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Mothers' health and women's economic revival

Rosie and I felt like crying as we left Port-au-Prince. I had a sense of a lack of accomplishment. There is so much to do! I know that we can still be useful." So Hélène Rousseau, family physician, put it upon her return from her trip to Haiti with Marie-Rose Kavanagh, Assistant Head Nurse at the Jewish General Hospital of Montreal, and a Canadian-Haitian volunteer medical team mandated by CECI. ...(read more)

Media personalities speak about CECI’s work

March 8 – International Women’s Day – is always an important day for CECI. This year our employees got together to participate in a march. Meanwhile, our sponsor Luck Mervil was in Botswana to meet with women’s and youth groups working on HIV-AIDS issues. Read Denis Bouchard on his trip to Haiti, where he met with the CECI team, local leaders, and survivors. ...(read more)

Invitation_Panel on Social Economy

A New Approach to International Cooperation Reducing poverty and improving the quality of life in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America is a daunting and ongoing challenge. Traditional aid strategies have not produced desired results; more than ever new sustainable approaches to development are required. ...(read more)

Luck Mervil to travel to Botswana for International Women’s Day

Shortly after fundraising for earthquake victims in Haiti, artist and CECI’s spokesperson, Luck Mervil is now headed for southern Africa to bring the issues of gender equality and HIV and AIDS to the Canadian public. ...(read more)

Walk to Free the Women

On the occasion of March 8, International Day of Women, join your solidarity to women from all around the world ! ...(read more)

Haiti - First Response

While the Haitian people endured a nightmare and the rest of the world mobilized to come to the country's aid, CECI was already at work meeting the most pressing needs of victims of the earthquake that ravaged the country. ...(read more)

Haiti - Sustainable Assistance and Reconstruction

A month after the catastrophe that unleashed an unprecedented wave of solidarity, CECI in Haiti is continuing to distribute water, non-perishable food items, tents, first aid, and medical supplies. To date, 170,000 people have benefited. ...(read more)

Haiti Emergency assistance - Challenges and solutions

While a number of challenges remain in delivering aid to the earthquake victims of Haiti, CECI and our local and international partners are stepping up our relief efforts without cease. ...(read more)

Haïti: Aid expands

Montreal, Monday January 25, 2010 — Nearly two week after the earthquake ravaged Haiti’s capital and surrounding areas, thousands of families still sleep in makeshift shelters, without basic resources....(read more)

Haiti: A new way to show solidarity

MONTREAL, Jan. 22 - Despite the aftershocks that occurred on Wednesday and Thursday, the CECI teams are still providing aid to the survivors of Port-au-Prince without respite. Fortunately, the latest word is that all our staff members in the field are unharmed, and the damage is minimal. ...(read more)

A medical team of 27 Haitian-Canadians and 35 tons of supplies for the CECI's operations

MONTREAL, Jan. 20 /CNW Telbec/ - 8:30 a.m. - A team of 30 people, including 27 Haitian-Canadian health professionals, doctors and nurses, has just landed at Port-au-Prince. It will provide support to the medical teams that are already in action, treating the numerous victims in the city. In addition, 35 tons of various supplies, including drugs, solutions, blankets, antiseptics, non-perishable goods, water, etc. are being unloaded and taken in charge by the CECI team. Everyone is lending a hand, including the physicians. The team has two hours in which to empty the plane and clear the landing strip.
The humanitarian workers already on site have been eagerly awaiting this flight, because the healthcare needs are enormous. An emergency clinic has been set up in the square in front of the Diquini hospital; the injured are waiting to receive care, lying on makeshift sheets, wounds exposed to the air, some of them awaiting amputation under a tent; the doctors are practising wartime medicine.

Testimonials

The reports from our teams in the field are clear. According to Myriam Fehmiu of the CECI: "The scope of the disaster is colossal, and the devastation is terrible. In temporary shelters, one can sometimes find 10 to 15, sometimes 20,000 people. Some survivors have received no assistance since the earthquake, neither water nor food, let alone health care. Women have given birth in these camps, in atrocious conditions; some of them have died. People are lying under sheets hung from poles; these are truly rough-and-ready camps, in which the tension is growing as the hours go by. Nevertheless, little by little, the neighbourhoods are reorganizing."

