Haiti and Partners in Health

I have talked about Partners in Health in health previously (Haitian Inspiration), I think they are my favorite organization working in Haiti and one of my favorite charities overall. One of the reasons, is that they seem to actually engage with the communities they are helping, not dictate, and truly understand their needs. They have been in Haiti helping for decades and really stepped it up after the earthquake to provide even more help to the people of Haiti. Here is a video of talking about the current situation in haiti and what needs to be done.



Their Stand With Haiti page is full of information on the work they are doing in Haiti and the work that still needs to be done. They have released a one year later report and in their summary they discuss their “Stand with Haiti” plan to help "Haiti recover and rebuild over the long term (...). Key elements of the plan include:

• providing comprehensive primary health care to more than 100,000 people living in four of the spontaneous settlements of tarps, tents, and makeshift shanties that have sprung up in Port-au-Prince;
• expanding clinical and social support services at our network of hospitals and health centers in the Central Plateau and Lower Artibonite to meet the needs of tens of thousands of people displaced by the earthquake and the communities that have taken them in;
• strengthening specialized medical services for which the earthquake had greatly increased a widespread, long-standing, and frequently unmet need, including surgery, rehabilitative medicine, and mental health;
• rebuilding and reinforcing the public health and health professional education systems in Haiti."

These are all very important issues to address and fix, they have always been focused on health and the country has to have a health system to combat illnesses so that people are able to rebuild their country. Also Haiti had one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean and it is very important that those people receive their medication in a timely manner and from good facilities, and the previous clinincs run by Partners in Health were some of the best in the country, to my knowledge.

Another factor which is really important in their success, and one of the reasons I like this organization, is that they try to engage with the local community through employing the Haitian people, it "strengthens public institutions and governance, and works not just to repair the damage caused by the earthquake, but also to address the extreme poverty and lack of infrastructure that greatly worsened the disaster’s impact and weakened the country’s ability to respond." By giving Haitian's paid employment in their hospitals and building their hospitals, not only are they rebuilding school and infrastructure, but also the countries economy. Giving a person a job might be one of the best, and simplest, humanitarian approaches to rebuilding the country, because it allows peoples to care for themselves and their families and gives them a sense of self worth again. I imagine, it must be very disheartening to have so little one can do to change your circumstances and to rely on others for everything, being able to work again must be very rewarding and helps the economy of the country recover.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about the work of Partners in Health in Haiti and that you will consider helping them as well. Real quick, I wanted to point out the fact that they are a four star charity from Charity Navigator and 94.7% of their expenses goes to program expenses, which is just amazing for a charity whose headquarters are located in the USA, so they really focus on getting their money to the programs that are on the ground helping people around the world.

Homelessness and Puppets?

Today I am writing a post inspired by puppets. While that may sound odd, it is true. A performer created a video to raise awareness about the homelessness issues and inspire people to help. And he has, so I am helping. But first, here is his video that went viral and helped to raise awareness.



The sign and bedding he borrowed from an actual homeless individual. On the youtube video's description he has two links which give ideas about how to help those affected with homelessness. The first is a great list of suggestions on volunteering and how to help without necessarily donating money. The article is "How You Can Help the Homeless Without Spending a Dime" hosted on Squidoo.It has some great suggestions, such as help them apply for jobs and volunteer somewhere that provides childcare for the children of homeless people so that they can go look for work. He also links to a great list of non-profits that work on the issue on change.org.


I prefer to find charities by checking their charity navigator ratings and then choosing a charity that way. But in this case, my chosen charity is both highly rated on charity navigator (four stars!) and included on the list of suggestions from the performer.


Today I will be helping The National Alliance to End Homelessness - "a nonprofit, non-partisan, organization committed to preventing and ending homelessness in the United States. By improving policy, building capacity, and educating opinion leaders, the Alliance has become a leading voice on this issue." They aim high their goal is to end homelessness, and I appreciate it when people aim high, thats better than sitting around thinking we can't change the world. Here is their charity navigator page, with their four star rating!

Here is a little video interview of the performer talking about his motivations and all. Thought y'all might enjoy it.

Youth issues.

San Diego Youth Services.

I really like the work of this group. They are working with at risk youth and those in crisis to create long term solutions and help for homeless youths and their families. They do more than just provide shelter or food, they want to help youths and their families to become self-sufficient. The majority of their work is done with runaway, abused, or at risk youths in San Diego. The services they offer are broad and support the diverse youth's that need their help.