Small Acts...

Resources to support Afghanistan, Haiti, & Lebanon

My mind has been consumed with a lot of disparate, stressed thoughts about what’s happening in the world as of late. I am all too familiar with being part of a diaspora community, watching tragedy and chaos unfold in your homeland repeatedly while feeling ill equipped to do enough or show meaningful solidarity… that feeling never really goes away. Today’s newsletter shares some ways to support efforts in Afghanistan, Haiti, and Lebanon. This is not an exhaustive list, just one attempt to share a few resources in one place.

Note: I’d love to share resources for Iranians as the country battles its worst wave of COVID, but have yet to find a solid set of organizations for people to support at this time, and I’m unsure how people abroad can mobilize vaccine access for the masses.

This general resources for Afghanistan doc covers a range of topics, including scripts for calls to lawmakers and lists of charities to support. Refugee resettlement agencies are now mobilizing to support Afghan refugee arrivals into the US. For people in the DC metro area, Lutheran Social Services is looking for volunteers to support these efforts. LIRS is looking for volunteers in the DC area, Seattle + Tacoma, Fort Worth, and Houston, and also has a ‘general standby’ signup for people outside those metro areas. For those in Canada, the Canadian government has a nationwide call for volunteers. BBC’s Yalda Hakim has been providing constant updates via Twitter, and here’s a Twitter list of journalists based in Afghanistan. If you’re looking to donate, this GoFundMe is organized by grassroots group Emergency Relief Afghanistan.

If you’re looking for organizations to support Haiti’s recovery efforts and are considering the Red Cross, please first read up on how the Red Cross squandered half a billion dollars meant for 2010 earthquake recovery. This Haiti-based GoFundMe is raising funds to rebuild a village, FOKAL (below) is run by Haitian first responders, and this thread is a good reminder that waiting to identify legitimate operations is better than rushing to support the first orgs that come up:

Laura Wagner @TiLauraRose

If you don't have family or friends in #Haiti you can send money to directly, please don't rush to send money. Please, please don't send to large international organizations like the American Red Cross, which have a terrible record in Haiti. (1/n)

Patrick Gaspard @patrickgaspard

So many want to help Haiti in this moment. Pls support actual Haitian first responders. ⁦@FOKAL_Ayiti⁩ is receiving donations to channel funds to smallholder farmers, and women’s orgs that are mobilized and doing crisis work NOW with transparency secure.givelively.org/donate/ayiti-d…

To support people in Lebanon who are enduring massive fuel shortages, Beit El Baraka is providing emergency relief and the Lebanese Food Bank is distributing food. There’s a separate fundraiser for medical assistance and equipment in response to a fuel tanker explosion in Akkar.

Closing with a poem from Aria Aber:

See you Friday,

Roya