This post has nothing to do with books or libraries or the Red Sox or any of my usual obsessions. This post is merely my personal appeal, on the chance anyone stumbles across this blog while looking for something else. If you want to help Haiti, please consider sending money to Partners in Health. You can find them, and their special earthquake relief effort, at Stand With Haiti. Partners in Health has been working on the ground in Haiti for 20 years -- and is, in effect, a Haitian organization. You can be sure your money will go directly to Haiti and will do good. I know many people who are collecting goods with the best of intentions and I pray that those goods reach people who need them in a timely manner. But I think it is faster and more effective to support those who already work in this country and who have a proven track record of making a real difference. I can't imagine how they can contend with the current situation. But I want to support them any way I can, which at the moment is with money. I lied: There is a book angle to this. If you are interested in learning more about Partners in Health, check out Tracy Kidder's excellent book about Paul Farmer, Mountains Beyond Mountains.

Kidder today wrote a blog post on the Stand With Haiti site. Here's an excerpt:

Many people have been writing to ask what they can do. Paul reports, “I just talked to some of my Haitian coworkers who are in Port-au-Prince in the general hospital, and they’ve reported to work. [But] they don't have electricity yet. They don't have the supplies that they need. But there's a lot of Haitian health professionals, doctors, nurses, aides who would like to [do their job], but to do that you need the supplies. You have to have the basics. Gauze, plaster, or other casts. You have to have the equipment that you need. Anesthesia, pain medications, antibiotics. And that's what some of my medical colleagues are asking us for, supplies."

PIH is purchasing and procuring donated supplies around the clock. To aid in these efforts, please consider making a donation to their efforts today.

- Tracy Kidder

What he said. Thanks for reading this.

Nan