In 1995 my family was in the middle of the Kobe quake ("The Great Hanshin Earthquake"). We were lucky. The quake killed over 6,400 people. We got off very lightly. Experiencing that event first hand was traumatic enough, but we are all now looking at terrible pictures from Port au Prince, and we hear that the Haitian earthquake may claim over 100,000 lives ...
It is a wonderful testament to humanity that people all over the world are rushing to help, just as they did with the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, which killed almost 230,000 people.
Whilst anything we can do to help today is critically important, once Haiti is "out of the headlines" there will still be even more to do ...
Jacqueline Novogratz founded and leads the Acumen Fund, a non-profit which uses investment capital to drive social change. I've blogged about Jacqueline before, as I find the model compelling. But this e-mail received today is worthy of a re-post.
"Dear Mick,
I've heard from many of you asking for suggestions of where to give and what to do in light of the devastation taking place in Haiti. It is impossible to look at the extraordinary photographs of destruction and despair without feeling your heart twist, wondering what it will take to rebuild and how long that process will require.
Right now, of course, the world's focus must be on helping the millions of victims survive.
As soon as that situation is stabilized, however, we need as a world to help Haiti build for a better future. That will take much more than money, but a more determined insistence on establishing the right policies and infrastructure to enable markets to work, better education for all, and investments in entrepreneurs that won't stop until they have solved tough problems or created significant numbers of jobs.
There are many organizations doing good work in Haiti, and Acumen Fund recommends two. Partners In Health has been committed to helping Haitians for more than two decades; and supporting them will enable greater focus on both short-term relief as well as longer-term investment. Architecture for Humanity will focus on the longer-term by building critically needed housing and community structures. We are proud to know the entrepreneurs behind the organizations and can vouch for their quality as individuals focused on doing the right things.
I hope this helps in some small way.
We stand in solidarity with our Haitian brothers and sisters and with people all around the world who are seeing how much we need one another, how interconnected we are, and how much each of us can do.
In peace,
Jacqueline
Jacqueline Novogratz | CEO | Acumen Fund 76 Ninth Avenue, Suite 315, New York, NY 10011 www.acumenfund.org"
Over to you ....
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