UMCOR in HAITI, TWO MONTHS LATER UMCOR in Haiti, Two Months Later

UMCOR is part of the General Board of Global Ministries.

UMCOR SEARCH

About UMCOR Our Work How to Give News Room Get Connected Contact Us

UMCOR / NEWS ROOM / NEWS & FEATURES / ARCHIVES 2010 / 0311 - UMCOR IN HAITI, TWO MONTHS LATER UMCOR in Haiti, Two Months Later

By Linda Unger *

March 11, 2010—Two months after an earthquake damaged or destroyed three-quarters of the Haitian capital, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is poised to deepen its relief work and move into the early stages of long-term recovery operations.

“We’ve established a solid foundation now,” said Melissa Crutchfield, UMCOR executive for international disaster response.

“We’ve opened the office in Port-au-Prince and we’re operational,” she stated. “We’ve completed more needs assessments and we know what our approach will be.”

Crutchfield is one of four UMCOR executives who traveled to Haiti after the January 12 quake to view the aftermath first-hand. Some 230,000 people died in the disaster, 300,000 were injured and more than a million displaced from crushed homes and neighborhoods. UMCOR brings relief to survivors just days after the earthquake. “Everywhere we went, we saw graffiti that said, ‘We need help,’” she recalled. Mike DuBose/UMNS

Since then, UMCOR has been assembling the pieces that will allow it to respond to the disaster over the long term in ways it deems most effective, consistent, collaborative and empowering of Haitian communities.

Up and Running

“The biggest issue right now is logistics,” said UMCOR executive Sharad Aggarwal, who also traveled to Haiti following the temblor. In order to get operations up and running, hiring key personnel has been a priority.

After UMCOR leased office space from the Methodist Church of Haiti (EMH) shortly after the earthquake, Emergency Response Coordinator Anthony Jones was hired; he deployed to A child dribbles a soccer ball in front of a ruined government building in Port-au-Prince, and life Haiti last month. He will be joined soon by Operations Coordinator Azim Akhtar, who goes on. recently worked for UMCOR in Zimbabwe. Mike DuBose/UMNS

Jones’ chief tasks have been to continue to assess needs, refine UMCOR’s recovery plan, NEWS ROOM and represent UMCOR in the clusters of nongovernmental and international organizations Hotline News Update coordinated by the United Nations, with the participation of the Haitian government, to News & Features respond to particular aspects of the disaster. Archives 2010 Archives 2009 Archives 2008 Three aspects in particular are emerging with some urgency at this stage, at least in part Archives 2007 because of the approaching rainy season: construction of transitional shelters, livelihood Archives 2006 Photo Gallery development, and provision of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. Media Contacts

“The United Nations has just provided guidelines for the fabrication of transitional shelters, so now we can get started,” said Thomas Dwyer, an UMCOR executive who oversees the work in UMCOR’s nine field offices, including Haiti. “We’re coordinating with the UN, so we can follow their best-practice guidelines and standards.”

“There is a common assumption that an organization with as much experience as UMCOR should be able to go into a disaster situation like this one and be operational right away,” Crutchfield said. “We want to gear up to do this on a massive scale. We want to get a lot of aid to a lot of people over a long period of time.” “The way we approach our disaster response is to do the assessments, wait for the international guidelines and standards, and get the feedback and commitment from the local population. All of that takes time,” she said. “We now have the solid foundation we need.”

Partners

Partnerships have been indispensable in UMCOR’s efforts to respond to the survivors of the earthquake over the past two months, beginning with the partnership of the people of Haiti.

“Our disaster response success will be based on the strength of our relationship with the Haitian communities,” Aggarwal said.

The Methodist Church in Haiti has been both a partner and a doorway to partners at the community level, facilitating not only the acquisition of office space for UMCOR but, also, the identification of the most vulnerable populations and of volunteers empowered to serve them.

Churches in Latin America, the Caribbean and around the world have prayed, raised funds and offered volunteers.

The relationship between the United Methodist Church in the US and the Methodist Church of Haiti is particularly strong and “offers us an opportunity to collaborate such as we’ve never had before,” said Crutchfield.

Already some 2,000 volunteers have registered with United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, offering to spend time, talents and their own funds to accompany the Haitian people in their recovery. Across the US, church groups have assembled the components of more than 350,000 health kits. Generous contributions total more than $13.8 million.

UMCOR also has channeled funds to partners on the ground in Haiti “to spread our response,” Crutchfield said. Grants have been made to the Methodist Church in Haiti, Action by Churches Together (ACT) Alliance, Haitian Artisans for Peace International (HAPI), GlobalMedic and Global Health Action (GHA).

GHA is one of a dozen health organizations that sent representatives to UMCOR’s New York City headquarters March 11 to brainstorm long-term strategies to address important issues related to health in post-earthquake Haiti.

Challenges

Challenges unfold every day in Haiti, and UMCOR’s plan is to be there for the long haul. “There is an opportunity here to start over, do it better, do it right in Haiti. We want to do this recovery with the people, not for them,” Crutchfield said.

Gifts to support UMCOR's work can be made online by visiting umcorhaiti.org. For gifts by mail, please make checks payable to UMCOR and mail to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087. Please indicate Haiti Emergency, UMCOR Advance #418325 on the memo line of your check. One hundred percent of gifts made to this advance will help the people of Haiti.

Read a weekly report of UMCOR's relief efforts in Haiti.

* Linda Unger is an UMCOR staff writer.

UMCOR. Be There. Be Hope. UMCOR's mission is to alleviate human suffering—whether caused by war, conflict, or natural disaster—with open minds and hearts to all people.