In Haiti, the needs are great and the resources are few. In 2000, The Haiti Connection organized to build coalitions; offer opportunities for collaborative educational, medical, and spiritual projects; and to provide information about the resources available to non-profits and NGOs. Our web site is one of the largest directories of resources for groups who work in Haiti. Each month we answer hundreds of e-mail requests for referrals, some for ill or injured children. Associates realized health care organizations often did not know what services each provided or where. There was no directory of the groups. Some services were duplicated while many areas had little health care.

  There was/is a need for increased communication. In the past year, directors of the Association Medicale Haitienne, Catholic Medical Mission Board, Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, World Relief, International Child Care, Management Sciences for Health , The Haiti Connection, and other groups, priortized needs, provided ideas for solutions, and offered advice on how to initiate the solutions.                  

  The Connection will establish a Haiti Health Coalition web site directory of over 1,000 health care organizations, cross referenced for the name, their specialty, and location where they work in Haiti. The Connection will add hundreds of additional resporces to its web site, that will be linked to the Health Coalition site. The resources will include educational materials for clinications and patients, best practices to establish clinics and build hospitals, and contacts to get medical supplies and equiptment. We will establish a referral network for children with burns, club feet, cleft lips and palates. Medical specialists will provide opportunites to use their expertise and to "show one, do one, teach one".

  The Haiti Connection is the primary contact for the Haiti Health Coalition's 10-15 member advisory group that will communicate via e-mail to exchange ideas. In  January 2009, we will began a seris of meetings in Haiti to present each group's projects and plans. The meetings will generate additional ideas and plans. We will co-sponsor an annual conference to provide opportunities for continuing medical education, collaboration on projects, and short courses on administration and program plans.

In addition:

The Haiti Connection researches and evaluates information for our web site, one of the largest directories of resources for non-profits and NGOs that work in Haiti and other countries. Thousands of people access the site each month.

The Connection established extensive networks that we use to build coalitions to work on collaborative projects. Each month, we answer hundreds of e-mail and telephone requests for information and resources for a variety of projects.  This provides groups with the information they need for effective, sustainable projects.

  We collect computers, soccer balls, medical and school supplies that we share with groups who need the donations for their clinics and schools.  

  Our computer project volunteers install new software on computers we donate to schools in Haiti. During the recent hurricanes, associates used some of these computers to access the internet and send information on washed out bridges and flooded roads. We forwarded the information and were one of the groups that established a network to help relief agencies plan delivery of rice and water.

 Our annual conference provides opportunities for organizations to share ideas. At our recent conference, groups that recentally established an orphanage worked with a group that planned an orphanage; people who had various water projects presentaed their experences and suggestions; and others presented projects on nutrition, technology, and legal issues.

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