I have been in close contact with Susie and her husband. They were in Colorado during their annual holiday fund raising drive when the quake hit. Susan left this morning on some special flights to get her back to Haiti by Sunday afternoon. As you all know in disasters such as this one, children are most at risk. They are easy targets for predation, they are most vulnerable to disease and malnutrition and they are not capable of "fighting" for limited supplies of food and water.
Facts about her services:
- She had 2 orphanages with a total of 106 beds:
- She operated an abandoned baby unit in the Haitian Government Hospital in Port-au-Prince…which if you have seen TV is now devastated and overwhelmed. This facility handles an average of 25 children on any given day…but when the quake hit there were 32 children. At this time all are missing and unaccounted for:
- Her feeding program for children had 5,100 children in it at the time of the quake. Last year (2009) she served some 830,000 meals to children;
- She operated 3 schools for children with an enrollment of some 630 students. At least 2 of the buildings sustained serious damage and the third…in the countryside was relatively untouched. Many of the children are missing and unaccounted for;
- She operated a pediatric clinic which had a robust vaccination program and treated many of the tropical diseases encountered by children in Haiti. This clinic served some 300 patients a month on average. It has been destroyed and whatever supplies were there have been lost:
- She employed 146 people in Haiti and about half are missing and unaccounted for and others with situations ranging from unscathed to seriously injured;
- She operates a substantial warehouse 45 minutes from Port-au-Prince where, she indicates, there are enough provisions to feed her children for about 3 weeks IF she can get to it and IF it has not been looted yet;
- All of her trucks and busses have been destroyed or stolen. She does not believe there is one functional conveyance left.
Here are the urgent needs as she identified them to me a few hours ago:
- She urgently needs funds to acquire vehicles and fuel in the Dominican Republic so she can move her supplies to where the children are:
- She wants to evacuate the children who have no shelter to the warehouse outside of Port-au-Prince and create temporary living quarters there for them so they are safe from predation and can be fed and cared for in the period between now and when some sense of normalcy can be established.. In all cases like this children (especially young girls) are easy prey for the nefarious;
- Bottled water is in short supply and is an essential element of survival. She believes that with proper funds and transport she can move water from the Dominican Republic to Haiti for the children;
- Medical supplies are an urgent and immediate need both to treat injuries and to treat the inevitable disease which follows such a disaster;
- Funds are needed to pay for staff mostly for extra security which is essential to secure her food supply and to secure the safety of the children.
What we at World of Children have done so far
o We began a viral fund raising campaign within our limited capacity and so far we have raised several thousand dollars and more is coming in all the time;
o We arranged contacts for Susie with CNN and with ABC News. She has already been interviewed once on CNN, thus raising awareness of the needs of the children in this disaster;
o We have personally emailed all our friends and asked them to participate. We expect that to begin producing results this weekend;
o We have posted stories on our Facebook and Web pages;
o We have contacted other past Honorees and several have agreed to help already…Ashlee Smith is organizing a fund raising campaign in Nevada and will be featured on all the TV stations in the area on Friday night…Talia Leman is working with a group of French Clubs at schools in Texas to raise funds…Dr. Jane Aronson is reaching out to her network and offering her support…and others;
o The World of Children Board of Governors has approved a special grant of $5,000 and has raised individual contributions from Board members and friends to match it so we can contribute at least $10,000, and fund raising is continuing. As of this moment (Saturday 1/16) we have commitments of some $25,000 and we have set a goal of $40,000 by the end of the week.
Thought you would like to see what we now do that is different than in the past and how quickly we can respond when we have a vetted and approved Honoree on the scene of such a disaster.
We are coordinating gifts and contributions through www.worldofchildren.org where contributions of cash can be made through Pay Pal (indicate "Haiti Relief" in the notes box). Commitments of supplies can be made by contacting me directly and I will arrange with Susan Krabacher (Mercy and Sharing) to accept them.
All the best and Happy New Year.
Harry Leibowitz
