“The toll in human life and critical infrastructure caused by the catastrophic earthquake that struck Haiti grows as relief efforts continue. What is certain at this point is that once the rescue and relief efforts have been completed, there will be many years of rebuilding essential infrastructure and developing agricultural and commercial enterprises to sustain the Haitian people.

Hope Equity provides long-term support to Heifer International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger and poverty. Heifer reports that its staff in Haiti is accounted for and safe. The Heifer office was not damaged and the staff is still working, despite losing friends and family in the disaster.

Heifer estimates that it will be three to five years before a there is stable enough environment for its recovery and rehabilitation efforts to get in full swing. There has already been a huge influx of people moving to more rural areas in Haiti and this trend is expected to continue, which means Heifer’s work there will be even more vital and critical as the country rebuilds.

That’s why endowments providing long-term support for projects in Haiti are more important than ever. When you give to an endowment those funds are invested and each year a percentage of the endowment is made available to the area you have specified. The following are links to the Haiti endowments as well as our Disaster Recovery Endowment, which is utilized to support the efforts of Heifer’s country programs after a major crisis.”

Haiti Country Endowment
Haiti: Carolyn W. Reynolds Endowment
Haiti: Carolyn M. & Clarence R. Wenger Endowment
Disaster Recovery Endowment

Check them out!

I am going tonight to a fundraiser in Denver, HOPE for Haiti, at Jazz at Jacks as a way to be more involved immediately myself.

“As you may have seen in the news, a terrible earthquake struck Haiti yesterday afternoon. The earthquake, 7.0 in magnitude, struck about 10 miles outside Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. The devastation has been enormous, with many buildings destroyed and thousands of people presumed dead. This is the worst earthquake to hit Haiti in 200 years.

Kiva currently supports borrowers in Haiti through our field partner, Esperanza International. Esperanza is based in the Dominican Republic, but has an office and provides loans in Haiti. About 1/3 of the loans Esperanza posts to Kiva are for borrowers in Haiti. In addition, a large percentage of the loans posted from the Dominican Republic are of Haitian migrants who still have family in Haiti. Esperanza has told us that as of now, Esperanza staff are safe though they have several employees with family in Port-au-Prince who have not been able to contact their families and are very concerned. Esperanza’s clients are located in the North, while the earthquake struck the capital in the south. Most of their clients live close to their offices in the north. However, many of them have businesses that require them to travel to and from Port-au-Prince to buy merchandise to sell in the main markets. Their businesses may have been affected and it is possible that some of them may have been in Port-au-Prince at the time and been injured.

It is impossible for Esperanza to give us any exact figures at this time as information is only slowly trickling out of Haiti. As Kiva learns more about the effect of the earthquake on Esperanza and their Kiva borrowers we will update lenders.”

Right now in the immediate aftermath of this disaster , support for basic services including water, food, health care, and shelter is essential.  After the initial response and clean-up phases which will likely take quite some time considering the current conditions in the country, support for rebuilding will be critical.  We must stay mindful that Haiti will need assistance for years to come – even after the focus of the international community has faded away and onto whatever disaster is next.  Kiva will play a really important role in helping entrepreneurs get back on their feet and begin to again find ways to support themselves and their families through commerce.  Please keep your eyes open and when loan requests have been processed for Haitians and there is enough structure to begin making loans again, remember your support of even a few dollars can make a HUGE difference in someone’s life.