Last week’s terrible earthquake in Haiti has caused not only a staggering loss of life but also the destruction of its fragile medical, social, and economic infrastructure.  Health for Humanity is extremely concerned about Haiti’s medical needs and is currently seeking contacts and information to discern the best way that our organization, our supporters and our volunteers can assist the people suffering from this disaster.

We are deeply grateful to the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and Partners in Health, to name a few, for their crucial services in providing first-response emergency relief medical care to save the lives of those who have been injured.  Because Health for Humanity focuses on long-term health development projects, we currently have neither the infrastructure nor resources to immediately send volunteers to Haiti on our own.

To expand our ability to serve the Haitians as soon as possible, we are actively seeking new institutional alliances and associated volunteer service opportunities.  For example, The Vision2020 Partnership, a part of the International Eye Foundation, is in the early stages of collaboration with its affiliate organizations to build and staff an eye hospital in Haiti.  Health for Humanity supports this collective effort. We will keep our volunteers notified when opportunities are available to support this initiative.

If you are in contact with any groups that are organizing recovery work in Haiti, or have other information which could be helpful to planning activities there, please contact the Health for Humanity offices by phone or email.  In addition, we would like to encourage our volunteers to independently serve in whatever capacity possible with disaster relief organizations currently established in Haiti.  Information about other ways to donate or contribute to the Haiti relief effort is available on the White House Haiti Earthquake Relief web page (http://www.whitehouse.gov/haitiearthquake_embed).

As time goes by, we pray that relief will become recovery.  During this challenging process, Health for Humanity is committed to support the rebuilding efforts of Haiti’s medical institutions and to offer timely service in the cause of restoring Haiti and its people to health.  In the Baha’i Writings, it is written that “… When such a crisis sweeps over the world no person should hope to remain intact. We belong to an organic unit and when one part of the organism suffers all the rest of the body will feel its consequence” (Shoghi Effendi, Lights of Guidance).   Health for Humanity is committed to the unity of humanity and the recognition that we all share in the suffering and support of our brothers and sisters in Haiti and around the world.  Please join us in prayer and preparation for action in the days and weeks ahead.

In grief and hope,

The Board and Staff of Health for Humanity

Health for Humanity Administrative Manager Laura Youngberg and Leadership Consultant Grant Peirce will facilitate a Workshop , Health for Humanity’s Experience Improving Baha’i-Inspired Development Project Outcomes, at The 2009 Baha’i Conference on Social and Economic Development, December 19-21, 2009, Orlando, Florida.  The workshop is scheduled for 2-4:30pm on Sunday, Dec. 20.

Many Baha’i-inspired social and economic development projects discover that technical skills and training are not enough to transform and empower a community’s progress and development.  Health for Humanity has found that Values-Based Leadership training helps individuals overcome these difficulties and allow social and economic development projects achieve maximum results.  This workshop will introduce participants to Health for Humanity and the organization’s experience with integrating a Values Based Leadership curriculum into a Blindness Prevention project in Mongolia.  Participants will then have the opportunity to explore how the project model can improve a variety of technical training and development projects using case studies. This workshop is aimed at participants who are currently involved in social and economic development activities and are interested in sharing their experiences and learning tools to improve their project results.

Reversing a downward trend, immunization rates are now at their highest ever and vaccine development worldwide is booming, according to a new assessment released today by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the World Bank.

The State of the world’s vaccines and immunization reports that more infants are being immunized today than ever before – a record 106 million in 2008 – according to new data. At the same time, its authors are calling on donor nations to address a funding gap that leaves millions of children still at risk, particularly in the poorest nations and communities, where preventable diseases take their deadliest toll.  (Source: WHO/UNICEF/The World Bank news release)

Read the entire press release here.

Long-time Health for Humanity member Jim Ferguson recently completed the Portland Marathon and asked friends and family to sponsor his run for Health for Humanity.  Below is Jim just after the St. Johns Bridge approaching the mile 18 mark along the 26.2 mile course.  Way to go Jim!

Sponsorships, of a run, walk, or any kind of event, are a great way to raise awareness and funds for Health for Humanity.  For more information, or if you would like assistance in developing a sponsorship program for your special event, please contact Amy Puliafito, Development Coordinator at apuliafito@healthforhumanity.org.