Claire Deroche received this email from Cassandra Ryan of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC in answer to her query about the situation in Haiti. Cassandra welcomed sharing it with the Shelter Rock community.
Dear Claire,
Thank you for being in touch about the crisis in Haiti. It’s a horrendous situation, made more difficult by the fact that securing news from partners working inside the country has been near impossible. We are awaiting response from our partners and hoping that we can provide additional emergency support to help but do not yet have specifics.
The projects that UUSC had been involved with had shown such promise—it was a joy to see the growth around the Eco Villages. Our partners, MPP, who led the Eco Village project (as you know!), are located in the Central Plateau, and seem to be okay for the time. Another partner group, Ayibo Post, has offices in Port-au-Prince, but we have heard that the staff were able to leave the city. A longtime partner, GARR, operates near the border with the Dominican Republic, and are reportedly safe. Other partners, who work and live both in Haiti and the U.S., are here (in the U.S.) now and reportedly safe. Though we don’t yet know what this means for the work in-country, beyond pressuring the U.S. Government to work on solutions with Haiti led groups—to follow the “nothing about us, without us” rule.
UUSC plans to issue an emergency appeal as soon, as we learn more about the scope and how we can support our partners. In the meantime, we have released this statement, though it is mostly a declaration of UUSC’s support for the Haitian people. I am sorry that we do not yet have more information to share but I will get that to you as soon as we hear from folks on the ground.
Thank you, again, for being in touch, Claire, and for yours and Rev. Natalie’s concern for our partners and people living in Haiti.
Warmest wishes,
Cassandra
Cassandra Ryan (she/her)|
Vice President, Development
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
689 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139
Office: 617-301-4340 | Mobile: 617-230-0578
cryan@uusc.org | www.uusc.org
Submitted by Claire Deroche
UUCSR Social Justice Coordinator