Excellent, to-the-point post about volunteer opportunities in Haiti by Diane Herbst on Tonic. Lists possibilities both short-term, i.e. right this second because of the desperate need for medical people, and long-term, rebuilding from the ground up, ultimately restarting the economy and all that follows from that.
Personal note: Many years ago, we had two extraordinary babysitters, refugees from Mashhad, Iran, who had the courage to come here in 1979 at the ages of 16 and 17. As students of Iran's history know, Bah'ai communities have been severely persecuted there. The two young women were peaceful presences, always optimistic, and our little girls loved them. Several years later, Ferial married and moved to Haiti where she and her husband were pillars of the Bah'ai community. (Farzanah married too but stayed in Boston.) We've lost touch but of course my thoughts keep returning to them. Remarkably, or maybe not so, as I've been looking for papers and photos in the past few days for another purpose, I keep running into pictures of them.
