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Update on Haiti Relief Efforts Two Months after Quake
Pierre Tripon reports on the current humanitarian needs in Haiti, Action Against Hunger's emergency programs, and the country's prospects for the future.
Two months after the earthquake, what are Action Against Hunger's priorities?
The lack of shelter remains an enormous problem, especially given that the rainy season is approaching in about two weeks and the hurricane season begins in June. One million people are homeless on the island, and only 20% currently have access to some form of shelter. Sanitary conditions will likely deteriorate in the coming weeks because the rains will bring mudslides and floating debris. We're in a race against time to address these sanitation needs and prevent outbreaks of disease. In Port-au-Prince, our teams have already installed more than 600 latrines and hand-washing stations, and we're working to promote good hygiene practices in displacement camps throughout the city.
"We're concerned about the nutritional needs of children under five, as they are the most fragile and can easily succumb to diseases."
Where are we in terms of food?
Today, food requirements are basically covered. Our organization alone has distributed food to nearly 75,000 people. We've targeted families with young children, who are the most vulnerable to malnutrition.
What about water needs?
During emergencies, access to clean water can mean the difference between life and death. Action Against Hunger rushed to bring drinking water to thousands of survivors in the aftermath of the quake. We've installed water points throughout the city and currently provide more than 75,000 people with enough water to satisfy their daily needs. Emergency water needs are largely taken care of in Port-au-Prince, but rebuilding water infrastructure will take quite some time.
Infants need special care during emergencies. Aside from food and water distributions, what kinds of special services is Action Against Hunger providing them?
We're concerned about the nutritional needs of children under five, as they are the most fragile and can easily succumb to diseases. Because of the myth that breast milk is bad for children in times of crisis, some mothers prefer to give their children powdered milk. This can be dangerous because powdered milk is easily contaminated, especially in an emergency environment like post-quake Haiti. Action Against Hunger has set up a dozen special tents for nursing mothers and their infants to provide a safe space for breastfeeding. We're also using these spaces to help mothers and infants begin to recover from the trauma they've experienced. We're holding group counseling sessions so that these mothers can begin to verbalize some of their fears.
Haiti's economy was absolutely devastated by the earthquake. What kinds of recovery programs are being implemented?
Action Against Hunger has developed a "cash-for-work" program to employ people who have lost everything. The idea is that they'll receive cash to perform work that will benefit their communities, like clearing the streets of refuse. This helps provide a source of income for families and boosts the local economy. Some 10,000 families will benefit from this program. We're targeting the individuals with vulnerable families like single parents or those caring for disabled children.
"Elderly heads of household or people with disabilities may struggle to find employment, so we'll be helping them out while they get back on their feet."
What about people who are unable to work?
We're going to provide financial assistance to families in distress. Elderly heads of household or people with disabilities may struggle to find employment, so we'll be helping them out while they get back on their feet.
What are some of the difficulties our teams encounter?
For starters, a lot of people were severely traumatized as a result of the earthquake and are understandably worried about recurring earthquakes. There are overwhelming psycho-social needs among the population that need to be addressed. Coordinating among various organizations and agencies has also been a challenge, partly because communication networks were cut during the quake. Coordination is critical to ensuring the effective delivery of aid, so we're dealing with this constraint as well. Finally, the dense, urban environment of Port-au-Prince makes delivering aid much more difficult. Because of land laws, people can't relocate easily, either.
What are Action Against Hunger's future plans in Haiti?
We're currently assisting about 100,000 people per day and are continuing to scale up our programs to reach more. Haiti is still in a state of emergency, so we are concentrating on relief efforts that fill immediate needs. Once the emergency phase passes, we'll begin to concentrate on post-crisis recovery programs. We've been in Haiti since 1985, and we'll be there long after the crisis subsides. We're in this for the long haul.


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Gov. Rick Perry was quick to jump on the tea party movement, but he might be risking some credibility with his beyond-enthusiastic backing of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.
Perry has slammed out-of-state support for self-proclaimed conservative warrior Ted Cruz — including from big names like Sarah Palin, former presidential candidate Rick Santorum and U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint. And that's gotten him slammed in return.
"I appreciate everybody paying attention to Texas — as well they should. They could learn some things on how to run South Carolina and Pennsylvania and Alaska," Perry said Friday.
"Come to Texas and learn how to do it right, but don't come down here and tell us who needs to be our next United States senator, thank you very much," Perry said. "We'll decide that without your outside, Washington, D.C.-oriented help."
Perry said the out-of-state folks "don't know anything about how Texas works and if they did, they would be endorsing David Dewhurst." (As did, by the way, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee).
To which tweeted one Dewhurst critic, "How 'bout us grassroots Texans?"
Conservative radio commentator and Cruz backer Mark Levin, meanwhile, called Perry's comment "stupid." He used the flap to bring up Perry's support for in-state tuition for illegal immigrants' children, an issue that fueled conservative criticism during his presidential run: "This man gives in-state tuition, or supported it, for outsiders — and we American citizens, we don't have a say in anything, according to the governor. Only our own states."
Miller said Perry is endorsing Dewhurst out of loyalty: "That's a credit to him (Perry) as an individual … For them (tea party activists), in this moment, this election is about philosophy, not loyalty."
But Miller said Perry will have time to smooth things over before he decides on his own political future: "He's governor, and he's got a session coming up. He's got a million opportunities to win them back."
Political scientist Mark P. Jones of Rice University doesn't see lasting damage for Perry, saying one reason he looked like a great presidential candidate "on paper" was that he seemed to bridge the gap between establishment Republicans and the tea party.
"I think it would cost him were Dewhurst not viewed as conservative," Jones said, adding that Dewhurst's conservative credentials aren't at the heart of opposition to him. Instead, he said, movement conservatives "want a fighter in the Senate, and they don't think Dewhurst will be that type of person.
"It's not like endorsing Rudy Giuliani now," said Jones, which Perry did in the presidential race four years ago.

