Supporting Haiti with Dignity and Love---17 January 2010Greetings and Blessings,
I can fell the heaviness of many hearts in this face of devastation in beloved Haiti.
I ask you to join me in supporting an organization that has been on the forefront of humanitarian care and has long had a presence in Haiti. I believe in AFSC and have known of its work for much of my lifetime it well.... www.afsc.orgI pray that you find within your heart the strength and the courage to face what is.... and the hope to know that your positive thoughts, prayers and efforts are making a difference.
The work of healing has begun and though it is a tremendous under-taking, we must on all levels take one step at a time....
As our hearts continue to break, we are called to action... let our honest compassion,undying faith and everlasting love be our guide to assisting those in despair.
Again, I ask you to join me in supporting an organization that has been on the forefront of humanitarian care and has long had a presence in Haiti. I believe in AFSC and have known of its work for much of my lifetime it well.... www.afsc.orgMay we hold all people suffering everywhere it our hearts and do what we can to assist them in love....Rev. Melony McGant AFSC Responds to Haiti Earthquake The SituationOn Tuesday, January 12, a large earthquake, measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, struck Haiti, killing tens of thousands and leaving untold numbers wounded, homeless, and without basic needs. Search crews are still finding survivors in the resulting rubble.
Those who survived the earthquake are in need of clean water, medical attention, shelter, and other basic necessities.
AFSC RespondsThe magnitude of the disaster prompted AFSC to immediately release $50,000 for the purchase of supplies for emergency medical stations, shelter, and other needs of survivors suffering from burns, amputations, and other serious injuries. In this first phase of response, AFSC is partnering with Handicap International in these efforts. As soon as it is logistically feasible AFSC will begin to identify additional pockets of need that are not being met by other providers. After the initial emergency phase, as resources are available, AFSC will commit our energy and resources to longer term reconstruction, recovery and healing.
You Can HelpYour help is needed to help AFSC support Haitian earthquake survivors.
Make a financial contribution to AFSC’s Haiti Crisis Fund securely online. Donations are tax-deductible.
Give online: www.afsc.orgDonate online to help Haitians now.
Or, support all of AFSC’s programs for peace, justice, and human dignity.
Give by phone:
1-888-588-2372Give by check. Mail to:
AFSC Haiti Crisis Fund
1501 Cherry St.
Philadelphia, PA 19102 AFSC is grateful to have received an enormous outpouring of generosity from around 2,000 donors in the first two days after the earthquake. Thank you for your support!
AFSC’s ApproachSince its founding to help WWI conscientious objectors serve those in need, the American Friends Service Committee has worked in areas hit by humanitarian disaster.
When natural disasters strike in areas where AFSC has programs or long-time experience (such as in Haiti), we work to meet immediate needs. And AFSC continues to work with communities long after the immediate crisis is over, supporting local people as they recover and rebuild lives and communities.
For more about AFSC’s approach in action, watch our video and read more about our five years of work after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
AFSC in HaitiFor several decades, AFSC operated a multi-faceted development program in the remote Grand’Anse region in southwest Haiti. In a rural area, we constructed the first health clinic to serve some 40,000 people, trained village health promoters, and conducted adult literacy classes. Economic endeavors included reforestation with fruit trees, providing equipment for fishing families, establishing cooperative stores to sell commodities at fair prices, and supporting the raising and proper care of indigenous Creole pigs and goats. AFSC turned these projects over to local leadership recently.
Melony McGant, poet, storyteller, humanist and world lover of children lives on HOPE; works to breathe in love, and exhales fear (false expectations appearing real).
She says "Perhaps our current challenges are wake-up calls for our collective awakening to truth."
And she believes that the truth is, there is no need for our constant bickering, our disdain for eachother, for wars and killing, for world hunger, massive disease, for discrimination, subjugation, or oppression.
She maintains that LOVE, even on a rainy day, is the answer to our dreams, our individual quests, and our future collective identity. "If we can learn to value our children, our elders, ourselves, and our Mother EarthHeart, then surely we have the power to impact society and to create a world filled with JOY."
