One by One

Twelve months ago today, we began hearing scattered reports about an earthquake in Haiti. It took awhile to grasp the magnitude of the damage and the loss of lives, but we soon found that this was one of the most devastating earthquakes in modern history.

Amway and its employees and distributors were quick to find ways to provide assistance. Cash donations … flights for for surgeons and aid workers … personal hygiene kits … water filters … vitamins … deliveries to Haitian Amway distributors.

We quickly raised over $1 million, and soon began to plan rebuilding projects. Our efforts in the past few months have been focused on a home for orphaned and abandoned children through SOS Children’s Villages.

So what’s happening today? Well, Haiti had its problems before the earthquake, and in many ways it is still in emergency relief mode. Yet there has been great progress as well.

The Red Cross reports that it has 24 international staff and more than 320 Haitian staff and paid workers at our headquarters in Port-au-Prince. The Red Cross is currently providing:

• Transitional homes for 150,000 people
• Cash grants and microloans to help more than 220,000 people with basic needs and to invest in small businesses
• Clean drinking water for 317,000 people each day
• Disaster preparedness programs to protect 500,000 people
• Medical treatment at health facilities for 217,000 people
• Community-based health services for 288,000 people
• Emergency shelter materials for more than 860,000 people
• Latrines for 265,000 people
• Emergency supplies for 125,000 people for use during hurricane season

SOS Children’s Village recently sent this update:

• The SOS Children’s Village in Santo, outside of Port-au-Prince, tripled in size. 421 children who lost their biological families now have stable homes at SOS-Santo. 124 children lived there prior to the earthquake.
• At 100 distribution centers, SOS is currently providing 14,000 Haitian children per day with a nutritious meal. During the peak of the crisis, SOS fed 24,000 children per day.
• School enrollment at the SOS Hermann Gmeiner School in the Santo Village has doubled to 921 children. Classes are now offered in two shifts for 1st through 9th grades.
• Last January, the SOS Children’s Village in Santo proved a safe haven for 33 Haitian children whom U.S. missionaries attempted to transport to the Dominican Republic without proper documentation. SOS worked with Haitian child protection authorities to identify the biological families of these children and to reunite them.

Today is a good day to pause and take stock, pray for our friends and neighbors in Haiti, and remember those who are lost. It’s also a time to deepen our efforts to help. If you haven’t participated yet, please consider a donation through our Haiti Project.

Thanks to all the Amway employees, distributors, customers and friends around the world who continue to make a difference … one by one!