File - Rotary aid relief projects deliver hope to Haiti. SRT volunteers start to unload a consignment of ShelterBoxes in Haiti. Photograph by Mark Pearson of ShelterBox

Today marks one year since the tragic quake took the lives of thousands and left thousands more homeless. Rotary International has issued a press release stating their achievements over the past year and below is the full release from the international non-governmental organization.

One year has passed and we read much about how so many organizations have raised money to help Haiti and yet the money sits in the bank with confusion as to how best to spend it.  Not Rotary International.  While Rotary has not spent it all as yet, it has certainly worked hard at developing needed projects to support.  The some three to four hundred Rotarians in Haiti have shown amazing dedication in working tirelessly to help their communities recover from the earthquake, and then Cholera and then the hurricane and now the election results. 

Rotarians throughout the region still continue to support them so that they can truly work side by side with the Rotarians in Haiti to move their country to a more positive place.  Rotary has raised and donated to Haiti some $18 million worth of goods and services.  Rotary has raised another $3 million in cash to develop projects, primarily for the children and prosthetics.  The Donor Advised Fund for Haiti Earthquake Relief held at The Rotary Foundation has now approved 53 projects, mostly schools.  Rotary Clubs manage to juggle many projects at the same time, a feat which rarely happens elsewhere -  but in Haiti they do it.  Rotary District 7020 (Northern Caribbean) has now finalized a $200,000 commitment to help Haiti Rotary Clubs provide Cholera prevention programs in their communities.  None of this could be done if the Rotarians in Haiti did not do their part.

Rotary’s initial concentration was on rebuilding schools and provision of prosthetics, to this end, many schools needed to be torn down and rebuilt and some needed refurbishing. Some are completed and many more are in progress. When the cholera epidemic arose, Rotary added another arm to the projects and provided grants to the Haiti Rotary clubs to conduct prevention campaigns. These grants have provided educational materials, posters and banners, vehicles travelling with megaphones into the rural areas and provision of water purifying tablets, soap, disinfectant and chlorine. Once again this has all been carried out by the Rotarians on the ground in Haiti.

The Rotary Jaipur Clinic and Workshop is underway at the Bienfaisance Hospital in Pignon, a cooperative project between District 7020, several districts in the UK and The Rotary Jaipur Limb Project. The will provide  limbs, free of charge, to amputees.

If you would like to contribute to the Rotary effort in Haiti, funds should be sent to:

FCIB: 2345133988 (Rotary Haiti Disaster Relief Fund)

First Bank: 7282032263 (Rotary Haiti Relief Fund)

Scotiabank: 5001605 (Rotary Haiti Disaster Relief Fund)