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Haiti needs your help! There are many places to donate, like Red Cross, Doctors without Borders or Unicef. If you want to give to a local organization consider the Haitian Health Foundation (one of our hurricane correspondents on Haiti is associated with them) or pick from the list compiled by NPR. Thank you! Gert
- - - 2021 Hurricane Season - - -
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- Haitianhealthfoundation.org
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- By Reuben Spitz <reuben at haitianhealthfoundation.org>
- Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2021 07:34:43 -0400
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The Haitian Health Foundation is an NGO based only in Jeremie, Haiti, and has been providing healthcare, public health, education, community development and other much needed services to the population in the Grand Anse region for nearly 40 years. The recent earthquake is one more challenge for our organization, assisted greatly by the generosity of others. Thanks
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- Jeremie/Grand Anse
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- By Reuben Spitz <reuben at haitianhealthfoundation.org>
- Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2021 11:55:13 -0400
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At 8:28 am on Saturday, there was a 7.2 earthquake in our region. While it has been all over the news, there has yet to be a full accounting of all the damage. As of this time, there are around 1,500 dead, thousands injured and thousands of structures damaged or destroyed. The main roads, and most in the mountains, have been blocked by debris and damage, making it largely impassable for all but motos. It is difficult to describe the situation here, as it was dire before this earthquake, and will no doubt be compounded by an incoming storm (Grace) and more to come later. And,we don't know if the aftershocks are finished. Lots of aid is talked about but there are few realistic options for getting it to those most in need. In addition to the road situation, there are gangs scattered throughout the region who have, particularly in the context of a natural disaster, robbed and shot many people at local market places. Robbery and theft, after walls come down and when others are most vulnerable, is unfortunately increasingly common. The emotions of people is worn thin in this region and country. The experiences of Hurricane Matthew, the 2010 earthquake, not to mention the recent Presidential assassination, on top of Covid and the shortages/absence of all that creates a poverty-stricken population is extraordinary.
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- Elsa - Jeremie, Haiti
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- By Reuben Spitz <reuben at haitianhealthfoundation.org>
- Date: Sun, 4 Jul 2021 12:29:12 -0400
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Our area is still a bit traumatized from Matthew in 2016, and more focus was upon the arrival of Elsa. Quite fortunately, however, there was no significant storm event from this hurricane. Elsa appears to have both weakened and headed further south, just prior to hitting Hispaniola, especially southern coast of Haiti. So, with the confluence of chaos currently existing, this was a welcome reprieve. Now, we'll see what comes next. |
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- FYI
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- By Reuben Spitz <reuben at haitianhealthfoundation.org>
- Date: Sun, 4 Jul 2021 10:15:25 -0400
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Gert, Storm updates do not seem as current as in past, for some reason. I always go to this site first and have been disappointed not to see up to minute (hour) tracking. Living on North Coast of DR as well as southwest Haiti, I need as current information as possible during hurricanes. I apologize for any unreasonable criticism.
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- Are we ready?
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- By Reuben Spitz <reuben at haitianhealthfoundation.org>
- Date: Mon, 17 May 2021 09:41:47 -0400
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Jeremie, Grand Anse, Haiti
Two weeks away from the start of the 2021 Hurricane Season. Obviously this "season" is becoming more and more arbitrary as global climate patterns continue to shift. What we once had here for a "rainy season" is largely gone, and it seems simply impossible to determine what will happen. While existing storms can be tracked, such activities remain way too limited as preventive tools for regions without significant resources, such as most of Haiti, and a lot of Hispaniola for that matter. Haiti does not really 'recover", in the traditional sense, from natural disasters - life, what's left, simply continues amidst the damage and depletion. In Port au Prince, damage from the 2010 earthquake is still visible, and little recovery occurred in the Grand Anse after Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Another earthquake and/or hurricane will simply compound the already impoverished and degraded society here. The words "preparedness", "relief", "rebuilding" are used by outsiders, often in conjunction with the global Disaster Industry, which thrives on the death and destruction brought by natural catastrophes. They fly in to "help" - and leave once the funding has been sucked dry, with nothing left behind for the local population. Here, we wait for the next sunrise. 
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