Not forgetting

A friend of mine from seminary, who now serves a congregation in Minnesota, sent out a group email a couple of weeks ago. She wrote about a gathering of folks in her neighborhood to respond to the earthquake in Haiti. The text of the email is below, and following that is a letter the group penned to send to their representatives. I've used it as a guide to prayer, to be a little more specific than "be with the people in Haiti." Perhaps it will inspire your prayer - and perhaps action - as well. (Don't forget, the Souper Bowl of Caring is this Sunday - we'll have a noisy offering for Haiti Relief - and a growing pile of cans of soup and boxes of cereal for the Gallatin Valley Food Bank!)

We organized a party on Friday night for our neighborhood to be able to respond to the earthquake in Haiti. We raised money for Partners in Health, an organization that has the best model for sustainable health care and has been working in Haiti for over 20 years. But since we had 3 Haitians with us, we also did a lot of listening and ended up drafting a letter of their major concerns, to tell our elected officials where their priorities need to be as we respond to this disaster. We know what a difference several letters on the same subject can make.
The letter we drafted as a result of our neighborhood gathering is below or attached. If you would also like to add your voice, edit as necessary and send it with a simple cut and paste into an e-mail at your congresspeople's websites. Lee Ann

January 23, 2010

Dear Representative,

A group of 24 friends, strangers, neighbors, but all partners of Haiti gathered last night to celebrate the Haitian spirit and to plan for the future of Haiti. Many of us live in Dayton’s Bluff, one of the most depressed areas of Minnesota; we feel a deep connection with Haiti in its impoverished resources. Several of us have gone to Haiti to work in medical care, adopt children, or do relief work. Three Haitians were also present and gave us accounts from their relatives in Haiti. They shared with us stories of the ground opening up and swallowing 30 people; they knew aid and food were not being distributed in a timely fashion; one woman had 11 relatives killed.

We write to you requesting your impassioned support of even greater and more immediate aid to the Haitian people. This list has ultimate development in mind, and is informed and inspired by the Haitians that were present with us.

1. Housing – February brings harsh rains that will further exacerbate aid distribution by turning dirt roads into mud pits, pinning aid trucks, and making fertile ground for mosquitoes in tent cities. We request urgent rebuilding of permanent dwellings in mixed-class neighborhoods, not tent cities.

2. Education – Building schools is of great necessity in the reconstruction. For decades the Haitian government has been unaccountable to the people as serious class divisions exist. In 10- 20 years Haiti will have an informed and democratically active society if education is placed at the forefront of development. Education will decrease fertility rates, increase the median age of the population, increase long-term goals for infrastructure, and result in less government corruption.

3. Reconnection of people in Haiti with Haitian-Americans – As with all immigrant groups, remittances are a major form of aid for the Haitian people. We need the US government to continue to help facilitate finding relatives in Haiti so that these vital links can be re-established.

4. Debt relief – Haiti must pay large sums of money to international entities in the form of debt repayment; for years this has been yet another hamper on true development in Haiti. Be a champion in our legislative body to forgive the debt of Haiti, the most impoverished country in our hemisphere.

5. Foreign trade – In the name of future development, we request the MN and US government change foreign trade laws with Haiti that would allow more sustainable trading. We in the US should preferentially invest in sustainable fair trade goods. We do not want a system of cash crops that could weaken individuals. We want empowerment of the local farmer and artisan to sell their goods in the US.

6. Aid distribution – We have not seen much leadership from Haiti until now. This is likely because many of them have died or are injured and cannot return to work. As the Haitian government is still resetting itself, the US as Haiti’s closest and most prosperous nation must take charge in relief efforts. With this leadership, further and future relief and development can occur through non-governmental organizations and through the Haitian emerging government.

7. Healthcare – We have been seeing death from crush injuries, now starvation; bacterial infections will soon settle in and the likely epidemics of camp-related disease in the months of February and March. We must plan for the future and create a system of public health that will continue for the years and decades to come. In this pursuit let the MN and US governments fully support the efforts of Partners in Health under the supervision of Dr. Paul Farmer, UN Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti.

8. Accountability – We the people of MN want to know what you, our representatives have been doing to aid in the development and relief efforts of Haiti. Please let us know.

Sincerely,

Name
Address
Member of Dayton’s Bluff Haiti Awareness Campaign