Haitian Inspiration

     The idea for this blog struck me soon after the devastating earthquake in Haiti earlier this year. I saw two common reactions among people I know. The first was feeling as if the little money they could give would not make a big difference, so why bother. The other was giving a small sum of money and feeling as if they had done enough.
     Both of these seem problematic to me. If everyone who could gave a small sum the total would be overwhelming, so the first reaction is silly. Twenty dollars is not huge in the face of an earthquake, but when 5,000 donate twenty dollars, it makes 100,000. Together that is a significant sum of money. The second feeling is problematic, because there are always groups and organizations worldwide everyday that need help. Only donating in the face of overwhelming disaster negates the many current issues such as poverty, hunger, HIV/AIDS, environmental issues, and violence against women to name a few.
     While thinking about this, I realized that I could be doing more myself. I do volunteer, but I cannot volunteer for every organization and cause that I support. So we are going to start this blog of with a week of organizations that are working in Haiti because it was my muse for this blog.

Partners in Health

     "The model of the organization is described as being one in which: clinical and community barriers to care are removed as diagnosis and treatment are declared a public good and made available free of charge to patients living in poverty. For people living in poverty stricken areas, the treatment of AIDS and multidrug resistant tuberculosis has been made possible by this model of care. This model of care provides an alternative to the conventional curative method of treatment for sick patients and instead tries to prevent diseases before they occur. This model believes that primary health care is essential because health is a right and therefore, it should be available to everyone. PIH strives to bring good medical care to the poor by establishing long-term partnerships with local sister organizations." ~Wikipedia

     Partners in health have been in Haiti for decades and when the earthquake hit they became even more involved in helping the Haitian people. They are very involved in preventing and treating health issues in Haiti and are working with the government to provide the best care they can for Haiti. The more I learn about this org, the more I like them, I hope others find them as impressive as I do.

Here is the ranking and evaluation of PIH by Charity Navigator.