Solidarity Haiti

School site in Dame-Marie

Thanks again to each and every one of you who has shown your support of our efforts in Haiti, both through your prayers and through your generous donations. Through your support over the past month and a half we have reached our initial goal of $10,000. We will use this to help the evacuees of Port au Prince by providing them with a place to stay, and food and basic necessities. We have secured the use of a school building in Dame-Marie (left) that can house up to 400 people.

Cheron arrived in Haiti this week and Lynda and Odgnel are headed there next week. They are beginning the preparation work to get the school ready. The local boy scout troupe has volunteered to help with cleaning and setup. In the next few weeks we will begin relocating evacuees from Port au Prince to this school in Dame-Marie.

We aim to support these evacuees for as long as we can. We have funds to provide food and supplies for the next month. We will need to raise at least $50,000 more by the end of May in order to keep providing for the evacuees for the next 6 months.

There are several ways you can help:

1. Continue to donate money, as you can at http://solidarityhaiti.org

2. Donate your Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn status for a day to direct people to our website with the following status message:
Help our friends at http://solidarityhaiti.org by donating to help their relief efforts in #Haiti today

3. Help us spread the word by encouraging your family and friends to donate.

Thanks again, we will post photos as soon as our team returns from this trip at the end of March.

Source (AP)

We’d like to thank our network of family and friends for their immediate support in the aftermath of the January 12th earthquake. Many of you have asked us how you can help directly.

Our charity, Solidarity Dame-Marian, is a 501c3 registered charity based in Dame Marie, Haiti. We focus on providing schooling to children, but we also mobilize to help the community when disaster strikes. We have workers in Port au Prince right now working to aid in the search and rescue efforts in the city. We are collecting funds to send directly to them so that they can purchase medical supplies, flashlights, candles, blankets, water, rice and other basic necessities to give to the people in need there.

Please make a donation today, and spread the word to your network of friends. We’ll post regular updates and photos from our work here. We also welcome your comments and thoughts here on this blog page. Thanks for your support.

Note from the road | Lynda Rubis

I was traveling in in Haiti and was in Carcass when the Hurricane hit in 2008. Many homes were ruined and there was a dire need for first aid. I tried to do what I could to help, but the town was so isolated that it was hard to get supplies. This is something that many people in the United States take for granted – the concept that the government will send relief after a natural disaster. In Haiti there is no relief from the government for rebuilding. The people in Carcass had to find a way to rebuild their homes, and their fishing nets and go on.
-Lynda

2007

School-girl in Dame-Marie, Haiti

We’re happy to announce that we have just launched our Sponsorship Program. Through this initiative, we will connect a donor with a child who cannot afford schooling. A donation of $125 USD will provide a child with a year’s worth of tuition and supplies.

To inquire about donating to a child, contact Lynda Rubis at 786.380.2161 or info@sdmarian.org .