It seems I can't get off the topic of volunteerism, and perhaps I have no right to comment on it to begin with given my lack of volunteer history, but...   Today I received an email from the Haitian Consulate in Washington D.C..   I had emailed them a few days back as Jim from BonaResponds has been in touch with an orphanage in Haiti that is in desperate need of certain items.  Here's the back story..  The gentleman in Haiti was in charge of four orphanages that were all leveled when the earthquake struck.  While I don't know exactly how many children were involved, they were able to locate 116.  Currently, they are all staying on the grounds of the "managers" home, some living inside and others in tents erected in the yard.  He's working to give them some semblance of normalcy by getting them back in the habit of doing schoolwork, etc, but has been lacking the supplies to do so.   In addition, finding a steady supply of food, especially protein, has been difficult.  In talking with his contact in Haiti, one of the items needed by the school is 12V batteries, I imagine to run lights for short periods of time or to listen to the radio for news updates, etc.   But how do you get them there? 

 

Originally, Jim had asked me to work on finding out if anyone was shipping within Haiti.  We have means to get items to the island, but no way to make sure they get to their intended recipients.  As requested, I contact UPS, FedEx DHL, and the US Postal Service, none of which were up and running, and most of which were holding items at staging areas out of country.  My hope was that by contacting locals more in touch with the situation I could find some sort of delivery service that was at least functional, if not completely operational to pick up items at the airport and get them delivered to the orphanage.  To that end, I phoned the Haitian Embassy's consular offices in both Chicago and New York, but to no avail.  Not speaking French only added to the difficulty, though everyone I talked to was more than helpful. 

 

Today I got a reply email.  The embassy suggested first that the orphanage may already be on a list to receive supplies, but as the orphanage itself is no longer, I think this unlikely, AND even if they are, I'm certain they're not getting their secondary needs met to help with the children specifically, though I understand this can't be the governments number one priority right now (that was wordy).  More importantly, she suggested that DHL may indeed be able to deliver packages to locations in Haiti, which opens up a world of opportunity both for those on the island, and we here at home who want to help.  I imagine we'll get some sort of an address from the orphanage and send a trial package of non-essentials to make sure it arrives.  This was GREAT news to me!!!

 

I titled today's post "baby steps" because I continue to be blown away by what can be accomplished when many individuals all take small steps in the same direction.   I haven't done anything remarkable on my own, but my small effort along with many other peoples' small efforts is really making a difference at a time when it is needed so very, very much.  If we all took time each day to take one small step in the right, or at least a better direction, imagine what we could accomplish.

 

Upcoming Events:

Miriam Jones concert to benefit Haiti Relief Effort and Food For Haiti Now!!!  - March 26th, 7pm - SBU Chapel

International Service Day - March 27th - Everywhere!!!