| Emergency Assistance for Victims of Hurricane Jeanne |
Hurricane Jeanne hit Haiti hard this week, especially the city of Gonaives, population 250,000, situated on low-lying land on the coast. Torrential rains caused the water to rise ten feet high at street level in many areas, enough to cover the majority of the city's houses. The number of confirmed dead was at 1,200 Thursday, and keeps climbing. Another 1,200 are reported still missing six days later, and 200,000 are reported homeless. The one hospital is knee-deep in mud.
The Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) is a group of lawyers in Haiti that provides legal assistance to victims of human rights violations. The BAI is part of the US-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH, www.ijdh.org). Our biggest case, the Raboteau Massacre trial, took place in Gonaives, and we have worked closely with the 50- member Raboteau Massacre Victims' Association (RMVA) for eight years. Raboteau is perhaps the most vulnerable part of Gonaives: low enough to flood in a light rain, and right by the shore. Most houses in Raboteau are poorly constructed by Haitian standards.
Many people in Raboteau were killed by the flooding, just about everyone else lost all their possessions. The hurricane is the latest incident in a very bad year for RMVA members: two had their houses destroyed in political violence in January, one was arrested and executed after the coup d'etat in February, and several have been in hiding all year.
A lot of people have asked us what they can do to help, so we IJDH is collecting money for RMVA members who survived this catastrophe, and for the families of those who did not survive. We will deliver every penny collected for hurricane relief directly to the victims, taking no expenses for administration or overhead. Please send checks to IJDH, Box 806, Key Biscayne FL 33149, with "Gonaives Hurricane Relief", in the memo line. For more information, contact IJDH at info@ijdh.org, or 541-432-0597.
Thank you,
Brian Concannon Jr.
Director
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti
