Six months have passed since the first devastating images emerged from the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, and they continue to pour forth. While more than half of all Americans made donations to assist the Haitian people, many decided to do something more, and traveled to Haiti to help. As one Tonic reader who volunteered with All Hands Volunteers in Leogane, Haiti writes: “My wife and I just returned from a week there and we cannot say enough good things about our experience. It is hard work — I mean REALLY hard work — and the devastation in Haiti is heartbreaking. But the opportunity to help is also incredibly rewarding.”
Hands-on opportunities continue to exist in Haiti right now — and the need for volunteers to help rebuild is expected to continue through 2011, perhaps longer.
At Tonic, part of our mission is to make it easier for you to get involved. That’s why we’ve updated and added to our list of organizations that need volunteers in Haiti. If you have skills that you believe could be useful in rebuilding Port-au-Prince and other affected areas, as well as the hopes and dreams of the Haitian people, these organizations want to hear from you.
Log on to the appropriate website. Make that phone call. Take that extra step, and get involved. And please send us stories and pictures of your trips at editor@tonic.com!
1. All Hands Volunteers is running a rebuilding effort called Project Leogane in the town of Leogane through January 2011. “It is a wonderful organization doing great things for the people of Haiti,” writes our Tonic reader. Currently, All Hands Volunteers only needs skilled carpenters, builders and people with construction experience. Please contact volunteer@hands.org or click here.
2. From now to mid-August, the Colline Foundation, which was founded to build a top-notch school in Haiti, is organizing new groups of 50 volunteers each week for a 5-day stay (Monday to Friday) to help with relief work, translation, teaching, health care or with a number of programs currently being facilitated by NGOs. Check out their website for more information and to volunteer.
3. The Global Haiti Initiative, an intercollegiate clearinghouse for development programs in Haiti, has a few spots open for their August 14-21 trip to Haiti. They will be doing work in Port-au-Prince and Leogane, as well as building a health clinic. A member of Obama’s administration will be joining them. If you are at all interested, or know anybody interested, contact Jimmy Toussaint at jimmy@collinefoundation.org with the subject line “Global Haiti Initiative.”
4. The Global Therapy Group was created after the earthquake to help meet the dire need for rehabilitation services for Haiti’s injured. The group created a clinic, and it is in need of physical and occupational therapists to volunteer for two-week stints through 2012, including one that begins on July 17. If you are interested in volunteering, please email dhutchinson@globaltherapygroup.org.
5. Beyond Travel Partners is seeking volunteers for short term (two weeks to six months) and long term (one year or more) volunteer positions in Haiti. Volunteers with expertise in English language instruction, youth development, agronomy, agribusiness, business consulting, technology, heath or education are needed. To become a volunteer, please send a resume and cover letter to valerieb@btpartners.org
6. Food for Life Global, a Washington, D.C. food relief nonprofit, is accepting volunteer applications for security workers and kitchen assistants to help with their vegan food relief efforts in Haiti. Click here for volunteer registration information.
7. Medical workers as well as non-medical volunteers are sought by The International Medical Corps, a global nonprofit dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and treatment. IMC is taking applications for volunteer doctors, nurses, and others interested in helping in Haiti. Go to their website at www.internationalmedicalcorps.org and click on the “How You Can Help” tab.
8. Washington, D.C.-based Visions in Action, an international nonprofit which helps several African countries and is committed to achieving social and economic justice in the developing world through grassroots programs, has a program in Haiti. Please click here for more information and to volunteer.
9. The Global Volunteer Network has opportunities to join a rebuilding and rehabilitation team to Haiti that needs people to work with children, teach, volunteer in health and medical-related area, and with building and construction. Volunteers will be staying in tents in a secure compound based in Jacmel and Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti. You can find more information here.
10. Massachusetts-based Ministries of Aides International, a humanitarian organization focusing on needy children worldwide, is continuing its work in bringing doctors, nurses and other medical personnel to continue helping out earthquake victims. Trips leave every Monday. Click here if you are interested in volunteering.
11. Some 12,000 registered nurses have answered the call from their union, the National Nurses United, to volunteer in Haiti, and they continue to take applications for volunteers. If you are a nurse, you can call 1-800-578-8225, visit www.nationalnursesunited.org or fill out a volunteer form here.
12. Both medical and non-medical workers can register to volunteer their services with the Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI), based in Washington, D.C. Relief agencies browse through the listings to find volunteers who match their needs. The CIDI, funded by the United States Agency for International Development’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, promotes activities and donations to help disaster victims around the world. You can visit the CIDI’s registration page or call 703-276-1914.
13. Habitat for Humanity International is taking applications from volunteers to help with its rebuilding efforts. Please click here to apply. Visit www.habitat.org for updated information on its needs.
14. World Hope International, a faith-based relief and development organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, is accepting applications from elementary and middle school teachers for its 2011 teacher mentoring volunteer programs in Haiti. To volunteer, or to get more information, visit www.worldhope.org, click on the “Hope Corps” tab, then click on the “Upcoming Outreach Trips” tab.
15. Medical professionals and French/Creole translators are sought by Partners in Development, an Ipswich, Mass.-based nonprofit that has been helping Haiti’s needy since 1990. Interested volunteers can apply here.
16. Healing Hands for Haiti, a nonprofit dedicated to delivering physical medicine and rehabilitation programs to Haitians with disabilities, is accepting applications for volunteers in health care — including doctors, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, speech/language pathologists and orthotists and prosthetists — and for support, including translators, skilled workers and students. Go to healinghandsforhaiti.org and click on the “Ways to Help” button.
17. The American Baptist International Ministries seeks a volunteer to act as its volunteer coordinator in Haiti. For more information, as well as information on other volunteer needs as they arise, click here, email them at bimvolunteers@abc-usa.org or call 1-800-222-3872 ext 2366.
18. Better Future International seeks a Haitian Creole speaking teacher to volunteer in the fall at its program in Haiti helping 11 orphaned children under their care. Click here for more information on the position and application instructions.
19. The International Medical Assistance Team (IMAT) is still seeking medical volunteers (doctors, nurses, EMT’s, counselors) to serve in Haiti.
20. The Socio-Cultural Movement for Haitian Workers (MOSCTHA) is a nonprofit organization founded by Haitian workers in 1984. It is the organization’s goal to help fulfill the basic needs of impoverished sugar refinery communities by offering them clean water, sanitation, healthcare, education, human rights awareness, agricultural development and micro-finance. They are in need of volunteeer nurses, therapists and teachers.
If you know of other volunteer opportunities that you’d like to share with Tonic’s readers, please give instructions in the comments section below. Or write to us at editor@tonic.com.
Read more inspiring news about Haiti Relief on Tonic.
Photo 1 by United Nations Photo via Flickr, photo 2 by DVIDSHUB via Flickr.