Current Mission

Relief Programme for Haiti

February 13th, 2010
CANADIAN SIKHS SUPPORT KHALSA AID IN OFFERING ASSISTANCE TO HAITI

Three Sikhs from BC, Canada contacted Khalsa Aid wishing to volunteer with Khalsa Aid in Haiti. After speaking to CEO Ravinder Singh (currently in Haiti) and being informed of the projects undertaken they decided to travel immediately to Haiti via Dominican Republic. Although informed of the dangers and difficulties with all International missions, Deep Singh, Prabhroop Kaur and Harlene Kaur booked their tickets regardless, and will be joining the Khalsa Aid team in Haiti. We pray that Waheguru blesses all volunteers of all organizations in Haiti good health, and the strength and courage to help the Haitian people.

Canadian Sikh Associations Provide Crutches for the Hundreds of Amputees: We are very grateful to Bhai Ajmer Singh of Toronto, “Ontario Sikh and Gurudwara Council, Canada” and the "International Panjabi Foundation of Toronto" for providing 1000 crutches for the amputees in Haiti. Bhai Ajmer Singh has been an excellent example of a committed humanitarian with his rapid selfless reaction to the personal appeal from Khalsa Aid, after we were approached for support by Medicins Sans Frontier (MSF). 5 years ago Bhai Ajmer Singh volunteered with Khalsa Aid in our Tsunami projects, personally travelling to the Andaman Island. Having witnessed and partaking in a Khalsa Aid Project, Bhai Ajmer Singh was confident that Khalsa Aid be chosen to deliver the much needed supplies to the Haitian people. These crutches were distributed to the hospitals in Port au Prince on Thursday 11th February 2010. These crutches are one of the most sought after medical equipment due to the extremely high demand caused by the horrific injuries sustained in the earthquake. We thank Bhai Ajmer Singh and his fellow Canadian Gursikhs for their unstinting support.

We also wish to thank Air Canada, 1X1 and the Canadian Army for their support in providing the transportation and their great spirit of cooperation as they were very kind in providing medicines and food to Khalsa Aid to distribute.

February 9th, 2010
Talking to BBC Radio Berkshire's Andrew Peach at 3.30 from a few miles outside Port au Prince on Tuesday, 9 February, he said that his organisation had been concentrating on getting fresh water to people. Read More at www.bbc.co.uk

February 6th, 2010
WATER / SANITATION PROGRAMME
The team set out at 5am for the vital task of installing the water tanks and arranging full plumbing. The four tanks installed this morning will provide almost 10,000 litres of clean drinking water and further tanks will be installed in the next few days. We have arranged for these tanks to be filled up three times a week at a rate that is significantly cheaper than the market price even local Haitians receive. We were initially offered to buy the tanks for $800 though with a lot of negotiation and competing bids from a number of local companies we were able to bring this down to $400 with free plumbing. Khalsa Aid had initially planned to purchase five 600 gallon water tanks to take care of the short-term needs but the demand is such that we will have to review this and install further tanks in isolate make-shift camps.

To guarantee the supply of water the team had to purchase water privately as the local government supply lines are over-stretched and can only deliver spontaneously.

We are also looking into installing semi-permanent toilet systems to prevent the spread of any diseases in the camps. Many organisations have requested Khalsa Aid carry this work out as we have prior experience of such work in Pakistan and the Asian tsunami afflicted islands.

MEDICAL / MOBILITY PROGRAMME Khalsa Aid have established a working relationship with the highly respected Medicins Sans Frontier ("Doctors Without Borders") to deliver between 500 and 1000 crutches as the doctors have found that the rehabilitation of amputees has been severely hampered by the lack of prosthetics and crutches. Sewadaar Mandeep Singh met the MSF Coordinator General (Spanish Section) by coincidence and discovered the urgent need for assistance. With this knowledge, Mandeep Singh and Ravinder Singh called their extensive contacts to source the crutches.

They are carrying out daily between 10-12 amputations even now. The doctors also have stressed that in any developing country that lacks infrastructure and working social services it is imperative that patients are given the confidence and ability to continue to live their lives as 'normally' as possible.

