Grants & Resources: January 2010 Edition
To ensure delivery of this newsletter, please add websupport@chapel-york.com to your e-mail address book or safe senders list. To request a TEXT ONLY version of Grants & Resources please send an email with the words 'TEXT ONLY' to the email address websupport@chapel-york.com.
DO YOU HAVE A QUICK MOMENT TO SPARE? We are always looking of ways to improve
Grants & Resources - completing this questionnaire will provide us with valuable feedback to do just that. Click here (you will be re-directed to the Chapel & York website) Many Thanks
Cover Story: Haiti Earthquake
>What is delaying Haiti's aid? [Read]
>Telethon raises 'record' $57m for Haiti victims [Read]
> Social Media, Text Messaging Bring in Record Donations for Haiti Relief Efforts [Read]
What is delaying Haiti's aid?
The earthquake in Haiti has left an estimated 1.5 million people homeless and tens of thousands without access to food, water and medical supplies. The UN says the scale of the disaster is "historic", with its staff confronting devastation and logistical problems on a scale never seen before.
Here is a look at some of the issues agencies say have hampered the aid effort and how they are being dealt with.
Aiports & Ports:
While the main airport in Port-au-Prince was not put out of action by the quake, it is not equipped to deal with the volume of flights arriving. There have been complaints of huge backlogs, with some aircraft circling for hours or being diverted to the Dominican Republic. Paul Peachy of Christian Aid said it had difficult even getting emergency staff to Haiti. The UN says 150 planes are now landing daily in Port-au-Prince but the US Army, which has taken over control of the airport, says 1,500 planes are still scheduled to arrive. To speed up the process, aid flights are also coming into and out of the neighbouring Dominican Republic and in smaller airports in Haiti. Port-au-Prince's main port was also badly damaged by the quake and other ports in the area could only accept smaller vessels.
Safety Issues:
There has been concern about the security situation in Haiti, with fears that people not receiving aid would turn to violence. John O'Shea of Irish charity Goal told the Guardian newspaper he could not allow aid workers to move into Haiti from the Dominican Republican because he had "no guarantee that the people driving them are not going to be macheted to death on the way down". But while there have been reports of looting and some incidents of violence, other agencies say they have been impressed by how Haitians have responded to the disaster. A truck run by the US-based Catholic Relief Service was reported to have been overrun by desperate people when it arrived at a makeshift camp in the town of Leogane. But Adrien Tomarchio of Acted says the main safety concern has been for those people receiving aid. "The best process is not to start distribution at once and announce it so everyone comes," he says. "We make sure we can set up a proper secured distribution point, where people can come one-by-one. The aim is to deliver to the most vulnerable people first, then we also can focus on other groups."
Responsible Aid:
Aid agencies are keen to stress that the response to a disaster such as Haiti must be responsible and durable. The last thing they want is for the mechanisms they put in place to lead to long term harm for the people they are trying to help. Adrien Tomarchio, of French agency Acted, told the BBC the aim when distributing food is to get it to the right people quickly, rather than just get it out quickly. In the case of shelter, there is little point in building a camp for displaced people without confirming they will be able to stay there, possibly for many months. Agencies have had to work with the local authorities to determine whether the land is suitable, whether it can be properly equipped with shelter and sanitation. Land rights issues also do not disappear after a disaster, so agencies have to establish who owns the land on which they hope to build. As recovery begins, it is important that as many Haitians that can return to work do. A camp which is too far away from the capital for them to be able to travel in for work will benefit no one.
Source: BBC (British Broadcasting Company)
Organisers of the "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon say it has raised more than $57m (£35m) for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
The event, held on Friday 22nd January set a new record for disaster relief telethons. Some of the world's top celebrities took part in the broadcast from New York, Los Angeles, London and Haiti. It was shown on all major US TV channels, YouTube and on MTV in the UK. More than 100 Hollywood and music stars took part. Some of them performed while others, including director Steven Spielberg, singer Stevie Wonder and TV star Ellen DeGeneres, took telephone pledges from viewers. The actor George Clooney, who organised the event, said: "At the core of every religion is the belief that we care for one another, we take care of each other especially in times of need. "The Haitian people need our help, they need to know they're not alone, they need to know that that we still care." Haitian-born rapper Wyclef Jean - who set up the charity foundation Yele Haiti - Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J Blige and Shakira performed in New York. As well as musical collaborations, the show broadcast shocking images from the earthquake and interviews with Haitians. Many of the stars donated money themselves: Madonna gave $250,000 (£155,000), Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie gave $1m (£620,000) and supermodel Giselle Bundchen gave $1.5m (£0.93m). Clooney had donated $1m during the telethon, his spokesman told Reuters news agency. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio signed a cheque for $1m to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, which was started by former presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush. As well as donations from viewers, more money will be raised through the sale of songs performed on the show, via iTunes.
Social Media, Text Messaging Bring in Record Donations for Haiti Relief Efforts
Social media and text messaging campaigns that make it easier for individuals to donate to a cause have helped international aid organizations raise large amounts of money in record time for Haiti earthquake relief efforts, Bloomberg.com reports. As of Friday the 22nd January, the American Red Cross had raised $37 million to help victims of Tuesday evening's earthquake — surpassing the amounts it raised over a comparable period after Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean tsunami. And almost 20 percent of that — roughly $8 million — came through the organization's Text Haiti appeal, which allows mobile phone users to make a $10 donation to the organization via text message. According to Red Cross social-media manager Wendy Harman, Twitter and Facebook helped spread the word both about the appeal and other ways to donate to the organization's Haiti relief efforts. Other groups that have had early success with such tools include Yéle Haiti, the charity run by Grammy Award-winning musician Wyclef Jean, which as of Thursday had raised $1 million through its text-messaging campaign, according to the New York Times, and Oxfam, which received about $55,300 (£34,000) via an embedded link in a YouTube video posted the day after the quake. Meanwhile, countless groups are posting news from the disaster zone to Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr — updates that are then being shared with or "retweeted" to an even larger audience.
Source:
“Burst of Mobile Giving Adds Millions in Relief Funds.” New York Times
Source: “Haiti Fundraising Speeds Up With Twitter, Facebook (Update1).” Bloomberg.com
