Pre-cursor to American Haiti Foundation?

If you read my previous post on philanthropic and service opportunities in India for members of the Diaspora, you are familiar with my take on the role that intermediaries like AIF, Indicorps and others play in linking resources from abroad with need in India.

I recently read this article in the NYTimes, A Parish Tested, about Haitian American medical professionals wanting to volunteer in Haiti after the earthquake and finding aid organizations on the ground to be disorganized, unhelpful while the need is overwhelming. Still, they go. And they would go again. Diaspora medical professionals are getting organized, putting together databases of volunteer opportunities, creating links between Haitian students and New York medical schools, and building a hospital.

Similar to the way that the Kutch earthquake pulled together the resources and efforts of the Indian diaspora, I see this as a moment that will pull together and formalize the efforts of Haitians abroad in the pursuit of development. I am interested to see the fruits of these informal efforts 10 or 15 years from now. 

I hope that the Haitian community and the Indian diaspora community will take this opportunity to learn from each other and share best practices. The communities are neighbors all over New York,  in Elmont, Valley Stream and Queens and probably in hospitals throughout the tri-state.  Let’s see what happens.

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