One Week Later, Survivors Are Still the First Responders

© Damon Winter/New York Times

• Donate to the UUSC/UUA Joint Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund
  
• Volunteer at clinics for U.S. Haitians to apply for Temporary Protected Status
  
• Respond to our action alert:
  Urge International Debt Relief for Haiti
  
• Address the crisis in your congregational service
• FAQ about UUSC Disaster Response
• Listen to UUSC's Martha Thompson discuss the crisis in Haiti on the First Parish of Duxbury's weekly radio program

Situation on the ground

A week after a devastating earthquake rocked Port-au-Prince, an effective large-scale relief program remains to be put in place. Haitians are surviving because of each other; they continue to be the first responders. They have dug each other out of the rubble. They have built tent cities for the displaced. They have collected water and food. And the magnitude 5.9 aftershock that struck in the morning of Wednesday, January 20 reminds us that Haitians are doing all of this with the dread and very real possibility of further destruction — and an unclear vision of what the future holds for them and their country.

Meanwhile, fuel shortages, lack of transportation, damaged roads and ports, coordination gaps, and the massive scale of the disaster further delay the already severely bottlenecked relief effort. Both Haiti's small airport and the closest overland route from the Dominican Republic are overwhelmed with relief deliveries and aid convoys. Banks in Haiti have not yet reopened. Communication remains very difficult.

Aid is coming in, but its arrival is slow and, thus far, woefully inadequate. Aid is just beginning to reach the cities of Carrefour and Jacmel. A health care system that was dysfunctional well before the disaster is unable to cope with the number of people who now need emergency care. As time passes, the risk of infection escalates, as does the potential for increased amputations and deaths.

Survivors in and around Port-au-Prince are leaving in droves because they cannot find the help they need. Thousands of people are streaming out of the city in search of water, food, medical care, and shelter. The nearby Haitian countryside, whose population was struggling to survive even before the earthquake, will soon be inundated by this outmigration. It is imperative that rural villages be prepared to meet this challenge.

Our work in past disasters has taught us that there are groups of people at risk of being overlooked or ignored by traditional aid responses. As a justice organization, UUSC seeks to reach those groups. And we have learned that the best way to do this is in partnership with local grassroots organizations.

What UUSC is Doing

• The Haitian people continue to be the first responders, and they badly need support. UUSC is working on providing support to community groups as they continue to organize relief teams and respond to the urgent needs of survivors in Haiti. The best way for us to get emergency assistance to these groups is through organizations on the ground that have long-standing relationships with grassroots groups.


• UUSC's Programs Director continues to train medical teams already on the ground in Haiti over the phone. She is helping these teams understand how to cope with trauma, convert clinical work into emergency medical response units, and manage emergency care under difficult conditions and with minimal supplies.


• We are working with peasant organizations to determine together the role they can play in providing aid to people leaving the city. Once such groups are able to reorganize themselves and get back on their feet, they will be critical providers of aid to survivors in the city as well as those who are beginning to disperse to the countryside.


• It is essential that Haitian organizations be a part of directing the relief and recovery efforts in Haiti. We are exploring the possibility of pooling funds with other international organizations to help Haitian groups establish an office from which to coordinate their relief and recovery efforts.


• We are waiting for the banking system in Haiti to reopen. As soon as it does, UUSC will ensure that funding reaches our partners as quickly as possible.


• Logistics and the lack of infrastructure presently pose a huge challenge in Haiti. The limited aid and supplies available in Haiti at this time need to be used for survivors and essential first responders. UUSC will send an assessment mission as soon as possible without burdening current on-the-ground aid efforts. Our mission will include a colleague who can speak Creole, has many years of experience working in the country, and has strong relationships with Haitian organizations.


• UUSC's assessment will guide our response over the mid- and long-term. We will help grassroots groups get back on their feet to work with the marginalized. Along with them, we will focus on reaching out to survivors who are on the margins of the relief and recovery efforts. As the situation in Haiti evolves, we are learning that those groups include:
  
  
  • Children, orphans, child domestic workers (restaviks), and unaccompanied children.
  • Women merchants and street vendors who will need help recapitalizing.
  • The newly displaced who are fanning out to the countryside and need support from an already overstretched population.
  • Amputees who will need to develop longer term livelihoods.

How UUSC prioritizes immediate needs and mid- and long-term needs

UUSC reaches out to those groups of people who are at risk of being left out or overlooked by traditional relief and recovery operations. With local partner organizations, we identify and bring attention to the gaps in relief and recovery, and help fill them. We take action in the critical days and weeks following the disaster, and continue to work into the mid- and long-term as survivors struggle to re-establish their lives and livelihoods.

After any disaster, a portion of our relief funds are specified for emergency relief. A larger portion is allocated to helping with the significant work of helping families and communities recover, rebuild, and renew.

Where your donation is going

Thank you to all of you who have already given financial support to help UUSC respond to the humanitarian crisis in Haiti. Your donation is restricted to the UUSC/UUA Joint Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. UUSC sends $0.92 of every dollar you donate to support relief and recovery efforts on the ground. The remaining $.08 covers essential administrative expenses such as wire transfer fees to send funds to Haiti, calls between our office and our partners on the ground, and temporary hires to support our rapid response.

Contributions towards Haiti relief are deductible for 2009 taxes.

Please help by giving as generously as you can. We will be updating our website regularly as our plans develop.