The terrible earthquake that leveled much of Port au Prince and its environs on January 12 revealed three important things about Indiana’s connections to Haiti:

1. In a crisis, Hoosiers are eager to respond with empathy and generosity. In the weeks after the quake, as many as half of all households in Indiana donated money to Haitian relief. It was easy. The images of despair and ruin flooded into our homes by TV and computer. Text-savvy kids donated money to the Red Cross with just a few thumb-strokes. Congregants in many of the state’s houses of worship set up special funds for recovery and rebuilding.
2. Even before the earthquake, there were far more long-term partnerships between Haiti and Indiana than anyone (including these partners themselves) imagined. Dozens of Indiana Catholic parishes had twin parishes in Haiti; some, such as St. Thomas Aquinas in Indianapolis, had sent more than sixty groups to Haiti over the years. Many Protestant churches had their own missions in Haiti. Nursing students from Marian University have been spending their spring breaks serving in Haiti. Hoosier-Haitian fashion designer Beny Martin was commended by the UN for his work on human rights in his native country.
3. While Haiti’s need for assistance is greater than ever, the opportunities to make a unique positive difference are greater than ever as well. Having responded to the immediate need for relief to Haitians, many Hoosiers want to continue to help build a better Haiti. Local groups working in Haiti would eagerly welcome the help and engagement of anyone.

Provocate’s “Hoosiers Helping Haitians” initiative seeks to provide an infrastructure for long-term partnerships between Indiana and Haitian organizations.

• Facilitate easier working relations between the different long-term local efforts to build a new and better Haiti
• Streamline links between these groups and organizations without Haitian experience and connections
• If other groups support the idea, help mobilize a large new effort to create the foundations for a decent life for a camp of displaced Haitians
• Provide easy and accurate information about Haiti to people in Indiana
• Conduct research on the most effective forms of partnerships between US and Haitian organizations

Amy King and a few of her Haitian friends