Help Earthquake Victims in Haiti

Dear Friends,

Reports are pouring in about the devastation suffered in Haiti after yesterday's earthquake that leveled most of Port au Prince.

Zanmi Lasante (Partners in Health), an RFK Center partner organization led by 2002 Human Rights Award Laureate Loune Viaud in Haiti, is seeking assistance to provide relief to victims of the quake. Loune herself is on the ground in Port au Prince.

I urge you to read the message from Partners in Health below and contribute to their efforts.

Thank you,
Monika Kalra Varma
Director, Center for Human Rights

From: "Ophelia Dahl, Partners In Health"

Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010
Subject: Breaking news from Haiti

A major earthquake centered just 10 miles from Port-au-Prince has devastated sections of the city and knocked out telephone communications throughout the country. Reached via email, Partners In Health staff at our facilities in the Central Plateau report that they experienced a strong shock but no major damage or injuries. We are still attempting to establish contact with other PIH facilities and to locate several staff members who were traveling in and around Port-au-Prince.

In an urgent email from Port-au-Prince, Louise Ivers, our clinical director in Haiti, appealed for assistance from her colleagues in the Central Plateau: "Port-au-Prince is devastated, lot of deaths. SOS. SOS... Temporary field hospital by us at UNDP needs supplies, pain meds, bandages. Please help us."

Donate now to support our earthquake relief efforts.

The earthquake has destroyed much of the already fragile and overburdened infrastructure in the most densely populated part of the country. A massive and immediate international response is needed to provide food, water, shelter, and medical supplies for tens of thousands of people.

With our hospitals and our highly trained medical staff in place in Haiti, Partners In Health is already mobilizing resources and preparing plans to bring medical assistance and supplies to areas that have been hardest hit.

Both our teams in Boston and Haiti are already mobilizing to deliver resources as quickly as possible to the places where they are needed most.

Thank you for your solidarity during this crisis,

Ophelia Dahl
Executive Director