Bhai Ajmer Singh, a respected Sewadaar from Toronto - Canada who is involved with both the"Ontario Sikh and Gurudwara Council, Canada" and also the "International Panjabi Foundation of Toronto" and was involved in the relief effort during the Boxing Day 2004 Asian tsunami in the Andaman Islands (Indian Ocean), has worked with his contacts to provide this Sewa.

February 1st, 2010 We have been working in the last few days organising a delivery of 50,000 litres of water from the President of the Dominican Republic to the camps near the epicentre of the earthquake. This delivery of water will be conducted in partnership with a local agency (FNJD) and will take care of the short term needs of the people. Mandeep Singh Khalsa will be accompanying the shipments into Haiti as corruption is deeply endemic in this part of the world. The journey will take 7 hours each way and will entail a stay of 2-3 days so that other materials can be sourced too.

Khalsa Aid (USA) will be despatching a container of food on Tuesday (02/02/2010) and should reach Haiti Friday/Saturday. We have also sent a request to Khalsa Aid (USA) for assistance in purchasing medicines for a "Guru Nanak Mobile Clinic" that will visit rural areas most affected by the earthquake. This is awaiting clearance from the United States authorities to allow for aid to be flown into Haiti instead of being shipped from Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic).

A water filtration system has been sourced in the US and will hopefully be in Haiti for use by mid-to-end of next week. Each unit can purify 180-200 gallons an hour and will serve each community for many years to come. We hope to expand the clean water campaign depending on the level of donations from the Sangat.

A number of aid agencies have approached Khalsa Aid (UK) to solve the sanitation problems in the camps. Many camps do not have toilets and many people resort to using public spaces where there is no running water or sewage treatment systems in place. Given Khalsa Aid (UK)'s experience in Pakistan where over 300 toilets were built in a relatively short amount of time, it makes sense we use our experience in the provision of sanitation to assist Haiti - if we do not act rapidly we will find outbreaks of disease and illness in next to no time.

Medecins Sans Frontier (MSF) have also asked us to provide some assistance in regards to the provision of crutches and prosthetic limbs as they are still carrying out between 10-12 amputations daily. We ask the Sangat to assist us in the provision of such goods as this will make a huge and lasting difference to the mobility of those who have been rendered disabled by the earthquake. Doctors from MSF have stated that it is imperative that in a country with a lack of social welfare programmes (like the UK / US etc) that people are able to gain the confidence and ability to work again to support their families.

Khalsa Aid (UK) like many agencies is facing struggles daily as there are problems with the inflation in the price of goods, fuel, car rental, food and other basic needs. These problems are further compounded with the challenge of corruption and the lack of infrastructure. It is very unfortunate that there are individuals out there who seek to profiteer from such disasters.

We kindly request the Sangat to support us in carrying out this Sewa.

January 29th, 2010 Khalsa Aid has had a very constructive meeting this morning with Dr Jacques from RHASADE, our local partners. Dr Jacques has again reiterated the need to provide clean drinking water to the effected people of Darbonne and Guerin (epicentre of the earthquake), the total population effected in these towns is approx 15000. Khalsa Aid (UK) team in Haiti has requested the newly formed Khalsa Aid (USA) to source the best available water filteration units and generators.

Dr. Jacques has also discussed the possibility of Khalsa Aid setting up a fully loaded mobile health clinic which will reach out to every village in and around these towns. We have agreed in principle to this most excellent idea, we are awaiting a full list of medicines and equipment required.

"I have personnaly witnessed the destruction and terrible conditions in make shift camps. I am deeply concerned at the lack of sanitation and medical treatment in these rural camps hence the preparation of a mobile clinic." Ravinder Singh

The medicines will have to be purchased in Dominican Republic, Mandeep Singh Khalsa will accompany the doctor to Dominican Republic to pay for and transport the medicines into Haiti.

January 28th, 2010 We have just had an update from the Khalsa Aid team in Haiti. The team have established excellent contacts with local organisations such as RHASADE who are based in Port au Prince and are affiliated with the World Food Programme (WFP - part of the UN), and have centres all over rural Haiti. The team have visited towns such as Labone and Guerin (based in Leogone) which are located much closer to the epicentre of the quake and thus have experienced huge devastation.

