To answer a few questions, these are the aid organizations with the largest presence on the ground in Haiti right now. Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, Oxfam America, Save the Children, CARE, UNICEF USA, and Partners in Health have the largest number of personnel in Haiti. Additional teams from other organizations are on the way along with food, water, temporary shelters, and medical supplies. Many other legitimate aid organizations have teams on the ground as well – these are simply the ones with the largest presence right now.
Many have asked why more aid is not reaching the people who need it. Ultimately, and unfortunately, it is a question of logistics – there is one small airport capable of handling a very limited number of flights. Military aircraft are designed to be unloaded very quickly, but commercial aircraft can take much longer to unload, especially with limited equipment available on the ground. These problems, along with limited fuel on the ground led to a bottleneck at the airport.
It has been difficult for aid to reach outlying areas in Haiti outside of the capital – many roads and bridges are damaged and rubble and debris from collapsed buildings is blocking many roads. The difficult question of what to send in first was and is still being faced in Haiti. Heavy equipment is desperately needed to help clear the roads and engineers are needed to help repair damage to roads and bridges, so that aid can flow freely. Food and water is urgently needed by the survivors. Rescue workers and their specialized equipment are needed to help search for trapped survivors. Medical personnel, equipment, and supplies are very much in need to help treat the thousands of injured. Security personnel are needed to keep the peace and ensure that aid is able to be distributed without violence. With so many urgent priorities, and a very limited number of aircraft able to enter Port-au-Prince each day, it has proven very difficult to address all of the needs on the ground as quickly as everyone would like. As of January 19th, around 200 flights are now able to transit through the airport each day. While this may seem like a small number given the vast amount of people who need aid, this airport saw an average of just 13 flights each day before the earthquake.
The US military is hoping to have a second runway opened in Jacmel within one day to help support Canadian humanitarian assistance.
As with many earthquakes, aftershocks continue to occur for up to several days after the initial quake. These aftershocks have caused further complications with delivering aid and have caused additional damage. Even so, the World Food Program says that they have been able to deliver food to more than 270,000 people. Over the past six days, the US military has delivered more than 400,000 bottles of water and 300,000 rations to the people of Haiti.
Aid is now flowing along the 300 mile long road from Santo Domingo in the neighboring Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince. Even though the Dominican Republic is much wealthier than Haiti, it also has a limited infrastructure that is not designed to handle the massive relief effort that continues to grow each day.
Hopefully this will help explain the situation on the ground and some of the difficulties being faced. There is a great deal of finger-pointing in the political world and blame will be tossed around, but it is important to remember the people in need. Donations are still very much needed by the aid organizations. Right now, money is the best way to help – while many understandably want to donate actual items, the cost of transporting these goods often is greater than their monetary value. At the moment, it is easiest for the aid organizations to use the funds donated to purchase exactly what they need in bulk quantities to deliver the most aid in the shortest time to the people of Haiti. Be wary of emails asking for donations as they can often lead you to fraudulent sites. We have compiled a large list of aid organizations which is being linked to by several news outlets and Charity Navigator is a great place to research many of the largest organizations helping in the Haiti relief effort.
Consider not going out to eat or drink this week, perhaps skip your morning latte or donut, maybe take the bus, walk, or bike to work – there are hundreds of ways to save a substantial amount of money over the course of a week or two. Even if you can only afford to give for a short time, every amount of money helps enormously; the relief and rebuilding of Haiti will be a process that will take many months and even years.
Please visit our page with a list of legit aid organizations and updated info: http://itsjustlight.com/?page_id=777 and join our page on facebook for updates on new information and tips on how to help: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Haitian-Earthquake-Relief/288681741232
