Project Medishare

The suffering caused by the earthquake is difficult to fully comprehend.  Haitian authorities report that at least 72,000 bodies have been recovered.  Some predict the final death toll will be as high as 150,000 in Port au Prince alone.  Up to 1.5 million people may be homeless. ICRC reports approximately 55,000 people in 40 informal temporary camps throughout the city.  As you read this, many people are going back to the countryside.  While most of the damage took place in the southern portion of Haiti, the whole country will be affected. The Government has declared a period of national mourning until February 17.  We all grieve for what Haiti has lost.

When people think of Haiti, they often think of hunger, and not without reason. Though there has been significant progress over the past year, hunger remains a pervasive problem.  Achieving food security is fundamental to nutrition, health, education, economic growth, stability and all the other issues we lump under “development.”  There are well intentioned groups, such as this one from Kansas, that often try to send packages of food to Haiti.  It might make one feel good, but in reality, it does little good. There is much that we can do to promote food security in Haiti, but it is up to us to ensure that our time, energy, and resources make an actual, and not just a perceived, difference.

The damage caused by Gustav and Hannah have set Haiti back years.  Many have lost their homes and livelihoods.  Food security, already precarious, is worse as crops have been destroyed, fruit trees knocked over, and livestock killed.  Gonaives, ever prone to flooding, bore the brunt but many other cities and towns were damaged and need assistance.  The implications are being felt nationwide.  Haiti needs its friends during the long recovery process. 

Sitting in Project Medishare's office in Thomonde, located in the Plateau Centrale, I overhear the sounds of pounding drums and overpowering song. During the days leading up from Carnival to Easter it is not unusual to come across a Rara band in the rural roads of Haiti. Especially in time for the final week of Easter, Thomonde has Rara bands parading down the streets with drums, maracas, guiros, and cylindrical metal trumpets. The bands construct unique instruments such as trumpets made from cans imprinted with "USAID Vitamin A Fortified Oil" to produce an amazing variety of rhythms and melody that attests to Haitians' creativity and inventiveness.

Student activism. During my years at the University of Miami, I became a part of the large community of students who were frustrated that we lived our daily lives through textbooks as our global community continued to struggle. As students we used this frustration, coupled with our idealistic visions, to give us a passionate drive to "make a difference". But how long will this spark last and why should we invest in these young leaders?