"The Talmud reads, 'Never pray in a room without windows.' Never pray without the world in mind, in other words. The purpose of the spiritual life is not to save us from reality. It is to enable us to go on co-creating it." Sr. Joan Chittister
There are so very many ways for us to direct some charity to the building of Haiti. Experts would agree with my use of the word
building instead of
rebuilding. During my stint at the United Nations, beginning in 1979, my Haitian colleagues would relate the state of affairs (or lack thereof) of their governmental infrastructure. It was no surprise that - when the quake hit - Haiti was ill prepared for its consequences. A quick read on
Wikipedia will give you some background.
Let me list here websites, articles and
blogsites that will give you specifics about what is going on and how you might help:
Websites and Church Dispatches:
For 'All Haiti, All the Time' there is no better place to go than:
http://web.me.com/merelaurens/GoIntoTheWorld/Go_Into_The_World/Go_Into_The_World.htmlThe Rev. Lauren Stanley was appointed Missionary of The Episcopal Church to the Diocese of Haiti in September 2009.
For the
Francophone's among us, go to the website of the Diocese of Haiti:
http://www.egliseepiscopaledhaiti.org/; an English version of some articles can be found at:
http://www.egliseepiscopaledhaiti.org/Crise_of_Haiti.html (n.b.
crise= crisis).
The Sisters of St. Margaret have been involved in ministry in Haiti for years. Their website will give you additional information and resources:
http://www.ssmbos.com/As always, videos and articles are posted on
Episcopal Life Online, including photos and a message from our Presiding Bishop:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/episcopal_life.htm.
The Anglican Church of Canada keeps us all updated on its activities at:
http://news.anglican.ca/news/stories/2167For information about the response by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is involved in, go to:
http://blogs.elca.org/disasterresponse/haiti.
To make contributions:
We here at The Farm recommend Episcopal Relief and Development:
http://www.er-d.org/.
To donate or for medical personnel to volunteer, go to:
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ or
http://www.redcross.org/.
The
Huffington Post has an extensive list of organizations providing aid to Haiti:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/haiti-earthquake-relief-h_n_421014.html.
Other:
A Presbyterian pastor has written a hymn for Haiti, posted on the website of the National Council of Churches:
http://www.ncccusa.org/news/100115gillettehymn.html