subset: commoncrawl


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Week 4: Bills Get First Win 17-14
Edwards performs very well in first NFL start and win.
by Steve Saslow
What a difference a win makes. Everyone should be all smiles in Western New York as rookie QB Trent Edwards played a very solid game in leading the Bills to a hard fought 17-14 win over the Jets to get their first win of the season. Edwards threw a touchdown pass and an interception while completing almost all of his high percentage passes with plenty of time to throw the ball in the win.
It was a defensive effort as a banged up Bills defense, that lost two more starters in the game, held on in the end for the victory. Thanks in part to a nice interception by Terrence McGee in the final seconds to keep the Jets from moving into field goal range to tie the game.
The Bills put forth an inspired effort on defense as they came to play. They looked rejuvenated at home despite having so many injuries and losing Ashton Youboty early and Jim Leonhard late while the game was on the line. Two second half interceptions gave the Bills a chance to win it. Jabari Greer replaced Youboty and had an interception with the Bills up 10-7 that gave the Bills a chance to extend the lead. McGee's interception allowed the Bills to hold on to it.
It was scoreless at halftime when the Bills stopped the Jets with a rare three and out series to start the third quarter. The Offense took over from there with a 10 play, 56 yard drive to a Marshawn Lynch 10 yard touchdown run where he rumbled through tackles for the score. It was the first Bills score of the game but they could have had more in the first half. They had drives of 51 and 60 yards in the opening half but had bad drive starts and Edwards one mistake of the game also kept them off the scoreboard. He underthrew Lee Evans and had it picked off. An earlier Robert Royal fumble also kept the Bills from scoring in the first half.
The Jets were kept off the scoreboard in the first half as well as the Bills defense really battled hard, one long drive just before halftime ended with a field goal attempt going off the right upright to keep it scoreless. A fake spike by Chad Pennington was completed to setup the attempt.
The Jets seemed to respond offensively after the Bills scored. They had a nice touchdown drive that ended with a Laveranues Coles five yard reception that tied the game at 7. The Bills drove to a clutch 46 yard field goal by Rian Lindell to gain the lead.
Greer's interception setup the biggest play of the game. After his pick, they moved it and faced a fourth and goal inside the one. Dick Jauron initially sent the field goal unit on the field. He thought at first they were two yards away but timeout was called and then they went for it inside the one when they realized how close they were. With everyone expecting a run from Lynch, they ran a rare play action pass and Edwards found Michael Gaines wide open for the touchdown to give the Bills the 17-7 lead with less than seven minutes remaining and the Jets down to their final timeout.
It never could be easy for this team as the Jets went right down the field for an eight yard touchdown run by Leon Washington to make it 17-14. The Bills went three and out as they tried to throw on 3rd and 3 and the pass went incomplete leaving the Jets with their timeout on their final drive. They did convert one fourth down on the final drive but pressure on Pennington led to McGee's interception with :06 on the clock ending the game.
It's nice to have a victory but talk immediately went to a QB controversy. The team opened up the offense despite Edwards making his first NFL start. They showed trust in him by letting him throw it on fourth down on the goal line and on third down while they were trying to run out the clock. He did a nice job but it should be noted the offensive line had a fantastic day in pass protection. Edwards had all day to throw and his two sacks were coverage sacks. Before Edwards is pronounced the starting QB you may want to wonder if J.P. Losman could have done the same thing with that kind of time to throw against a weaker defense than the team saw the first three weeks.
That is a discussion for another day, it is time to bask in the glory of a rare Bills win, the first one in six games. The team showed heart in playing through injuries and rallying around a rookie quarterback to hold on for a nice win against a division opponent.
Here are our exclusive gameballs and goats from the Bills game against the Jets:


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If you've been in the maintenance game for long, you've probably learned more about what to do than what not to do. For example, our previous five issues presented a series on simple ways to improve maintenance. The collective knowledge about good maintenance often gets expressed as "best practices." No maintenance operation deliberately follows "worst practices," but many inadvertently follow practices that are, at the very least, bad practices. We'll look at what some of these are, starting with one in this issue.
Bad Practice #1 — Treating Maintenance as a Spare-Time Activity
Too often, the maintenance department is overwhelmed with emergency repairs and special projects. Maintenance and training get deferred, because there's no time for either. This sets up a vicious cycle of more breakdowns resulting in less time for maintenance work and required training.
Solution: It's a maintenance department; not a special projects department. Outsource or refuse special projects. To get out from under emergency repair overload, hire contractors to help eliminate root causes. For example, hire a maintenance firm to perform one-time in-depth maintenance on high-breakdown equipment.


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