Charitable Donations to Private Organizations in Haiti Critical Component to Ongoing...

Charitable Donations to Private Organizations in Haiti Critical Component to
Ongoing Food Crisis Relief Efforts
Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos supports thousands in need and serves important
role in community

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill., June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Haiti, the poorest country
in the Western Hemisphere, is no stranger to worldwide media attention as the
country's agonizing food crisis continues to escalate. Violent riots and
protests, the April ousting of Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis and
renewed pledges of aid during the early June U.N. Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) Summit are well covered and debated, and headlines and
photos provide a glimpse of the upheaval.
Story upon story relays the desperation of the situation, but for people
like Fr. Rick Frechette, physician and Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (NPH,
Spanish for "Our Little Brothers and Sisters) Haiti National Director, that
desperation compels him even further to do all he can to help the thousands of
children the organization serves in the region. For Frechette, turning his
back is not an option, and since he arrived in Haiti 21 years ago to serve
those in need, he knows how critical NPH's support is.
NPH, an organization founded in 1954 by Fr. William Wasson, operates homes
for orphaned, abandoned and disadvantaged children in nine Latin American and
Caribbean countries. Haiti's NPH home, St. Helene, opened in 1988 about 25
miles outside the capital of Port Au Prince. The 750 children who live there
permanently or receive support from NPH are able to go to school, live in a
safe environment and thrive despite the country's circumstances.
In a country of nearly nine million people, "Fr. Rick," as he is known,
explained, "The problem is that most of them live on $500 per year and food is
three times more expensive than it was a year ago. For many, it's nearly
impossible to survive."
The price of the most basic staples, beans and rice, has risen
dramatically with a 110 lb. bag of beans increasing 42.5 percent, and the same
quantity of rice an astounding 82 percent in less than one year. In some
homes, milk has doubled.
For Fr. Rick, reality means seeing funerals of more than 300 children per
month, many of whom die from preventable things like hunger, dehydration or
pneumonia. "It's really a pathetic situation and half of the children dying
are under five years old. They have to have access to care and it's tragic
when there's a gap between that care and available money," he said.
Because of extreme unrest in the government, the best giving strategy,
Fr. Rick advises, is for donors to funnel money directly to non-profit
organizations with a good track record of helping those in need. He said that
in this time of chaos, aid distribution must be carefully controlled. "We
really need to focus on getting aid to those who are most hungry and weak,
pregnant women and those who can't fight on the food chain."
He continued, "It used to be that you could assemble a large number
together to distribute aid, but given today's environment, it's now impossible
because in people's desperation, we'd wind up with an uncontrollable
situation. We have to manage the distribution much more discreetly."
Fr. Rick knows the challenges NPH and other organizations face in Haiti,
but his philosophy is pragmatic when it comes to helping those in need and his
faith has always carried him through. "Some people might look at it as a
challenge to address a problem that has no immediate solution, but the most
important thing we can do is keep working at it. With our help, these kids
can go on to have brighter futures."
NPH does not act alone in its efforts to help children most in need.
Sharon Saxelby, president of Friends of the Orphans, the non-profit "face" of
NPH in the U.S., said, "We work in solidarity with Fr. Rick and all nine of
our Country Directors to raise funds here in the U.S. to support the wonderful
work of NPH in Latin America and the Caribbean."
Friends of the Orphans, a 50-year-old non-profit organization, provides a
tax-deductible avenue for U.S. donors to support NPH, and is well aware of the
ongoing challenges. "All nine of our homes are suffering from enormous
increases in the cost of food and fuel and it is a crisis to which we have to
devote our full attention," Saxelby said.
Throughout his decades of work on behalf of the children, Fr. Rick had a
dream of expanding Haiti's NPH presence. That dream materialized when a
state-of-the-art pediatric hospital, St. Damien Chateaublond, opened in 2006
in Tabarre. The facility, which includes a neighboring dental clinic,
laboratory and public health clinic, provides in-patient and outpatient care
to more 40,000 children and adults annually.
"We see a lot more malnourished children coming to the hospital, more
desperate people coming to the gate, and the unrest and riots are putting us
well beyond our budgets for the kids in our care," said Fr. Rick, who was
primarily responsible for the grand vision and reality of the hospital. "But
we must never turn our backs to those most in need."
And Fr. Rick explained that while the mission of NPH Haiti is to provide
support and assistance specifically to the children in the home and support
programs, and those who visit the hospital, the organization regularly reaches
out to all residents.
"We're trying to help neighbors in three ways," he said. "We help the 400
people who work with us, 4,000 kids in the 16 street schools who need a meal a
day and local kitchens that serve thousands of meals to senior citizens."
"Investing in humanity is different than investing in a project, but
obviously, you still have to invest with the intent to solve it," Fr. Rick
said. "There's sometimes a lack of solidarity among people, but every little
bit counts, and every ounce of support we receive gets us one step closer.
The children deserve all that we can do."
For more information on ways to support NPH in Haiti or any of the nine
countries NPH supports, or to donate or sponsor a child in need, visit
http://www.friendsoftheorphans.org or call 800-690-1703.
SOURCE Friends of the Orphans

Blair Ciecko, +1-708-655-2045, blairc@celticchicago.com, for Friends of the
Orphans