From International Medical Interpreters Association – IMIA
IMIA Haiti Relief Efforts
As many of you know, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on January 12 after 5 p.m. The news coming from Haiti is that this is a very serious earthquake and has wreaked havoc and devastation on the region. We know that millions of people in the region will be affected.
Many IMIA members and their patients have family in Haiti. Our thoughts are with them, the Haitian community and the people of Haiti. If you or your patients need information on relatives in Haiti, the US government has set up a hotline at 1-888-407-4747.
The IMIA Provider Outreach Committee is reaching out to international relief organizations to determine if there is an appropriate way or ways in which we can be most helpful as a trade association resource to the people of Haiti in their hour of greatest need. As we learn more, we will share the information on our web site. In the meantime, some of you have asked what else you can do. Please consider assisting one of the relief organizations below who are working now in Haiti. All these organizations are in dire need of medical interpreters and many of them offer lodging and a travel stipend for professionals willing to do field work. Please inquire and let us know if you are interested in doing immediate field work in Haiti.
They are not just in need of Haitian interpreters, but also primarily in need of Mandarin and Cantonese, Portuguese and French, among others, as these are primary the languages of the relief service providers.
– International Medical Corps: http://www.imcworldwide.org/Page.aspx?pid=183
– Direct Relief International: http://www.directrelief.org/EmergencyResponse.aspx
– World Vision: http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/learn/emergency-updates?OpenDocument&lpos=top_drp_OurWork_DisasterResp
– International Relief Teams: http://www.irteams.org/index.htm
– Yéle Haiti: http://www.yele.org/
– American Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/
– Operation USA: http://www.opusa.org/
– CARE: http://www.care.org/
– Catholic Relief Services: http://crs.org/
– World Food Programme: http://www.wfp.org/
– World Concern: http://www.worldconcern.org/disasters/haiti-flooding.htm
– Save the Children: http://www.savethechildren.org/?WT.mc_id=1109_hp_logo
– UNICEF USA: http://www.unicefusa.org/
– Mercy Corps: http://www.mercycorps.org/
– Operation Blessing International: http://www.ob.org/_programs/disaster/disaster_index.asp
– Shelterbox: https://alliance14.challiance.org/
– Americares: http://www.americares.org/whatwedo/emergency/
– Operation USA: http://www.opusa.org/
– Doctors Without Borders: http://doctorswithoutborders.org/
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