Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is responding to the devastating earthquake in Haiti

MCC to respond to Haiti earthquake, donations welcome

January 13, 2010

AKRON, Pa. -- Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is responding to the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti late Tuesday afternoon.

Today, MCC committed $100,000 U.S. or $103,420 Cdn. for immediate needs. International Program Department Director Ron Flaming anticipates a response of at least $1 million U.S. or $1.03 Cdn. over multiple years. MCC is appealing for donations to fund these efforts.

MCC workers in Haiti include nine people from Colombia, the Netherlands and the United States; seven Haitian program staff members; and additional support staff. All program staff located in Port-au-Prince, the capital, are accounted for. Although the communications infrastructure in Haiti has been disrupted, staff members were able to send a message via the U.S. embassy. All MCC staff members who have been in touch report seeing bodies in the streets, according to Daryl Yoder-Bontrager, MCC Latin America and the Caribbean director. MCC is working to contact staff outside Port-au-Prince.

MCC is planning its response which will include short-term relief plus recovery efforts over the medium and long term. “We’re looking carefully at how we can build peace, avoid violence and do good community development at the same time,” said Yoder-Bontrager.

MCC regional disaster management coordinators Kathy and Virgil Troyer, based in Honduras, will travel to Haiti as soon as possible to help with the planning and implementation of MCC’s response. The Troyers are from Orrville, Ohio.

MCC’s work in Haiti over the past years has focused on reforestation and environmental education, human rights and advocacy for food security.

Donations to help victims of the disaster should be designated Haiti Earthquake and can be made:

* Online
* By calling toll free – 1-888-622-6337 (Canada) or 1-888-563-4676 (U.S.)
* Or by sending a cheque to your nearest MCC office.
* In Canada
* In the United States

Naomi Klein Issues Haiti Disaster Capitalism Alert:

Naomi Klein Issues Haiti Disaster Capitalism Alert: Stop Them Before They Shock Again

Journalist and author Naomi Klein spoke in New York last night and addressed the crisis in Haiti: “We have to be absolutely clear that this tragedy—which is part natural, part unnatural—must, under no circumstances, be used to, one, further indebt Haiti and, two, to push through unpopular corporatist policies in the interest of our corporations. This is not conspiracy theory. They have done it again and again.”

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/14/naomi_klein_issues_haiti_disaster_capitalism

Haiti has truly suffered enough. It's high time we in the west come to grips with the responsibilty we have in the plight of some other countries in this hemisphere.

Millions Pour in from Around the World to Support Haiti

"Millions Pour in from Around the World to Support Haiti

Reprinted from Tonic.com

By Rachel Rossitto | Thursday, January 14, 2010 5:05 PM ET

Nearly $39 million and counting...

And please, keep the dough rollin in! Every bit helps. Some of you might have been scarred from the Katrina financial fiasco. According to Anderson Cooper, who followed the Katrina money trail, a large portion of funds donated from charities and foreign countries to aid New Orleans stayed in the pocket of the federal government. Ok, we know. But we've also learned a few things since then. Let's continue to support Haiti and trust that we'll be a bit smarter this time.

Just about every non-profit organization and news source out there offers you a way to pitch in and help. And if you are still confused and could use a dose of guidance, check out our Tonic advice on how to contribute though Charity Navigator.

If even that sounds treacherous, a quicker way you can donate is to text “Haiti” to 90999 on your cellphone and $10 will be added to your next phone bill to suport the American Red Cross's work. Or you can text “Yele” to 501501 and a donation of $5 will be given automatically to Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti foundation to help with relief efforts. I just did it!

So far, $38.83 million has poured in from countries around the world. From who and how much you ask? Here's the breakdown of donations:"

Read more in Tonic

Haiti Devastated by Earthquake - Help Now!

The US State Dept has set up hotline

for Americans to inquire after

family in Haiti: 888-407-4747

Here is a List of Aid Agencies with a presence in Haiti.

