Mercy Corps in the news

Haiti: Mercy Corps' Cassandra Nelson returns from Haiti February 2, 2010

Stephanie Stricklen talks to Mercy Corps' Cassandra Nelson, who just returned from Haiti. Watch this television clip of Mercy Corps' Cassandra Nelon, just back from Haiti by clicking here
Haiti: Haiti disaster is unprecedented and needs international support January 31, 2010

LAST week, I left Port-au-Prince after spending a few days with Mercy Corps' team of expert emergency responders. My next stop was a world away: the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The two places couldn't be more different, but even in Davos, Haiti is front and center in people's minds. Haiti is filled with tremendous devastation and suffering, as well as amazing examples of human resilience. Against a backdrop of so much tragedy and a growing number of triumphs, a few things come into sharp relief. These are my lessons from Haiti:
Haiti: Oregon's beacons of achievement January 30, 2010

Hardly a day goes by without a front-page headline on the latest crime, conflict or natural disaster. Readers get tired of negative news -- and sometimes we do, too. That's why we've decided (for a week, anyway) to shine a spotlight on the positive. Recently, we asked 50 Oregonians with an interest in public policy to help us identify some Oregon "success stories." Everyone touts the Oregon beach bill and the Oregon bottle bill as signature accomplishments -- but those laws date to 1967 and 1971, respectively.
Haiti: Local Haiti helper returns home January 29, 2010

Watch the video clip by clicking here BOSTON -- A Boston-based relief worker has seen the disaster in Haiti firsthand. Mercy Corps aid worker Jenny Vaughan recently returned from the devastated nation, where she spent two weeks in Port-Au-Prince delivering aid to earthquake victims.
Haiti: In Portland, one Haitian's medical team makes a difference January 28, 2010

In the last few days, Bernard Ferere hasn’t received any more bad news from his brother. “We’re now just trying to pick up the pieces and move forward,” Ferere told The Skanner News from his shop, Bagel Land, in Northeast Portland. Working with a team of doctors in Cap-Haitien, Alain Ferere has been working around the clock to help the throngs of people injured by the earthquakes that have ravaged his native Haiti. Alain leads the nonprofit HACAOT, which organizes yearly medical trips to the impoverished island nation.
Haiti: Northwest aid groups defend Haiti effort that's been called a disaster January 28, 2010

You can't expect a seamless aid operation in Haiti when the capitol city has been decimated, the president has been left homeless, and the official base of operations is "under a tree somewhere" (as Mercy Corps spokesperson Joy Portella puts it).
Mercy Corps aid means first hot food for survivors January 27, 2010

SURVIVORS of the devastating Haiti earthquake have enjoyed their first hot meal since before the disaster struck. The emergency response team from Edinburgh-based charity Mercy Corps delivered more than 20 tons of non-perishable food items to the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince on Saturday. Rice, beans, corn soya-blend flour, vegetable oil, sugar and salt will feed 1,000 patients, their families and staff for two weeks.
Quake children's trauma help January 27, 2010

CHARITY staff trained in psychosocial treatment have arrived in Haiti to help child survivors of the earthquake overcome their trauma. Around a dozen staff members from Mercy Corps reached in Haiti on Saturday to provide post-disaster help to Haitian children using Comfort for Kids, a methodology which combines a psychosocial training workshop for adults with an interactive workbook that helps children tell their story of the disaster. It will help up to 100,000 young earthquake survivors.
Scots rally to aid Haiti efforts January 27, 2010

It is now almost two weeks since a massive earthquake hit Haiti but, as the search for survivors is called off, Scottish aid efforts are continuing in the Caribbean and at home. Alistair Cameron, who was working in Haiti as a financial consultant, said he was lucky to have survived the disaster. "I was in my car stationary at the time with some of my colleagues and our driver when the earthquake struck," he said. "Night was falling and visibility was very poor, possibly as a consequence of the crumbling buildings and the dust.
Food donations reach stricken quake survivors January 27, 2010

RESCUERS have begun to distribute aid, funded through an Evening News-backed appeal, to thousands of survivors of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Staff from Edinburgh-based Mercy Corps were today beginning to distribute nutrient-rich biscuits to nearly 5,000 earthquake-survivor patients and their families at General Hospital, the largest hospital in the capital Port-au-Prince. The food is vital for patients at the hospital, with many families unable to provide for injured loved ones, and others left with no-one at all after last week's disaster.