Ravinder Singh (CEO Khalsa Aid) has said that in over 10 years of humanitarian work the scenes of destruction were of "the worst he had ever seen". Khalsa Aid is working in areas close to the epicentre of the earthquake. They were shocked at the fact that they are the first NGO (non governmental organisation) to reach these areas. These towns 30-40 kilometres west of Port au Prince have no clean water or food and are totally neglected by the large international organisations who are mainly working in the centre of Port au Prince.

KHALSA AID RESPONSE: Khalsa Aid will be providing clean water to the thousands of survivors in these neglected areas. In the short term, Khalsa Aid is looking to provide safe drinking water through the use of tankers across the small villages and towns. Longer term, Khalsa Aid has determined that there is local knowledge of digging tube-wells to extract water from 90ft deep though many villagers have stated that the water is not clean enough and need a filtration system. This is similar to the work Khalsa Aid completed in Barisal, Bangladesh where water was delivered twice daily in which time natural water filtration systems were built.

Volunteers in Haiti, the US and the UK have been working around the clock to expedite huge sea containers of dry food and other relief materials to the worst hit areas. The Khalsa Aid team in Haiti have also requested tools such as hammers, saws and nails etc to assist with longer term reconstruction of dwellings. The newly formed Khalsa Aid (USA) team will be arranging for the rapid delivery of materials.

Khalsa Aid has always determined and assessed first hand the needs of the local population first and never rushed into a disaster zone - we do not follow the actions of other organisations but always identify the "forgotten" victims of any disaster especially in rural or hard to reach areas.

We are hugely grateful to the Sangat worldwide for enabling us to provide aid and relief to those who have not been reached.

The size of our response is solely dependent on the support of the Sangat. Please help us to expand our efforts. If you would like to donate for the project in Haiti or collect relief materials / supplies please contact us. We are also looking for fit healthy and big-hearted people out there who have a MINIMUM of 3 weeks available - please do get in touch with us.

January 28th, 2010 "We have entered Haiti now and the destruction is becoming progressively more apparent. We are also lucky to have met a lady who runs an orphanage where she has lost 11 children - we are also thinking of linking up with her and others as we are thinking that in the medium term we would like to start an orphanage here." Ravinder Singh

5 sea containers filled with supplies are being prepared to be sent from Port Newark to the Khalsa Aid team in Haiti.

January 26th, 2010 Khalsa Aid (UK) also had a meeting with Khalsa Aid (USA) about coordinating relief work in Haiti. The meeting was held in New Jersey and the relief programme for Haiti was finalised. During the day, we also met the first ever female Haitian descent Mayor - Mayor Jasmine of Spring Valley, New York. This meeting was very constructive as well as informative with the Mayor offering us all facilities available in Haiti where she has also seconded her Deputy Mayor to work with the local agencies on the relief effort. She has provided further contacts that will assist the Khalsa Aid team to deliver aid efficiently. The Sikh community representing Khalsa Aid (USA) had a real task in explaining who and what the Sikhs are and the principles of Sewa (selfless service to all of humanity) to the Mayor. This turned out to be a very "educational" visit for the Mayor.

After establishing establishing contacts in the NJ-NY Sangat, we are on the way to Haiti and at the moment are in Newark Airport. We will be landing in the Dominican Republic at Porto Plata and driving to Haiti tonight. Bless us with your Ardaasan.

"Jo Mangay Thakur Apne Te Soee Soee Devay"

January 26th, 2010 Khalsa Aid (KA) team landed in the USA on Sunday afternoon and were met by a local representative from the local New Jersey (NJ) Sikh community. Khalsa Aid had received calls from the US concerning the Haiti relief our program hence our stop over for a day.

The Sikh community in NJ have been impressed with the delivery methods of Khalsa Aid in previous missions and contacted us in the UK to coordinate their relief materials to Haiti. We are extremely honoured by their trust and thankful for a warm welcome in the US.

We at Khalsa Aid are always weary about the expectations of the Sangat and work to maximize impact of our relief efforts. We have been setting up solid contacts is Haiti through the UHUK (United Haitians United Kingdom) so once we arrive in Haiti we do not waste time and get stuck into what we know best : Providing Relief!

The unexpected and wonderful support from the US will finally take Khalsa Aid to the next level, please keep supporting Khalsa Aid so that our work can reach to the most needy.

Recognise all of the human race as one.

- Guru Gobind Singh Ji