Haiti Earthquake information and resources

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CWS is helping to meet emergency needs in the aftermath of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.  Within 24 hours after the quake, CWS and its partners began providing basic supplies, prepositioned in the Dominican Republic.  It is working with partners to provide water, food, temporary shelter and health assistance.  Having worked in partnership in Haiti since 1954, CWS will also help to support communities in the long struggle to rebuild.  

How you can help:  Please contribute online or by phoning 800-297-1516 or by mailing your contribution to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515 (please indicate Haiti Earthquake).  CWS Kits are also urgently needed.  Thank you!

Note: The IRS has announced that cash donations for Haiti earthquake relief made after Jan. 11, 2010, and before March 1, 2010, may be claimed as donations on your 2009 tax return.  You must itemize your deductions to qualify for this special tax provision.  For more information consult your tax advisor or visit the IRS website.

How are congregations and groups across the U.S. helping CWS respond to needs in Haiti?  Click here to see.  (The direct link to this page is hunger.cwsglobal.org/helpinghaiti.)

ACT Alliance  Church World Service is a member of the ACT Alliance.

News Articles, Statements and Appeals

• Haiti stage 2: CWS helping expand rural food co-ops, reunite child domestic workers with their families
Initial Haitian government plans to relocate huge numbers of families to cities outside Port-au-Prince are being thwarted by land ownership issues and costs, adding to the frustrations of those made homeless by the quake. But humanitarian agency Church World Service is dealing within those realities and says it now is expanding its work to help families recover where they are and to support host communities stretched to accommodate migrating survivors. - April 30, 2010

• CWS updated appeal: 2010 Haiti earthquake -- Appeal #6762
Three months after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, CWS continues emergency activities focused on some of the country's most vulnerable citizens. At the same time, in response to evolving needs in Haiti, CWS is expanding its efforts to include the longer-term recovery and development programs that are necessary to truly enable Haiti to build back better. - April 26, 2010

• Back to basics: The quest for food security in Haiti
Food security is not an abstraction. Ask teacher Marie Therese Mayard. Having survived the initial Jan. 12 earthquake, Mayard, 65, spent her first days in a tent next to a nunnery run by the Daughters of Wisdom, a Roman Catholic religious order, in the city of Petit Goave, southwest of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. - April 21, 2010

• Food security, agriculture must head Haiti priorities, NGOs tell donor conference
On the eve of a major donors' conference March 31 at the United Nations that will help decide the future of earthquake-devastated Haiti, humanitarian agencies Church World Service and Christian Aid are calling for greater focus on food security and agriculture and the creation of a core commission of respected Haitian citizens to help oversee work and ensure that any proposed reconstruction plan "stay the course" and show impartiality in efforts to rebuild Haiti. - March 20, 2010

• PDF icon Konstwi yon Ayiti ki Meyè ("Building a Better Haiti," Creole translation) - March 30, 2010

• From the CWS Board of Directors, PDF icon "A Statement for a Just and Compassionate Response to the January 12, 2010, Earthquake in Haiti," - issued March 11, 2010 

• Haiti: In acts of kindness after a disaster, two countries become closer
It is no secret that before Haiti's recent devastating earthquake, Haiti and the Dominican Republic were not the most cordial of neighbors. Differences based on language and culture Creole and French are spoken in Haiti, Spanish in the Dominican Republic have contributed to uncomfortable tensions, as have racial discrimination and prejudice experienced by Haitians living and working in the more prosperous Dominican Republic. - March 30, 2010

• Haiti: With help and solidarity, a thaw at the border assists humanitarian response
A visitor crossing the Haitian-Dominican border into the Dominican city of Jimaní can be easily struck by the natural surroundings. The stark, chalky rock that borders Étang Saumâtre, a strikingly blue, salt water lake that happens to be Haiti's largest body of water, soon melds into the lush green slopes of the Dominican Republic mountainside startling in contrast to the deforested hills and valley of its neighbor. - March 30, 2010

• In the ongoing humanitarian response in Haiti, 'dignity' is no mere watchword
In the immediate weeks following the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake, a number of Haitians said that recovering from the disaster signaled a new start for Haiti, a chance to rebuild the country as if from scratch. - March 23, 2010

• Broadway stars fill the night with music for Haiti relief
A veritable galaxy of stars of the Broadway stage, the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall came together for a benefit concert, "Sending our Love to Haiti," at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey.  The real stars of the evening, though, were the churches, synagogues and mosque from northern New Jersey that organized and supported the February 21 concert to support relief efforts for survivors of the January earthquake in Haiti. - March 19, 2010

• The power of partnership in Haiti
In the rush to respond to a major disaster like the Haiti earthquake, the importance of partnerships between local Haitian organizations and humanitarian groups based in the United States like Church World Service may be overlooked. - March 19, 2010

• Clean water: Essential in Haiti and around the world
World Water Day 2010 commemorates the importance of water throughout the world.  The theme for World Water Day 2010 is "Clean Water for a Healthy World," a reminder that 1.1 billion people in the world still rely on unsafe sources of drinking water. - March 18, 2010

• CWS Board says Haitians must lead reconstruction effort
The board of directors of Church World Service has "strongly affirmed" the need for Haitians to lead development and reconstruction efforts in the wake of the country's devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. - March 12, 2010

• Broadway stars perform in North Jersey to benefit Haiti
An array of Broadway stars will perform Sunday, February 21, at the Bergen Performing Arts Center (PAC) in Englewood, New Jersey, in a benefit concert for the children of Haiti and their families.  The 8 P.M. performance will be preceded by a silent auction at 7:00 P.M. - February 19, 2010

