Stand With Haiti

Dear friends, I hope you won’t mind an off-topic post this week.  Many of you know that Tom, my husband, works for a global health program at the University of Washington, and that his group has an office in Haiti with more than thirty local staff.  Because of this, we’ve been receiving queries from friends and family asking for Tom’s thoughts on the best way to be of assistance.  He wrote a post about this for his blog, Bikejuju, and I’m sharing it here.  As a family, we are also paring down a little–eating simple meals from things we find in the pantry and winter garden, trying to use less water, cutting out unessential shopping.  I know this doesn’t really help, but it does keep us mindful that our tangled nest is part of a tangled world.  Peace to all, and here is Tom’s post:

For the past two days I have spent most of my work hours focused on the situation in Haiti. The organization I work for has an office in Haiti, with 33 staff, all of whom were deeply affected by the earthquake, including the loss or injury of loved ones, and catastrophic property destruction.

This isn’t a bike post. This is a simple request that you pitch in. I have selected Partners in Health as the medical organization I think is the best recipient of your support at this time. They have operated in Haiti for over 20 years, are fully equipped at multiple sites, operate with low administrative costs, and are scaling up very rapidly on the ground. I have visited their main hospital site in Cange (featured in the book Mountains Beyond Mountains), and I know the quality of their work first hand.

Partners in Health has set up a new website at StandWithHaiti.org.

There are also other good agencies working rapidly to respond in Haiti, including Doctors Without Borders.

Please stand with Haiti.