[Peace] two events about HAITI -- attend both!!!!!

[Karen Medina]

date: Thursday, February 11	
what: I Heart Haiti Info Forum	
where: Alice Cambpell Alumni Ctr, 601 S. Lincoln, Urbana
when: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm	
Sponsors: C-U Haiti Relief
Directions for getting there: http://www.uiaa.org/alumnicenter/directions.html

--------
date and time: Tu. Feb. 16, 7 PM
what: Eyewitness from Haiti: An Unnatural Disaster
A Public Forum and Relief Fundraiser
where: Gregory Hall R. 307 ; 810 South Wright Street Urbana, IL 61801
(map: http://www.fs.uiuc.edu/ada/0043.html)

[this event is more about the political side of the disaster; the
event on the 11th is apolitical]

----
More on this second event:
JESSE HAGOPIAN was in Port-au-Prince with his 1-year-old son to visit
his wife when the earthquake hit. His wife, an aid worker, works until
the evening on most days, but by sheer luck, she came to the hotel
where they were staying early on Tuesday--just minutes before the
quake struck at 4:53 p.m. This spared Jesse and his family agonizing
hours or days trying to find one another amid the chaos

Within hours, the hotel where they were staying became known as a
place where some medical help was available, because another hotel
guest happened to be an emergency medical technician. Jesse got a
crash course in treating severe injuries--broken bones, head wounds
and more--as people desperate for help kept arriving. After five days
Jesse and his family were evacuated and have returned to Seattle.

Come hear first hand from Jesse about the situation in Haiti as he
calls in via skype. Learn about what happened in the immediate
aftermath of the quake, and why help hasn’t reached most of the
victims of Haiti’s earthquake--because the priority of the U.S.
government is on imposing its control. Most Haitians have seen little
humanitarian aid so far. What they have seen is guns, and lots of
them. Armored personnel carriers cruise the streets. UN soldiers
aren’t there to help pull people out of the rubble. They’re there,
they say, to enforce the law. Instead of sending ample food, water and
rescue teams to help the victims of this devastating earth-quake, the
Obama administration is essentially organizing an occupation of Haiti.
Come discuss what it would take for Haitians to rebuild their country,
and how we can stand in solidarity with them.

We will also be collecting donations for the following grassroots aid
organizations in Haiti:

The Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, organized by the solidarity
organization Haiti Action, delivers resources directly to grassroots
organizations:

http://www.haitiaction.net/About/HERF/1_12_10.html

It was founded in 2004 after the coup d'etat that forced President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide out of office. For more information, including
a telephone contact, go to the Canada Haiti Action Network Web site:

http://canadahaitiaction.ca/

The Zanmi Lasante Medical Center is located in the Central Plateau of
Haiti and delivers health care through a network of clinics. The
health center survived the earthquake and delivering aid to the
disaster zone. You can donate to the center through the U.S.
non-profit organization Partners in Health:

http://www.pih.org/where/haiti/haiti.html

SOPUDEP is a pioneering school in Petionville. The resources of the
school and its teachers are being mobilized to assist the neighboring
population. You can support the school via the Canadian-based Sawatzky
Family Foundation:

http://www.sopudep.org/donate

This forum is sponsored by the International Socialist Organization.
For more info, call 415-713-6260 or email iso.champaign at gmail.com

-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.