Cultivating Creative Solutions in Haiti as One-Year Earthquake Commemoration Approaches

When the earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, UUSC understood that this triple disaster — massive destruction, huge death tolls, and a tangled international relief effort — would need a triple response: partnering to provide relief and support for the rebuilding effort on the ground, lifting up the voices of Haitians on Capitol Hill, and mobilizing UUSC members to help both in the United States and in Haiti. As the one-year commemoration of the earthquake approaches, UUSC reaffirms and renews its commitment to an integrated response as those living in Haiti face new challenges.

There is no other way to say it — Haiti remains in crisis. More than 1.5 million people are still homeless and living in desperate conditions in camps for the displaced. The continuing lack of decent temporary housing and adequate basic sanitation increases their vulnerability to flooding from Hurricane Tomas, threatened violence stemming from the recent contested elections, and the recent cholera outbreak.

Cholera is spreading and has not yet peaked. In early December, the Haitian Ministry of Health reported 1,751 deaths and 34,248 cases of hospitalization due to cholera. The World Health Organization predicts as many as 270,000 cases before the epidemic abates.

In the midst of these conditions, Haiti held its presidential elections on November 28. Many candidates and citizens are questioning the election results in light of fraud charges. WisePolitic.com estimated that only 20 percent of voters were able to cast their ballots, because so many were not on registration lists. Even though many incidents of thwarted democracy were reported, the election will stand. "As serious as some of the irregularities were, they did not invalidate the electoral process," said Colin Granderson, head of the election-observer mission to Haiti from the Organization of American States.

While these statistics are staggering — almost to the point of overwhelming — and the crisis continues, Haitians at the grassroots are working in myriad ways to improve conditions in their communities. For each story of sickness, sadness, or struggle, there is a story of resilience, perseverance, and heroism of the Haitian people.

UUSC works in eye-to-eye partnership with Haitian grassroots organizations who are responding in creative ways to the continuing crisis. For instance, UUSC partner the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP) has been responding to the cholera outbreak, even though they are not a medical aid organization. They have worked with a public-health team on radio spots and flyers to educate the public about basic things they can do to prevent cholera, such as boiling water and adding drops of chlorine to drinking water. In the coming months, they will be building a sustainable rural ecovillage for 40 displaced families in the Central Plateau. UUSC will be helping build housing, support training in agricultural production, and provide access to potable water.

UUSC also works with KOFAVIV (the Commission of Women Victims for Victims), a women' s organization that helps protect women in 10 camps from gender-based violence. This work is crucial as the potential for violence has increases following the election. Additionally, with the Association for the Promotion of Integral Family Healthcare (APROSIFA), UUSC works to treat children with malnutrition, a condition that renders them vulnerable to cholera. UUSC support not only provides food to high-risk kids but also gives their mothers the means to earn money to feed them and break the cycle of malnutrition.

The strength of UUSC's work in Haiti — and around the world — is working with partners just like the MPP, KOFAVIV, and APROSIFA. UUSC partners with organizations that know their communities and works with them to develop creative responses and build capacity at the local level with a long-term vision of change.

Get involved!

UUSC's partners are valiantly working to overcome these challenges and to reconstruct their lives better than before. With your help, they will be able to build on the models that they are creating. UUSC and its partners continue to count on your generous financial support, the political pressure that you can bring to bear as the 112th session of Congress begins, and your work in the Haiti Volunteer Program in the years to come.

Haiti Volunteer Program

UUSC is developing partner-centered opportunities to volunteer in Haiti. Due to the current cholera situation, UUSC is currently searching for medical professionals to participate in trips that will begin in mid-February. These trips will focus on the delivery of medical and health aid to our partners and will entail working in a clinical setting to administer health care to Haitians in Port-au-Prince and the Central Plateau. If you are someone with medical skills (RN, LPN, physician, PA, etc.), please consider participating.

In the spring, UUSC will begin nonmedical volunteer projects, which will include rebuilding and reconstruction projects, agriculture programs, teaching opportunities, and programs focused on Haitian youth.