As we write this, Hurricane Matthew has slammed into Haiti, leaving thousands without shelter or food. The hurricane has devastated the city of Les Cayes and many villages in the Southwestern part of the country, destroying crops and livestock and reversing the gains in food production made by women’s agricultural cooperatives and other local farmers. Now the torrential rains and winds have hit the capital, Port-au-Prince. With massive flooding comes the increased danger of water-borne diseases, particularly cholera (brought to Haiti by UN troops), which has already reached epidemic proportions.
We ask that all friends of Haiti donate right now to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund. Your donations will go directly to grassroots organizations on the ground in Haiti. With the delayed October 9th elections to take place soon, popular organizations in Haiti are hard at work trying to help families and communities while insuring that the election is free and fair and that Haiti’s poor majority is not blocked from voting or having their votes counted.
Since its inception in March 2004, the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund has given concrete aid to Haiti’s democratic movement as they attempted to survive the brutal coup against their democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and to rebuild shattered development projects. We urge you to contribute generously, not only for this immediate crisis, but in order to support the long-run development of human rights, sustainable agriculture and economic justice in Haiti.
All donations to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund will be forwarded to our partners on the ground to help them rebuild what has been destroyed.
Our aid goes directly into the hands of Haitians. We give aid, not charity; we respect the people of Haiti and honor their commitment to lead the rebuilding of their society in the wake of this disaster. We have worked to support Haiti for the past six years, not just for the past few weeks. We will continue our work long after Haiti has dropped from the front pages. We hope that you will be there with us. We appreciate every penny, every dime, every dollar.
