Washington, DC - Since last month’s earthquake in Haiti, communicating with our grantee partners and identifying a strategic plan of aid has been the focus of my work. In the short term, we have made emergency grants to aid in immediate recovery efforts. I have received periodic updates from our partners in the region and I’d like to share a snapshot of their current situation with you.

Pazapa (Step by Step)
Jacmel, Haiti
Pazapa ran a school to provide education and therapy for children with mental and physical disabilities who would otherwise have no opportunity for schooling.

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Chisinau, Moldova - From Istanbul, I flew to the tiny country of Moldova and arrived in a blizzard—which, I was assured, was as much of a surprise to everyone else as it was to me. Moldova, Eastern Europe’s poorest country, is bordered by Romania and Ukraine and has an estimated population of between 3.5 and 4 million people. Moldova is new ground for GFC, and because of its current economic situation and demonstrated need, I went there in the hopes of finding new partners to add to GFC’s spring grants docket.

For three days, I traversed snowy roads, journeying 1,300 kilometers around the country to meet with potential groups for GFC funding. I had the opportunity to visit groups in almost every corner of the country, all working on different issues—from providing inclusive education for children who are deaf and blind, to supporting clubs teaching Romany culture to children, to operating a crisis center for children and the elderly. Such diversity! Read more

Varanasi, India - On the same day that I arrived in India from the US, I took a flight to Varanasi (Benaras), a city known more for the Ganges and for Hindu pilgrimage than anything else. Varanasi is located in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh state. Mark Twain, who was mesmerized by the city, once wrote, “Benaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together.”

Very few who visit Varanasi think of children working in miserable conditions in carpet and sari weaving, or in sex work or in random jobs connected with religious ceremonies in this holy city. “I want to sign my name,” a 12-year-old boy told me, sharing his goal for the future while he briefly looked up from concentrating on getting the threads right in the weave. My visit to Varanasi is focused on meeting with a number of community-based organizations working with children from weaving communities. GFC hopes to build partnerships with community-based organizations with innovative interventions that enable children to break the cycle of oppression in which they find themselves. Read more

Washington, DC - Over the last few weeks, I’ve been contacted by many friends, colleagues, and Global Fund for Children supporters expressing concerns about exactly how the massive amounts of funding and resources for Haiti will be deployed. I wanted to take a moment to respond and share some of my thoughts on the situation.

I, too, am concerned that despite the tremendous outpouring of support in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, the resources and funds will be focused solely on large-scale organizations and projects. To be sure, a global panoply of governmental and nongovernmental organizations are vital to the short- and long-term survival of Haiti and its people. The scope and scale of this disaster requires mobilization and coordination on an unprecedented level.

But the danger in focusing global resources solely on large international entities is that as soon as the situation begins to become somewhat manageable, the vast majority of these groups will close up shop and move on to the next crisis. That is not a criticism, as this is the very model on which they operate. Nonetheless, their inevitable departure has the potential to dampen Haiti’s prognosis for long-term recovery. Read more