On the job for over forty years

The CECI's extensive experience in Haiti provides a definite advantage. Our teams are able to quickly establish relationships with community leaders, which is really the key to an effective organization of relief efforts. If, in certain areas where victims are gathered, no leaders have yet emerged from the group, we encourage people to take charge through social mobilization techniques. These community leaders play an essential role in ensuring the safety, cleanliness and organization of the survivor camps.

The CECI's numerous networks in the country enable our relief teams to continue to be self-sufficient in fuel, so they are able to keep distributing aid without interruption.

In the field, the CECI teams are working to organize the chaos. With 1.5 million victims, the challenge is enormous. According to Mrs. Fehmiu, "The CECI relief operations are working, from the arrival of aid to its distribution, but they are still not enough!" Shortages of all sorts are becoming evident: 10,000 litres of water will be needed every day for at least the next three weeks, to quench the thirst of the survivors, who are threatened by dehydration. Deliveries by air are not enough; shipments by boat are needed. We must also keep in mind that the rainy season is around the corner, and that people will not be able to continue living under sheets or canvas for much longer.

With CIDA and Air Transat

We wish to acknowledge the extraordinary collaboration between CECI, the donors who filled the warehouse, Air Transat and CIDA which transported the medical team and supplies. The result is the fruit of this joint effort by three dedicated teams, hundreds of hours of volunteer work to collect the supplies from the warehouse, the loading and unloading of the plane, and of course the storage of supplies in Port-au-Prince and the distribution thereof by the CECI to the survivors.

Our thanks go to all the generous donors who filled this plane with supplies, and the Haitian-Canadian community, which is mobilized and committed. Luck Mervil invites the public to stay mobilized and support the efforts by the CECI and its partners to bring aid to the people of Haiti!

Online donations are accepted at this Web site: www.ceci.ca
Donations may be made by telephone at this toll-free number: 1-877-875-2324
- Within Montréal at 514 875-9911,
and by mail to:
CECI (Haiti Earthquake),
3000 rue Omer-Lavallée, Montréal (QC) H1Y 3R8.

Interviews

For further information: CECI interviews - Experts and interviews with Philippe Fehmiu and Myriam Fehmiu in Port-au-Prince,
and in Montréal: Carine Guidicelli, Director of Communications and Fundraising, (514) 572-3558;
Interviews with Luck Mervil in Montréal: David Champagne, (514) 625-0360

Distribution continues in Port au Prince - The CECI and its Haitian partners on the scene

MONTREAL, Jan. 18 /CNW Telbec/ - 8:00 a.m. - "It's incredible, the city is devastated, the people are facing indescribable risks!" cries out Philippe Fehmiu of Port au Prince. The 1.5 million homeless, equivalent to 1/3 the population of Montréal, are hungry and thirsty; supplies, particularly food and water, are scarce, the need is urgent, impatience is gaining the upper hand. People are looking for the bodies of their loved ones, in order to honour the dead.
The CECI has distributed the five tonnes of family kits that were received Saturday afternoon, and the teams are continuing to distribute water and high energy biscuits at four locations in the city. Everything is proceeding calmly. Community leaders are emerging in some neighbourhoods and collaborating with the CECI teams, a testimonial to the ongoing work that the CECI has been carrying out in the country over the past 40 years.
Even though all the NGOs are working very hard, and help is arriving at the crowded airport, thousands of people are left to their own devices. Tents and shelters are needed before the rainy season starts. Additional air convoys organized by the CECI are expected shortly.
Crowds of people are leaving Port au Prince, heading northwards and to St-Marc. Left with nothing, they are seeking food and water. A camp for displaced persons is in the process of being organized. The Paul Gérin Lajoie Foundation has joined forces with the CECI and has made its facilities and its staff available to support the refugees. The Foundation's centre can provide shelter for over 1000 people. In addition, the medical team organized jointly by the CECI and the CCISD (Centre de coopération international en santé et développement de Québec - Centre for international cooperation in healthcare and development) is at work, assisted by a team of Japanese doctors and nurses who have also joined forces with the CECI. Support is flowing from all around to join the ranks of the CECI Haiti team and provide assistance to those in need.
Haiti's Civil Protection Office has put the CECI in charge of receiving the air cargo. The CECI has also been given formal authorization from the country's Director of Civil Protection to represent that office when necessary. Moreover, the CECI has been active in Haiti for over 40 years and took action from the very start of the disaster; it has a network of reliable local partners, which goes a long way towards facilitating all the humanitarian efforts.
Our emergency relief experts and the CECI's spokesman, Philippe Fehmiu, as well as Myriam Fehmiu in Port au Prince and Luck Mervil in Montréal, are available for interviews. Communications with Port au Prince have been restored, although they can still be difficult.
We wish to thank all our generous donors and encourage the public to stay mobilized and continue supporting the efforts of the CECI and its partners to provide assistance to the people of Haiti! The Canadian government has allocated nearly $2,500,000 to Haitian relief efforts. The CECI wishes to especially thank radio station CPAM, which organized a fundraising activity to support the victims of this disaster. Numerous initiatives are bearing witness to unprecedented solidarity.