Previous articles and updates:
  -  The quiet, localized efforts of Haitians assisting fellow Haitians
  -  Expanded CWS emergency appeal
  -  Haiti response update from Alex Morse in the Dominican Republic
  -  Skills, support will determine long-term security of Haiti quake survivors
  -  Heavy rains underscore shelter needs in Haiti
  -  CWS helps Haitians apply for Temporary Protected Status...
  -  After one month in Haiti:  CWS-supported ACT Alliance helps 150,000 people
  -  Haiti: Amid obstacles and frustrations "things are getting better"
  -  Haiti's many challenges reveal the difficulties of humanitarian work
  -  Haiti: After basics, many survivors need post-trauma care
  -  Haiti:  Food is key, now and into the future
  -  Haiti: We are accountable to the survivors, says a response leader
  -  Tithe Wall Street bonuses for Haiti" is rising call and web campaign from CWS
  -  Expanded CWS emergency appeal: Haiti earthquake
  -  In Port-au-Prince, "There is much, much more to be done"
  -  Jan. 22 - CWS situation update: Haiti earthquake
  -  Personal reflection on the disaster in Haiti
  -  CWS offers assistance to Haitian TPS applicants
  -  Haiti: Local know-how makes for an effective response
  -  Miami raises funds for CWS Haiti response
  -  CWS situation report: Haiti earthquake (1/20)
  -  In Haiti, CWS expedites medical supplies, turns attention to children...
  -  January 18 - Expanded CWS Situation Update: Haiti Earthquake
  -  Profile: Church World Service: Decades of service in Haiti
  -  Fine art sale to Benefit Church World Service Haiti relief effort
  -  Update from CWS Caribbean Liaison (audio-1/16)
  -  Expanded CWS Situation Update: Haiti Earthquake (1/15)
  -  Church World Service issues emergency call for Kits
  -  CWS welcomes U.S. announcement of TPS for Haitians
  -  Situation Update: Haiti Earthquake (1/15)
  -  Initial CWS Emergency Appeal: Haiti Earthquake (1/13)
  -  Church World Service Responding to Devastating Haiti Quake
  -  Update on CWS Partners (audio-1/13)

Video and Audio Reports

• YouTube video--Haiti:Three weeks after the quake, Chris Herlinger/CWS reporting
Impressions of Port-au-Prince and its people three weeks after Haiti's Jan. 12 earthquake. The international response continues as Haitians work to survive and regain dignity and normalcy. - February 1, 2010

• YouTube Video: CWS assisting Haitians with disabilities
Haiti's disabled population is particularly vulnerable following the January 2010 earthquake. Church World Service is working with the Haitian government to distribute hygiene kits. - January 29, 2010

• YouTube Video: ACT Alliance in Haiti
The Church World Service-supported ACT Alliance, an international network of churches and church agencies responding to emergencies, responded quickly to the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. - January 27, 2010

• YouTube Video: Paradise Hotel - Earthquake Haiti
Bert Marshall's moving ballad, written in the wake of a trip to Haiti in 2008, accompanied by photos from before and after the Jan. 2010 earthquake. Photos by Bert Marshall/Church World Service, Don Tatlock/CWS, and Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance. - January 27, 2010

Don Tatlock photo

•  Update from CWS Caribbean Liaison (audio)
Church World Service's Don Tatlock is coordinating the agency's response in Port-au-Prince.  Hear him describe the current state of the damaged capital, the effort to provide relief and CWS's plan to assist persons with disabilities. - January 21, 2010

•  CWS responds in Haiti
CWS Emergency Response Director Donna Derr talks about the provision of food, water and more in this brief audio slideshow with photos from CWS, Paul Jeffrey/ACT and Reuters (courtesy alertnet.org) - January 21, 2010

Opportunities to Get Involved

Make a Donation:  Haiti Earthquake Response Donations
Your gift will help provide life-saving supplies to survivors now and essential assistance as they rebuild.

Assemble Supplies:  Church World Service Kits
CWS Kits are small packages of supplies assembled by volunteers and shipped to people around the world

Create a fundraising page:  CWS Haiti fundraising pages
Set up your own personal fundraising page to raise support for CWS relief and recovery efforts in Haiti

Advocate:  Urge President Obama to Seek Cancellation of Haiti’s Foreign Debt
Ask the President to use U.S. influence to cancel Haiti’s remaining foreign debt and to provide urgently needed assistance without creating more debt

Spread the Word:
Network with CWS and share about us with your friends through social media:
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Worship Resources

Prayer:  A Prayer after the Earthquake in Haiti
By Diana Macalintal, Diocese of San Jose.  Used with permission.
Download a PDF copy:  In English | En Español | En français

Bulletin Insert:  Haiti needs your help!  (updated version)
Captivating photo and essential information on the recent disaster for you and your community
Download a PDF copy:  Color | Black & White

Hymn:  In Haiti, There Is Anguish
A hymn in support of those suffering in Haiti from the January 12, 2010 earthquake
See also a version with music, posted by the UMC Worship Office

Church World Service in the News

• Religion & Ethics Newsweekly (PBS) - Haiti Relief Workers
Program features pastors and volunteers working from CWS partner organization Servicio Social de Iglesias Dominicanas (SSID) and emphasizes local church leadership in response to the needs of earthquake survivors. - February 5, 2010

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