Day 9 – Making deals

A great news from TW4H HQ! Our new volunteer Yolanda just hired Elliot as a photographer for her website! This is great because it means we have helped our group members’ expand their network and also move one step closer to reaching our goal of $5,000. Thanks to Katherine for working tirelessly behind the scenes as well!

Our new website is taking shape more day by day and hour by hour. It’s a labourious process and we can’t wait to share the finished product with you soon. We’re almost there! Huge thanks to Mark and Elliot for all your hard work. You guys are doing an awesome job.

It feels unreal to have arrived at Day 9. We know that it’s your support and interest that keep us growing. So thank you. Thank you for standing in solidarity with Haitians and holding onto the dream of Haiti being filled with joyous, hopeful stories of human strength and compassion. With that, let’s keep going.

We are looking for a local blogger in Port-Au-Prince to guest blog for TW4H.

Thanks Autoshare for promoting TW4H on Twitter.

Day 6 – Our day of reflection

Just because it’s Saturday doesn’t mean we stop our efforts to raise funds for the work in Haiti! We’ve had some significant progress in raising awareness and raising funds for the Haitian relief efforts (see yesterday’s blog about our mention in the Globe and Mail and by UBC Alumni Affairs), but like the aid agencies who are still removing debris and rubble in hope of finding survivors, we need to keep moving.

Today, there was a report that 24-year old Wismond Exantus was found by rescue workers under the remains of the Napoli Inn Hotel. Mr. Exantus, now in stable condition, was found 11 days after the Haitian earthquake and hours after the Haitian government declared that they would be ending the search effort for survivors.

While there has been debate about whether the search should continue, there is certainly no doubt that there is more work to be done. An estimated 1.5 million people are homeless and the city of Port-au-Prince has suffered a huge loss in infrastructure. While some camps have been set up to house the homeless, we should not forget those who lived outside the city itself, and for whom aid has been slow in coming, if at all. BBC News reports that in the town of Jacmel, an estimated one-third of the town is in ruins, and many survivors are not able to get the medical aid that they need.

Even if the search has ended, we need to continue raising funds to support the medical and health teams that are dealing with the aftermath, and to help re-build the local infrastructure. This weekend, send an email, Tweet or Facebook message to your friends, let them know about Toronto Works For Haiti, and ask them whether they can volunteer their services or if they can use the services of a volunteer and help donate to the cause.

Day 2 – More services added

It’s day two here at Toronto Works for Haiti and it’s been eight days since the earthquake struck Haiti. The number of the dead continues to rise, and the concern now is about bodies decomposing in open space, let alone identifying them or giving them proper burial. Nonetheless, the living needs to be taken care of too. Grandparents, mothers, fathers, children, pregnant women, and babies who have seen and remember everything. Yes, the aid is arriving. We don’t know when it’ll reach everyone who’s in need. With 1.5 million people homeless and 500,000 in tent cities, the need is great and urgent, and it will increase for some time.

If you’re visiting this site for the first time, a very warm welcome to you – we hope to see you participate as a volunteer or as a client. In fact, today we welcome Sophie, Ryan, Lida and Patricia to the team!

• Sophie is an amazing social media consultant and if you know what social media means, you will benefit from her expertise and experience. (We all see how the Haitian people were using social media to get the message out about their situation and communicate with their families!)

• Do you struggle every morning deciding what to wear? Ryan will help you with style consultation. Sit down with him and based on your lifestyle, needs and goals, you’ll get a chance to understand what you already own and go shopping with the style expert!
• Lida, being a highly sought-after editor and a proposal writer/evaluator by day, will help you polish your writing.
• Patricia is a great tutor and she’s waiting to hear about your learning needs.
• We’re happy to report that there will be piano teachers and more tutors joining the team soon. So think about what you have been wanting to learn! We will very likely have someone who can help you with it.

It’s great to see excitement and interest in our project. Don’t forget to let us know if you have any ideas. Let’s keep our hearts together for people of Haiti!