Stephanie Walker and Chris Jones, Vermont volunteers extraordinaire, jumped in and began sending out requests for donations and were also able to get complimentary baggage allowance from Jetblue, with the result that we brought 9 bikes with us Read more
The Wasichana Wote Wasome (WWW) project has the goal to improve school enrolment, retention, attendance and learning outcomes of girls in school throughout Kenya. The project, funded by the UK government, consists of a consortium of five organizations, with AMURT being the lead implementing partner in Samburu and Mombasa Counties. Read more
Following the 2015 earthquake in Nepal AMURT has been providing skills and small enterprise training to 20 women’s groups in three communities in Sindupalchowk District. Most of the women participants are from low-income backgrounds. With AMURT’s support, the women have started enterprises ranging from liquid soap making, to tailoring, to vegetable gardening. Read more
Food for All is a non-profit organization that strives to provide emergency food to those who are in temporary situations of need. Our clients are generally elderly citizens, handicapped, or single mothers with young children. Each week we accept referrals from social workers who have been contacted by individuals, and in some cases, we receive calls directly from individuals in need. Read more
AMURT’s model of community-based collaborative healthcare in Nigeria has proven effective, with over 1965 successful births taking place in 2016 in the seven AMURT-supported health centers in three local government areas in Ebonyi state. In Offia Oji alone, 85% of the women are coming to the health center for delivery. This is remarkable given that previsouly the vast majority of women were giving birth at home or with a traditional birth attendant, a risky endeavor if faced with any birth-related complications. Read more
AMURT has been active in Lebanon since 2012 supporting Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese host communities. Since 2015 the focus has been creating a pathway to education, providing psycho-social support and giving youth a chance for self-expression and supporting their struggle for livelihoods. Read more
AMURT has been instrumental in normalizing school life for over a thousand students after the traumatizing 2015 earthquake. The initial focus was to make the schools useable again, so AMURT retrofitted 25 damaged classrooms, and rebuilt four new classrooms, in 13 schools. Read more
AMURT has been involved with the hunger problem amongst the poor and the homeless in Los Angeles for the last 25 years. Our breakfast feeding through Mama D’s Kitchen is legendary amongst the folks of Skid Row. It makes a huge difference in their lives. The program is maintained entirely by volunteers and public donations. Read more
AMURT is establishing a number of regional hubs in Kenya that will serve as engines of development into the foreseeable future. These development centers reflect AMURT’s commitment to long-term dialogue and action with local communities to support their efforts to improve life. Read more
Haiti: Hurricane Matthew
The most powerful Hurricane in the Caribbean in a decade passed over Haiti with devastating results. Violent winds and heavy downpours have deeply affected the country that has not recovered from the mega earthquake in 2010 and remains the poorest country in the western hemisphere.
We evacuated all the kids and staff at our center in Port au Prince the day before the storm hit, (no easy feat!). We were especially concerned for our center/school/children’s home, worrying the retaining walls would not hold up and we would lose everything to the force of the river. We monitored the storm all day, and were able to stay in touch with teams around the country via skype and whatsapp. The hurricane ended up bearing more west than initially predicted, sparing Port au Prince from being flattened. There was localized flooding, loss of homes and a number of bridges were washed out, but our center was still standing when the storm moved on.
All our kids and staff have returned and the school is open. Our team in the Southeast experienced tremendous amounts of rain and some flooding, but our school and all the programs are safe.
Unfortunately other parts of Haiti were not so fortunate. In the southeast, many villages have been devastated. The town of Jeremie in particu;ar was hit hard. In a recent report from a pilot doing a fly over he states: Jeremie, “It’s wiped out. Barely 1 percent of houses are standing. The people are alive … they survived. But soon, they may starve. They’re cutoff.” He went on to say here are some villages where they still haven’t been able to hear from a single person.
The Anse Rouge district in the northwest was badly affected as well. We have sent in a small team to do an assessement in the southwest and will follow up with aid. Here is an excerpt from the repost sent by our team coordinator in the Anse Rouge area in the NW:
“The heaviest impact has been felt in the coastal villages which have been battered by 10′ high waves and 75 kmh winds, destroying houses and roads. The main connection between Gonaives to the south and Anse Rouge has been cut off. The % of houses damaged moderately to severely is still being assessed, but it is already clear that the heaviest impacted areas have been Anse Rouge, Coridon, Point des Mangles, and Gran Savan. Fishing boats and equipment have been destroyed in virtually all the coastal villages. The extent of the damage reaches the mountainous areas all the way up to Commune Terre Neuve, with reports coming of farms and roads washed off and livestock lost. As of today heavy rains continue, the dry rivers in the area have cut off connections between villages, making thorough assessment in the entire Commune more difficult at this point.
The main type of assistance which we can foresee being most useful is unconditional cash vouchers to support families in shelters and those most vulnerable, house reconstruction/construction, livelihoods assistance (primarily fishing and salt livelihoods), and seeds/tools. We will be meeting with our traditional partners here in Haiti and will let you know what kind of emergency programs will be activated here in Haiti. I will be present at the National Emergency Coordination meetings in Port-au-Prince and will share all relevant information as well. Please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any questions, and we’ll greatly welcome any news of possible assistance for this emergency effort”
A big concern now is to make sure that people get safe drinking water and safe water for washing as the threat of a major cholera outbreak is very real. The doctors in Haiti are saying “though the storm has passed, experience tells us that the worst is yet to come.”
If you would like to be part of this relief effort, please consider making a tax- deductible donation now. Thanks much.
