By Aysha House-Moshi, Director, OPIC Congressional Affairs. This article was originally published on OPIC’s website.  “You can’t build a country without concrete.” The statement has particular relevance in Haiti, where, more than three years since a 7.0 magnitude earthquake resulted in extensive death and destruction, the country is still working to repair and rebuild and

When a massive earthquake struck Haiti in January, 2010, it shone a spotlight on the need to ease the dangerous overcrowding of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. So, after responding to the disaster with emergency programs, Oxfam shifted some of our focus to the countryside. Together with our partners, we ramped up our program to reinvigorate the rice economy of the Artibonite Valley, with the goals of reducing rural poverty, contributing to food security in Haiti, and—by making rice farming more viable—counteracting the continuous pull to migrate from the country to the city. As Oxfam’s Elizabeth Stevens reports, Haiti’s rice farmers are embracing the program and making it their own.

Dagfinn Høybråten, board chair of the GAVI Alliance, talks about his recent trip to Haiti for World Immunization Week. I had the chance to help protect a life today, the life of a little girl named Madeleine Isaac. My part was brief and ceremonial, squeezing out two drops of polio vaccine. Madeleine made a funny

Former ONE intern Veronica Weis updates our readers on the housing crisis in Haiti. A tent city in Port au Prince. Photo credit: Logan Abassi/ UNDP Two years after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the estimated half million displaced victims face a new challenge. With help from a $20 million grant from the Canadian government,

This time last year, I was in Haiti working with a sister city program and reporting to the ONE Blog. One of the most meaningful experiences I had there was when I met with the mountain community Savanèt, located near Jacmel. I had run into Jackson Jean-Batiste, the chair of their community committee Komité Relèvman

Here’s an interesting point to consider: Although Japan’s earthquake last week was a whopping two magnitudes larger than Haiti’s (approximately 100 times more intense), there were very few injuries or deaths reported in the capital city or anywhere else affected by flood waters. Thanks to strict building codes, land use regulations, and enforcement, Japan was

Check out this great post from Gail McGovern, President and CEO of the American Red Cross: Watching the news this week, it’s likely you’ll see images of how bad things still are in Haiti one year after the earthquake. You might wonder whether your donation has done any good, and whether there is hope. I

Frustrated by the lack of health care and resources in Haiti, ONE members Arnel Eugenio, a dentist, and his wife Jasmine, a pediatrician, decided to take matters into their own hands. Here’s an update on what they saw on the ground in Haiti. Many villagers wait in line for a dental examination from Arnel. It

It has now been nearly 11 months since the devastating January earthquake struck Haiti. Today, more than a million people are crammed into makeshift tent camps, making them vulnerable to disease outbreaks. In late October, Hurricane Tomas dumped heavy rains on earthquake-ravaged Haiti, leading to flooding in parts of the country. The recent cholera outbreak

As advocates and activists, a lot of our support comes from actions that we take in front of our computers. Once we type in our names for a petition or click on a link, the issue is gone — unless we take the steps to stay connected, of course. Screenshot of the site — pretty

The latest situation briefs from the Pan American Health Organization are grim with reports that the cholera outbreak in Haiti continues to worsen, 18,382 people have been hospitalized and 1,110 have died. As many feared, the outbreak has spread to additional regions in Haiti, including the capital Port-au-Prince where many earthquake survivors remain particularly vulnerable

Screenshot courtesy of GOOD magazine I know that infographics are all the rage these days (I just posted a piece on “The true true size of Africa” yesterday, remember?), but I couldn’t help but share another awesome graphic, “Pakistan vs. Haiti: Which got more money?” from GOOD magazine. The beautifully designed chart compares donations from

Over the past year, Haiti has dealt with a devastating earthquake, an outbreak of cholera — and now the country is grappling with a new challenge: Hurricane Tomas. The hurricane is forecast to pass between Haiti and Cuba tomorrow, with winds of at least 74 mph, and is expected to dump 5 to 10 inches

Here’s a blog post on the Haiti cholera outbreak from our friend Dr. Joia Mukherjee at Partners In Health (PIH). For the full post, check the PIH blog. An outbreak of cholera has been documented in the area surrounding the lower Artibonite region of Haiti by the staff of PIH’s sister organization, Zanmi Lasante, which

On Friday, I wrote about the deadly cholera outbreak in Haiti and I wanted to update you all with developments from over the weekend. At least 253 people have died, and another 3,015 cases of cholera have been reported in the Lower Artibonite region, about 60 miles north of the capital Port-au-Prince. The good news