See our list of organizations working to make a difference in Haiti
I spent only two days in Haiti last year, to see the important work Population Services International is doing on the ground there to combat HIV and malaria, promote birth control, and prevent child mortality. Having heard and read much about rampant crime (billboards along the road discourage kidnapping), I’m embarrassed to say I arrived in Haiti guarded and defensive. But before I had even left the airport, a young man approached me to welcome me to his country. “I hope that you see what is special here, that you go home and tell your friends, and that you come back to visit us again.”
Over the course of those two days, I did see what is special there: a
people with almost nothing material, but with an unbreakable spirit and
an inspiring dignity. I met HIV-positive women in Port-au-Prince whose
primitive, cement-block homes had no running water, but who were
remarkably gracious and open, optimistic about their future and eager
to help educate others about HIV prevention. I watched more than a
hundred mothers, fathers, and their children attend a community meeting
where they were taught how to purify river water with a product PSI
distributes (fewer than 1 in 10 Haitians has running water), and to use
mosquito nets to avoid malaria. I met a young, brilliant, and beautiful
U.S.-educated Haitian woman who passed up lucrative job offers abroad
to return home to help the young girls who are sold into prostitution
by their desperate families. And I met poor villagers who lived in mud
huts, ate little but wafers made of salt, oil, and dirt, but who
welcomed us warmly into their homes. I don’t know what has happened to
any of them, of course, and am haunted by thoughts of the grief and
chaos that descended on Haiti yesterday.
Like anyone with a beating heart, I am deeply saddened by the news of the death and destruction in Haiti. But, inspired by the resiliency I witnessed there, I hold out hope that some good may come from this terrible event. With the world’s eyes focused on the island, maybe it will now receive the sort of attention and aid it so badly needs. Haiti is separated only by a mountain chain from the Dominican Republic, but in the minds of most Americans, it might as well be a galaxy away. Maybe now we’ll realize just how close to home Haiti really is, and how desperately it needs our help, and has for a very long time.
For now PSI’s Kate Roberts tells me that the organization is focused on partnering with UNICEF to get water purification kits onto the island. You can learn more about its efforts at psi.org.
Another great organization, heavily involved in Haiti: Clinton Foundation’s Haiti Fund
Complete Haiti Coverage on Truth.Travel
Like anyone with a beating heart, I am deeply saddened by the news of the death and destruction in Haiti. But, inspired by the resiliency I witnessed there, I hold out hope that some good may come from this terrible event. With the world’s eyes focused on the island, maybe it will now receive the sort of attention and aid it so badly needs. Haiti is separated only by a mountain chain from the Dominican Republic, but in the minds of most Americans, it might as well be a galaxy away. Maybe now we’ll realize just how close to home Haiti really is, and how desperately it needs our help, and has for a very long time.
For now PSI’s Kate Roberts tells me that the organization is focused on partnering with UNICEF to get water purification kits onto the island. You can learn more about its efforts at psi.org.
Another great organization, heavily involved in Haiti: Clinton Foundation’s Haiti Fund
Complete Haiti Coverage on Truth.Travel
Alex Pasquariello is a senior assistant editor at Condé Nast Traveler covering news, politics, and environmental issues. He is fond of almost any pursuit that requires a helmet and his favorite ecosystem is high alpine tundra in late June.
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