Aid to Haiti

Before the earthquake, the South East Regional Office of the American Friends Serivice Committee was working on a school kit project here

There were two boxes collected but we we reached an impasse at delivery since the traditional method for delivery had been through visiting Friends and there are few Friends visiting Haiti. I had wished for them to be shipped so that Friends who were making the contributions could also contribute the cost of the shipping.

The Lambi Fund in Haiti, here,  works in the rural areas of Haiti, and shares Quaker values. They, had, at the time, agreed to work with AFSC in receiving donations in Haiti and helping to distribute them.

Although the primary need is always for money, I know that Friends prefer to involve their Meetings and particularly their First Day Schools in direct contact with materials and the recipients.

At the time of our initial discussions, with Patrick Lucien of the Edem Foundation, there was a request from Friends that the children in Haiti correspond with the donors in the United States. While this might be a lovely exchange, I would hope that it is not placed as a requirement upon the recipients, given their circumstances.

I would request that SERO, AFSC and all Quaker Meetings might consider this project as a way to reach out to the people of Haiti.

Thirty six percent of the population of Haiti is under the age of 14, as opposed to 13% of the United States under that age.

Mesi d'avant.