A Joyful Giver: Haiti one year on

Facts & Figures:

One year after a devastating earthquake hit Haiti, killing at least 250,000 and leaving about 1.5 million homeless, about half of the refugees still live in tents, with no immediate relief in sight.

Quake-affected Haitians have been living in "provisional" camps set up by international aid organisations working in Haiti since the quake on Jan. 12, 2010.
There are many ongoing projects to relieve the plight of the country's refugees, who lost everything to a natural disaster within 20 seconds -- the duration of the earthquake.

Many buildings were illegally constructed.

20 secs to raise a city to the ground.

No improvements:

Camp life...

Life in refugee camps as you can imagine is hard, and by all accounts coming out of the country  there is little hope that things will change anytime soon. Haitians sharing their personal stories say there has been little improvement in the year since last January’s earthquake, some of them have accepted the possibility that their lives may never improve. Others continue to hope and pray that it will.

Hope:

From looking at the numerous images online a spirit of hope reigns in the air and the resilience of the people are evident as outside the tent camps, there are visual messages of hope. Spray-painted on to buildings around Port-au-Prince is the message ‘Haiti pap peri’ – Haiti will not perish.

Hope

Support: 

Support in many ways continues. Countless people in the UK have donated money (including myself) to various organisations, others have gone as far as to donate clothes, shoes and canned foods in the hope of helping in some way. One UK project working on making a difference is One by One for Haiti. The project objective is to continue to raise awareness and much need financial funds for the survivors of Haiti through the creative endeavours of a selection of UK based singers, spoken word artists and songwriters.

Creativity & Giving:

One such singer songwriter and now producer is my client Bashiyra who in November last year recorded her lead vocal contribution to the charity single entitled ‘UK Artist Collective Present: One by One for Haiti’ due out at the end of this month, as well as contributing an original song-writing and vocal composition called 'Every Day People' which will be included in the forthcoming album project.  

Bashiyra said: "My involvement in the project One by One For Haiti was ignited by a genuine vision to continue to further raise awareness of the country's plight as well as to offer my support to the earthquake survivors in the continued mammoth task ahead of them one year on in the recovery of their identities and thus their lives after such a catastrophic natural disaster. This project concept allowed me the creative access and opportunity to give back and to participate via my song-writing skills and vocal inclusion on the project single and album. I am honoured to be included in such a worthwhile cause and I hope that all the financial proceeds raised from the single and album release go some way into aiding Haiti and its survivors to get back on 'their feet' and to get on with their lives in the best way possible."

To check out the promotional video click here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTPP7R6BOnc

All proceeds raised from the single and album will go to United Haitians UK (UHUK) and Christian Aid.

Like a Phoenix:

Read the cover story (pg 6-7) in the current issue of Christian Aid News: Haiti Will Build Back Better http://digitalcan.christianaid.org.uk/