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Charity Pitch: Haitian American Nurses Association

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In 2010, Haiti endured one of the most devastating events in their history.  I am pretty sure you are all aware of the earthquake that shook the whole country and destroyed a majority of the country.  Between corrupt politicians and different charity organizations that did not use enough of their resources to help out those in need, they have still never fully recovered from this catastrophe.  

Thankfully, the Haitian American Nurses Association (HANA) have been consistently and effectively helping those in need in Haiti.  The organization is filled with highly-trained nurses and volunteers that give their time and travel to Haiti at least twice a year to help out.  They are funded by donations and almost all of the money used for these mission trips are funded by the nurses and volunteers. Therefore, the money that we give them will be greatly appreciated and go to a good cause.

I feel that it is great that as a class we had the opportunity to help out the local Binghamton area and are continuing to do that.  But, I believe that to be able to help others in third world country that is way less fortunate than us is more satisfying.  I, personally, had the opportunity to volunteer on 2 of the mission trips with HANA and witnessed the amazing work they do.  I got to see the gratitude on the people’s faces.  On one trip they are able to visit 3 cities in Haiti.  With the money we donate we would be able to help them travel more often and to more places. 

I made this brief so then I don't say everything that will be in my presentation, but comment with any questions or concerns and I'll get back to you guys as soon as I can.

Attached is their website:
https://hanarocklandcounty.org/

Comments

  1. Connor CruzMarch 19, 2019 at 4:56 PM

    After hearing your presentation and seeing the photos of your own personal experience in Haiti, I can tell the importance that you hold HANA with. I worked with a similar organization in high school, BuildOn, which spent worked to get members to fundraise throughout the year for materials and plane tickets for a set group of students to fly to a foreign country and work with different communities to build schools. Although I fundraised for years I never capitalized on traveling to the actual communities which I was raising the money for. Specifically from hearing your personal experiences and countless others from BuildOn, I wish I was able to form the actual personal relationships with whom I was trying to help. Seeing how your travels effected you and to this day pushed you to pitch HANA to the class inspires me to actually visit the people with who I want to help.

    This idea of traveling and actually building relationships to the people whom your donations help ties into a the concept discussed in class of the "heart" aspect of philanthropy. These personal connections that can only be built from face-to-face interactions and talking to people creates another level of importance to donating. Actually being able to put yourself in the shoes of the people that you help widens your perspective and conception of the world around you. This personal aspect to philanthropy is something I am sure you can understand from your experiences, and something the rest of the class and I hope to further with our upcoming site visits in terms of choosing from the finalists.

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  2. Mayumi TanMarch 25, 2019 at 2:12 AM

    Waking up at 7 am on the weekdays to attend school and at 10 am on Saturdays for my tutoring sessions seemed so unnecessary and tiresome. Every chance I got, I complained to my parents how much I hated school, especially having to go to tutoring on a weekend when I could be playing games at home. Just being born in the United States gives every kid the right to a free public education. The Constitution helps protect these rights by requiring that all kids be given equal educational opportunity no matter what their race, ethnic background, religion, or sex, or whether they are rich or poor, citizen or non-citizen. I finally grew up the day I realized that my parents did not get that same privilege living in Indonesia. My mom had to attend night sessions because she had to work in the morning and my dad never advanced his formal education as he was only one of eight siblings. I needed to take the first step, so I applied to travel abroad to the country my parents were born, to teach underprivileged students there English. English means something different in Indonesia; simply learning English could help you land a job or pursue a greater education. If a skill I have taken advantage of my whole life could be used to help others, there is no reason I shouldn’t.

    I reckon you felt the same way about wanting to help those in Haiti. As previously noted, even being born in the United States is privileged enough, which is why you probably believe that “[helping] others in the third world [countries] that [are] way less fortunate than us is more satisfying.” Although I don’t exactly believe that it was more satisfying than if I had chosen to help my community locally, I truly believe in the impacts volunteering abroad can have on their lives. Hearing you speak in class about how fulfilled you felt after volunteering and the sacrifices many nurses make to travel to Haiti without seeking compensation, I felt truly moved. Although the earthquake happened 9 years ago, we learned in class how badly natural disasters impact a community. No one can truly understand panic until they have been through the effects a natural disaster can have on the stability most of us take for granted.

    My only question is whether the Haitian American Nurses Association is truly reliable. Like you mentioned, “different charity organizations… did not use enough of their resources to help out those in need.” You ask us to put our trust in this organization because you volunteered there, but after checking out the website you linked I could not find any information on where my donations would go or the impact it would make. Like we agreed on as a class, transparency is important when choosing where to donate. In an article I have linked below, I read that there are non-profit, international organizations that operate in a “black hole” of accountability. Much like you said that happens, it is near impossible to monitor or hold these organizations accountable for mismanagement. I do not doubt that volunteering through this organization has been fulfilling for you and impactful to those you have helped, nor am I claiming the Haitian American Nurses Society operates suspiciously. However, because they claim transparency as one of their core values, yet I am unable to find much about where the money goes in both their website and Charity Navigator, I feel uneasy about donating to them.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/05/red-cross-haiti-black-hole-accountability-international-aid

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