, contact CCT Executive Director, Dick Hamm at 317-490-1968 or dhamm@ddi.org.

Letter From Speaker Christine Quinn

In light of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn released this letter last week letting New Yorkers how they can help. She also gave out the U.S. State Departments number for people trying to contact loved ones in Haiti.

January 14, 2010


Dear New Yorker,

As you've undoubtedly heard, this past Tuesday Haiti was hit by a major 7.0 earthquake that devastated its capital, Port-au-Prince. The extent of the damage is truly shocking. Members of New York's large Haitian
American community are understandably anxious about their loved ones and the state of their homeland.

We at the NYC Council are working closely with Governor Paterson, Mayor
Bloomberg and Haitian American leaders across the City and State to help
respond to this tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who've been affected by this devastating earthquake.

The Haitian government with the assistance of the international community is in the process of rescue and recovery, as well as assessing the damage and determining what will be needed to assist survivors and rebuild the country. New Yorkers who want to help those in Haiti are
encouraged to donate to the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. Donations to this fund can be made safely and securely in the following
ways:

*Online at https://www.nyc.gov/html/fund/html/donate/donate.shtml

* By phone at 212-788-7794 or call 311

* Mail checks, with Haiti Earthquake Relief written in the memo,
to:

Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City
One Centre Street, 23rd Floor
New York, NY 10007


The Mayor's Fund will direct contributions to reputable,
well-established organizations such as the American Red Cross that are
working on the scene.

Of course many New Yorkers want to contribute food and other supplies directly to the victims. We've been told that because of conditions on the ground in Haiti it would be difficult to receive such supplies and
to deliver them where they're most needed. The magnitude of the problem
is just too great and too complex. So again, we urge New Yorkers who want to help to make donations to the Mayor's Fund. You can also donate directly to the Red Cross by phone at 1-800-REDCROSS or online at
www.redcross.org <http://www.redcross.org/> .

The U.S. State Department has set up a hotline for people trying to reach family members in Haiti. That number is 1-888-407-4747.

Again, our thoughts and prayers are with all those who've been affected
by this devastating earthquake. To those Haitian Americans in NYC, if there's anything we can do to help you, please let me know.


Sincerely,

Christine C. Quinn

Speaker

New York City Council

Haiti Fundraiser Tonight

Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer,
The Haitian Roundtable, National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations(NECO) and Fernando Mateo

Honorary Co-Hosts:
Senator Charles E. Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, Congressman Eliot Engel, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Congressman Michael E. McMahon, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Congressman Charles B. Rangel, Congressman Edolphus Towns

Co-Hosts:
Governor David A. Paterson, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Comptroller John C. Liu, Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, State Senator Thomas K. Duane, State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, State Senator Liz Krueger, State Senator Kevin S. Parker, State Senator Bill Perkins, State Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, State Senator Daniel L. Squadron, Assemblymember Karim Camara, Assemblymember Herman D. Farrell, Jr., Assemblymember Adriano Espaillat, Assemblymember Richard N. Gottfried, Assemblymember Micah Kellner, Assemblymember Alan Maisel, Assemblymember Daniel O’Donnell, Assemblymember José R. Peralta, Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, Assemblymember Keith L.T. Wright, Councilmember Gale A. Brewer, Councilmember Fernando Cabrera, Councilmember Leroy Comrie, Councilmember Inez E. Dickens, Councilmember Mathieu Eugene, Councilmember Julissa Ferreras, Councilmember Daniel R. Garodnick, Councilmember Sara M. González , Councilmember Letitia James, Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito, Councilmember Rosie Mendez, Councilmember Diana Reyna, Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez, New Jersey Councilmember Julio Tavarez, Maurice A. Buckley, Walter Edwards, Nasser J. Kazeminy, Bill Lynch, Karl and Faye Rodney, Bill White, Alianza Dominicana, Citi Health Home Care, The Dominican American National Roundtable, Dominican Women's Development Center, Haiti’s Hungry Task Force, Haitian-American Caucus, NYS Organizing for America, NY Carib News, Street Corner Resources Live

Invite you to
New Yorkers for Haiti

an event in support of relief efforts following the earthquake in Haiti.

Friday, January 15, 2010
Talay, 701 West 135th Street (at 12th Avenue)
6:00 – 8:30 pm

The US Fund for UNICEF will be present to receive donations.
All proceeds will go to The US Fund for UNICEF, a registered 501c3.
For more information call 212.669.8300

Click here to view the invitation

If you are unable to attend this even, click here to learn about other ways you can help.

People are Talking...

NY Faith & Justice would like to thank everyone who came out on Thursday night to take part in a deeper conversation on money and values as we helped to launch Jim Wallis new book, Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, & Your Street.

We hope you have bought the book and are continuing the discussion with friends and loved ones. In the meantime, check out these links about the event!

Patrol Magazine wrote a review of the evening here!

Jim Wallis wrote about the conversation himself on his God's Politic's Blog!

Finally, Joy Ike made a video diary of the event and takes you on a tour of Riverside Church as well!