For Interviews with CECI experts,
with Philippe Fehmiu and Myriam Fehmiu in Port au Prince
and with Luck Mervil in Montréal
please contact: Carine Guidicelli, Director of Communications and Fundraising, (514) 572-3558

Online donations are accepted at this Web site: www.ceci.ca
Donations may be made by telephone at this toll-free number:
-877-875-2324 - Within Montréal at 514 875-9911, and by mail to:
CECI (Haiti Earthquake), 3000 rue Omer-Lavallée, Montréal (QC) H1Y 3R8.

CECI receives 5 tons of survival supplies for Haitian disaster victims

Montréal – January 16, 2010, 7h30 pm – CECI has confirmed that 5 tons of survival supplies announced earlier by Canada's Minister of International Cooperation, Ms Bev Oda, have arrived at the Port-au-Prince airport. The CECI-Haiti team is currently unloading the materials from the plane and onto its trucks. Ms. Myriam Fehmiu reported live from the field that: "we have arrived safely, 19 palettes of supplies are on the airport tarmac and we are quickly loading them onto CECI trucks."

The kits are designed for 5-person families and have all the necessary items needed to cook, as well as a bucket for storing water. These kits will enable families to prepare their own meals, cook food over heat and store water in an adequate container.

CECI has been mandated by Haitian Civil Protection (HCP) to receive the supplies arriving on the plane. CECI also received formal authorisation from the HCP to act on their behalf when necessary.

Distribution of supplies are currently proceeding with help from local partners—including the Haitian-Canadian Chamber of Commerce—who are ready to act and trained in distribution methods. All of CECI-Haiti is at the ready and waiting.
During this time, water and high-energy biscuits continue to be distributed in different areas, as at the Diquini Hospital. Furthermore, a convoy of supplies will be coming from the Dominican Republic. We must continue the uninterrupted distribution of food and water to reassure the affected population.

It is important to remember that CECI, who has been working for more than 40 years and was active as soon as the catastrophe took place, has a solid network of local partners, and this network contributes to facilitating humanitarian aid operations.

Our emergency relief experts in the field, and our CECI spokesperson, Luck Mervil, are available for interview. Communication has been re-established with Port-au-Prince, even though certain difficulties persist.

We would like to thank all the generous donors and invite the population to remain engaged and continue to support the work undertaken by CECI and its partners in assisting the Haitian people! Victims of this disaster can count on close to $1,770,000. This amount will be matched by the Canadian Government.

On-line donations are accepted at the following Web site: dons.ceci.ca
Donations can be made by phone by calling 514 875-9911 or the following toll-free number: 1 877 875-2324
or by mail to the following address: CECI (Haiti Earthquake SOS), 3000 rue Omer-Lavallée, Montréal (QC) H1Y 3R8.

CECI and its partners begin to provide assistance

On the third day following the catastrophe that has struck Haiti, in a region where despair is setting in for victims and aid is difficult to provide, CECI and its partners are ready to implement phase one of humanitarian aid. ...(read more)

Port-au-Prince in the chaos and devastated

Montreal – January 13th. 2009, 9h30 – Despite the confusion, CECI and all its teams (over 150 people) are being mobilized to bring first aid to the population. Over 3 millions people are directly affected as almost all of over one floor buildings have fallen down. Entire families are under the rubbles. Searches have started. ...(read more)