Shiny Side Up
15th Jan 2010, 19:44
I was in Haiti last month working on an Aviation For Humanity project to fly Project Medishare doctors from Port au Prince up into the rural central plateau to help people living in desperate poverty. I was also lucky enough to work with a local foundation that was teaching young Haitian students to fly and giving them a chance at a real future. More about AFH: AFH - Aviation For Humanity (http://www.afh.aero)
The earthquake that hit the country is a catastrophe of unimaginable scope for the people of Haiti. You may have heard that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, where 80% of the people below the poverty line. Their lives were incredibly difficult before the quake hit, and now they are faced with no shelter, no running water, and no electricity. Hospitals have suffered major damage, and are completely overwhelmed with casualties. Bodies are lying in the streets where they fell.
I’m getting on a plane to Haiti on the weekend, to look for people I have not been able to reach (all cell and land lines are down), and to assist survivors in any way I can. There is a possibility we can start flying supplies in from the Dominican Republic with one of the foundation planes based in Port au Prince, but of course there is no way to coordinate this until I am there. I’ll also be taking medical supplies to Project Medishare, which has set up a trauma centre in one of the hangars at the airport, and on the street outside a small hotel in Petionville.
The last trip I made to Haiti took up the remainder of the AFH budget set aside for projects in Haiti for the next few months. If you are like me, you want to know that a charitable donation is actually going to make a difference, rather than going towards advertising or office administration etc. Your gift will go directly towards costs for supplies and my travel to Haiti. I have set up a Paypal account where you can easily use a credit card to make a donation to AFH. If you are in the US, your gift is 100% tax deductible. Please click this link to go to the donation site: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=11185300
Anything you can spare will help put an extra pair of boots on the ground in Haiti. Mine.
Thank you,
Rymann Winter
President, Aviation For Humanity
The earthquake that hit the country is a catastrophe of unimaginable scope for the people of Haiti. You may have heard that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, where 80% of the people below the poverty line. Their lives were incredibly difficult before the quake hit, and now they are faced with no shelter, no running water, and no electricity. Hospitals have suffered major damage, and are completely overwhelmed with casualties. Bodies are lying in the streets where they fell.
I’m getting on a plane to Haiti on the weekend, to look for people I have not been able to reach (all cell and land lines are down), and to assist survivors in any way I can. There is a possibility we can start flying supplies in from the Dominican Republic with one of the foundation planes based in Port au Prince, but of course there is no way to coordinate this until I am there. I’ll also be taking medical supplies to Project Medishare, which has set up a trauma centre in one of the hangars at the airport, and on the street outside a small hotel in Petionville.
The last trip I made to Haiti took up the remainder of the AFH budget set aside for projects in Haiti for the next few months. If you are like me, you want to know that a charitable donation is actually going to make a difference, rather than going towards advertising or office administration etc. Your gift will go directly towards costs for supplies and my travel to Haiti. I have set up a Paypal account where you can easily use a credit card to make a donation to AFH. If you are in the US, your gift is 100% tax deductible. Please click this link to go to the donation site: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=11185300
Anything you can spare will help put an extra pair of boots on the ground in Haiti. Mine.
Thank you,
Rymann Winter
President, Aviation For Humanity