Friday, January 15, 2010

Help Haiti's Women

I have been glued to the television news reports about Haiti. My heart breaks at the images.

I watched a report this morning about children in the capitol. It was heart wrenching to see them -- and their mothers.

I know natural disasters affect men, women, and children...but I started to think this morning about the special needs of the women of Haiti. Women who are delivering babies this week without medical care. Women who are pregnant or post partum. Women who live in shelters for victims of domestic violence that may have been destroyed. Women who may be sexually assaulted or raped in this time of disorganization, as women so often are in times of crisis. Women who need sanitary supplies. Twelve year old girls getting their first periods without mothers or homes. Women watching their children suffer or die.

Women who need us to support organizations that are there especially to help them. International Planned Parenthood is seeking funds for its Haitian affiliate, Profamil, so that they have the resources to reach out during this disaster. UNFPA is seeking funds for emergency contraceptive care and reproductive health kits. V-Day has begun a fund for the V-Day Haiti Sorority Safe House, one of the few shelters for victims of domestic and sexual violence in Haiti.

Please help. Please pray.

1 comment:

Cynthia L. Landrum said...

And of course the UUSC which says, "UUSC's assessment will guide our response over the mid- and long-term. We will help grassroots groups get back on their feet to work with the marginalized. Along with them, we will focus on reaching out to survivors who are on the margins of the relief and recovery efforts. Our initial research shows that those groups include child domestic workers (restaviks) and women who work in the informal economy."