L’Union Fait La Force

On January 14, two days after a massive 7.1 earthquake hit the country of my heritage, I set out to find my mother, who was just three miles south of the quake’s epicenter. After finding her alive, I turned my attention to my people and a country in pain.

Our primary focus now is to contribute to the immediate needs of the Haitian people and to find solutions to help rebuild and sustain their communities. My people are resilient, but they need direction toward recovery. Our goal is to help them help themselves. We pledge to be with them as their country is rebuilt one brick, one heart, and one mind at a time.

We are re-establishing a presence in the area of Laville, where my mother’s community is based. In addition to providing the vulnerable with necessary aid, we will create a “progress-for-aid” system where people will be rewarded with additional or specialty foods for friends and family after helping with re-building, aid projects, and community progress efforts. They will be unified under the banner of “L’ Union Fait La force” (Strength through unity).

Everyone working with us will be given green T-shirts with those encouraging words to stress the importance of unity and staying strong through adversity. More than anything else, this message is essential. This is a time of new beginnings and Haiti will finally get the attention and love it deserves.

How?

1. Purchase with cash as many items as we can from local merchants–”the mache”

Efficiency and mobility are the plan. To have the greatest impact, we will purchase the supplies that we can from local markets instead of transporting goods from the United States. This will inject much-needed dollars into local communities, dollars that will cycle around and have a more lasting effect. Items that can only be procurred in the U.S. will be shipped in.

2. Partner with NGOs in the Dominican Republic that facilitate aid.

During the initial trip, partnerships with aid groups in the Dominican Republic were formed and aid was delivered through close communication and coordination. We will continue these partnerships and use supply shipments from there to supplement goods purchased locally.

PHASE ONE: February 2010: BASE CAMP SET-UP

Medical Supplies

• Equip already established make-shift clinic at 3rd Avenue De Travaile in Laville
• Make contact with other clinics and assess the surrounding area to determine if additional clinics will be necessary
• Purchase and provide additional medical supplies to already established clinics
• Look for location to house additional U.S. nurses and doctors

Nutrition

• Establish Water Filtration System
• Option 1: The most easily accessible method of cleaning water is through the use of water filtration tablets. Since the process of purifying the water with these tablets is four hours, our goal will be to immediately create a reserve system by purchasing as many 5-gallon containers as possible. An still-erect house in the community will be used for water storage and distribution. We will create a trade system where people will bring their contaminated water to swap for purified water. We are still in the process of researching the best price for  tablets.
• Option 2: Purchase Outpost12 Water filtration system. Cost = $10,000 or 3 for $20,000. This machine produces 720 gallons of water per hour. Although it is the best option in terms of longevity, it might not be the best use of our limited resources, such as cash and fuel. With this system we would have to consider the cost of maintenance.
• Vitamins and vitamin-rich foods

Electricity

• Provide temporary power with the use of power inverters. We are traveling with six power inverters to be attached to car batteries bought on arrival in the Dominican Republic. These inverters will provide electricity for emergency communications, light for night-time work, and heat for cooking and sanitation.
• We also plan to bring turn-crank kinetic emergency radios, flashlights, and communication devices.

Sanitation & Rebuilding

• Garbage/refuse removal: Since there is not an established sanitation program, part of cleaning and re-building will include removing and properly disposing of garbage from the streets. By enlisting some of the locals we will work to clean the streets of all garbage in as many areas as possible.
• Clearing debris/rubble: To prepare for re-building of homes, we will help remove rubble from various locations to provide a clear foundation. We will gather any reusable material and salvageable supplies. Any bodies found will be bagged and separated from the main population centers.

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*New structures will be part of our 3rd phase, and will begin when additional funds have been raised and more than likely during the 3rd visit.

PHASE TWO: Spring 2010

• Solar Power
• “On-the-ground” partnerships with other NGOs such as Haiti ReWired, CrisisCommons.org et al.

PHASE THREE: FALL 2010

• New construction of homes, community buildings, schools, etc.