Mercy Corps in the news
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Haiti: A lesson in how to help Haiti from Windham Church January 21, 2010
WINDHAM – A local church is pitching in to help relief efforts in earthquake-devastated Haiti by collecting donated medical supplies and food from area families, but not everything received passes muster. "The first bag I opened had bathrobe and some curtains," said Sally Stewart of Windham Presbyterian Church. "Whether it's food or clothing, this is not the place for the jar of pepper jelly that no one else wants. Beans, rice, tuna fish and salmon, those are the things we're looking for. This is not a place for things you're looking to get rid of."
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Haiti: Making your charity count: Along with Haiti, donate to "silent tsunamis" January 21, 2010
Nearly half of Americans say they've already donated to Haiti relief efforts or intend to give soon. The money is sure to pour in on Friday, when George Clooney and other celebrities will host a multinetwork charity telethon. (Who could say no to Clooney?) The generosity is both staggering and necessary, considering the devastation in Haiti after a catastrophic earthquake this month. Yet it can be all too easy to donate reactively and neglect the world's other aching needs -- the "silent tsunamis." So here's a suggestion to make your charitable donation go further:
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Iraq: Up to 10 percent of Iraqis disabled by war, sanctions January 21, 2010
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Amputee Hamza Hameed is a living reminder of the U.S. "shock and awe" bombardment during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, one of up to three million Iraqis disabled after years of war, sanctions and economic deprivation. He lost his right leg, amputated just below the hip, and the index finger on his left hand when he was wounded in a marketplace during what he says was a nearby U.S. bombing run.
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Indonesia: Tulsa native working in Indonesia's slums with Mercy Corps January 20, 2010
Libby Putman, who attended Cascia Hall Preparatory School and continued on to Boston College and is currently a candidate for a MBA at MIT Sloan School of Management. As part of her studies at MIT, Libby and three other classmates are in Indonesia for the month of January. Their assignment: To take a promising Mercy Corps pilot project and figure out how to scale it to help exponentially more poor Indonesians.
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Haiti: The Oregonian in Haiti: Hope, dread and heartbreaking scenes January 20, 2010
Reporter Kimberly A.C. Wilson and photographer Bruce Ely are in Haiti, covering the efforts of individuals and groups from the Pacific Northwest to help residents of the earthquake devastated nation. The two Oregonian staffers left Portland last Thursday and arrived in the Dominican Republic on Saturday after a layover in Florida. They have spent time with the group trying to locate Walt Ratterman and with members of Mercy Corps, the Portland-based international relief organization.
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Haiti: Portland Opera to host Haiti benefit concert tonight January 20, 2010
Portland Opera will host a benefit concert tonight, and half of the proceeds will go toward Mercy Corps' relief effort in Haiti. Visiting artists from the coming show "Cosi fan tutti" will perform their favorite arias from a variety of operas at the Scottish Rite Center, 709 S.W. 15th Ave. The show starts at 7 p.m., and tickets range from $10 to $50. Other coming benefit concerts in Oregon: Concert for Haitian Earthquake Relief
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Haiti: Providing clean water a priority for Mercy Corps in Haiti January 20, 2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- There is a fallen nursing trade school to see on this tour of a Port-au-Prince shantytown. Its elected leader Calixte Claude, has invited humanitarian workers from Portland-based Mercy Corps to test water from cisterns cracked by the impact of last week's catastrophic earthquake. When it struck at 4:53 p.m. local time on Jan. 12, the walls of College Ste. Andre folded inward onto some 90 young nursing students and teachers before the roof toppled downward, sealing the fate of all but a handful.
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Haiti: Portland radio stations host Haiti fundraiser January 20, 2010
Watch the video of this story by clicking here PORTLAND -- Several Portland radio stations were holding a fundraiser for Haiti relief Tuesday. The fundraiser was organized to help Mercy Corps in their mission to provide aid to the earthquake ravaged country of Haiti. Six Portland radio stations were taking part in the one-day radio-thon, including KINK-FM, KUPL-FM, KUFO-FM, KXL-AM. KCMD-AM AND 95.5 The Game.
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Haiti: Aid organizations with ties to Haiti step up their efforts January 20, 2010
As soon as the earthquake rocked Haiti, Bill Holbrook's telephone started ringing off the hook. He has friends there. In-laws there. And - with a resume that includes more than five years years working in the country - a background that made humanitarian organizations interested in securing his services there.
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Haiti: Infrastructure limits ability to move aid in Haiti January 20, 2010
A week into the Haitian disaster, the desperate and dusty faces of both survivors and rescuers tell a plaintive story: We need more, more, more. And fast. The capital's airport, the country's roads and its ports were devastated by last week's 7.0-magnitude earthquake, leaving Haiti's crumpled infrastructure the chief obstacle to fresh supplies as well as food and water. "The significant limiting factor in terms of our ability to move forward is a reality of the infrastructure in Haiti," U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters Tuesday.