Action Against Hunger
http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/where-we-work/haiti

American Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org/

American Jewish World Service
http://ajws.org/

AmeriCares
http://www.americares.org/

Beyond Borders
http://www.beyondborders.net/index.php

CARE
http://www.care.org/

Catholic Relief Services
http://crs.org/haiti/

Childcare Worldwide
http://www.childcareworldwide.org/

Direct Relief International
http://www.directrelief.org/EmergencyResponse/2010/EarthquakeHaiti.aspx

Doctors Without Borders
http://doctorswithoutborders.org/

Feed My Starving Children
http://www.fmsc.org/Page.aspx?pid=293

Friends of WFP
http://friendsofwfp.typepad.com/

Haitian Health Foundation
http://www.haitianhealthfoundation.org/

Hope for Haiti
http://www.hopeforhaiti.com/


International Medical Corps
http://www.imcworldwide.org/Page.aspx?pid=183

International Relief Teams
http://www.irteams.org/

Medical Teams International
http://www.medicalteams.org/sf/Home.aspx

Meds and Food for Kids
http://mfkhaiti.org/

Mercy Corps
http://www.mercycorps.org/

Operation USA
http://www.opusa.org/

Oxfam
http://www.oxfam.org/en/

Partners in Health
http://www.pih.org/home.html

Samaritan's Purse
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

Save the Children
http://www.savethechildren.org/

UNICEF
http://www.unicefusa.org/haitiquake

World Concern
http://www.worldconcern.org/

World Vision
http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/give/ways-to-give

Yele Haiti
http://www.yele.org/
Wyclef Jean's grassroots org
Text Yele to 501 501 to donate $5 via your cellphone

Glen Beck said: "African-American is a bogus, PC, made-up term.

Beck: "African-American is a bogus, PC, made-up term. I mean, that's not a race"

What did Beck say?

I just happened to listen to Smokey Robinson the other day, on the same topic.

What did Smokey say?

A Black American - Def Poetry Jam

While we're on the topic:

What did Carlos say?

Now what game is the government playing exactly?

What do you say?

Speak It! From the Heart of Black Nova Scotia 1992

by Sylvia Hamilton

"One of the best things about learning, is passing on what you discover to other people." Shingai Nyajeka."

A film about a group of Black Nova Scotian students and their quest for knowledge of self and their place in their own and the community at large.

In the face of racism and marginalization, they work to establish a Cultural Awareness Youth Group, a vehicle for building pride and self-esteem through educational and cultural programs. With help from mentors, they discover and share, the richness of their heritage and learn some of the ways they can begin to affect change. Shot on location in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada)

The Seaview African Baptist Church bulldozed in 1967

"Nova Scotia in black context:

People of African descent have been living in Nova Scotia for almost 300 years. In Acadia, from the early to mid 1700s, there were more than 300 people of African descent in the French settlement at Louisbourg, Cape Breton.

In Halifax in 1751 there were 15 Black people. Between 100 and 150 people of African descent were among the new settlers, now known as the Planters, who came from New England after the British gained control over Nova Scotia in 1763.

Over 3,000 Black people came as part of the Loyalist migration between 1783 and 1785.

In 1796, 550 people, known as the Maroons, were deported from Jamaica to Nova Scotia. In 1800 they were relocated to Sierra Leone.

Some 2000 escaped slaves came from the United States during the War of 1812, under conditions similar to those of the Black Loyalists. They had thrown in their lot with the British between 1812 and 1816 and were offered freedom and land in Nova Scotia. They moved into the Halifax area to settle at Preston, Hammonds Plains, Beechville, Porter's Lake, and the Lucasville Road, as well as the Windsor area.

In the early 1900s Black immigrants were actively recruited from Barbados, West Indies to work in Cape Breton for the Dominion Coal Company. This community survives to the present day in Whitney Pier, Glace Bay and New Waterford.

People of African descent continue to immigrate to Nova Scotia today."

Speak It! From the Heart of Black Nova Scotia by Sylvia Hamilton, National Film Board of Canada

See more about Sylvia Hamilton