The organisation I was working for before I came to Haiti - HIV/Aids Alliance (based in Brighton, UK) - is an international organisation dedicated to the fight against HIV. Haiti has been ravaged by HIV in the past, and as a consequence HIV / Aids Alliance had an excellent working partnership in Port au Prince with a local NGO called Fondation Promoteurs Objectifs Zerosida (www.pozsida.org). POZ, as we call them for short, were particularly badly struck by this tragedy, losing 4 staff to the earthquake, and seeing their offices reduced to rubble. One thing which struck me was the response in the UK to the tragedy, many individuals willingly gave money to the Haiti appeals, many donated time & effort to help with fundraising. The picture attached to this blog is of a quilt made by various attendees at a workshop held in Port au Prince before the earthquake - the quilt itself is now buried under the rubble of the Centre d'Espoir, but the image of the quilt (thanks to Ken Morrison of HCP/Aids Alliance for use) was used to raise money in the UK. Last I heard this and other efforts just from the HIV Aids Alliance family in Brighton had raised approaching $10,000 for the families of those POZ employees who died and those who lost their homes. Until I make time to take some images myself this will be the face of this blog - and if you haven't given already, I would encourage you to look at the justgiving.com/poz site and donate whatever you can afford. Despite the horrors they have endured on a personal level, these wonderful people were within days open for business again, operating from tented offices and seeking still to provide support in all forms for those suffering from HIV & Aids within Haiti. They truly deserve all the support we can give them.
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