Guatemala City, Guatemala — The death toll from the eruption of a volcano in Guatemala has risen to at least three people, an official said Friday.
Two villagers from El Bejucal and a reporter from CNN affiliate Noti 7 were killed as a result of Thursday’s eruption of the Pacaya volcano, said David de Leon, a spokesman for the national disaster commission.
The three victims were crushed by rocks strewn by the volcano.
Pacaya, located about 18 miles (30 kilometers) south of Guatemala City, began spewing ash and soot Thursday evening.
From Russia Today:
Duration: 1 min 12 sec
With all these earthquake and volcanic eruptions I feel like the earth is trying to tell us something. Could it be this?
Date: May 31, 2010 Time: 630PM Location:
S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium at Benaroya Hall
200 University Street
Seattle, WA 98101-3428 Google Map Ticket Prices:
Seating chart: http://www.seattlesymphony.org/_dwn/seating_chart.pdf
$35 Founders Tier (VIP): Includes: best house seating and VIP lounge access
$35 Rows A-R
$25 Rows S-RR
$20 Second Tier
$15 Third Tier
Student rate $5.00 off second and third tier seating (must have valid student ID)
Special group rates are available please contact Farah Ebrahim 206 499-8079 or info {at] lucidseattle [dot} com.
Please be aware that there is an $8 Service Charge per order for tickets purchased on-line. There’s no additional fees for tickets purchased at the box office or at LUCID.
Description:
The IO Jazz Awards will honor those individuals, groups and organizations in the Seattle jazz community and beyond who exemplify this quality of sharing what is on the INSIDE, OUT. 100% of the proceeds from the event will be used towards the relief efforts in Haiti.
Seattle bassist and composer Evan Flory-Barnes presents “Acknowledgement of a Celebration: Inheritance, Authenticity and Healing,” a large-ensemble fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and classical music, complete with modern dancers and freestyle break-dancers.
Clarence Acox is an awarding winning band director and jazz drummer. He is a familiar figure in the Seattle music scene and is a native of New Orleans. An accomplished and in demand drummer, Acox co-founded the Seattle Repetory Jazz Orchestra in 1995 and performed with the Floyd Standifer Quartet (now Legends quartet) at the New Orleans Creole Restaurant for more than two decades. In August 2007 Clarence Acox was awarded the Mayor’s Arts award by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.
The group’s live performances have become a celebration of life, and a dip in the sea of rapture. The music weaves seamlessly through a myriad of feels – boom-bap hip hop grooves, explosive swing, emotion-laden rock, “fat-man” blues, samba, drum ‘n bass & meditative chanting.
Miles Davis Tribute Performance
Owour Arunga, Aham Olu, Scott Morning, Jason Parker
“Playing his own take on Rumba, African funk Seattle guitarist Leif Totusek leads one of the most promising groups, Freestyle Candela”, raves Fernando Gonzales, Boston Globe. His compositions are based on Soukous guitar with infuences ranging from Hendrix to Haiti.
Street poet Jesse Lee personifies what happens when dreams take flight. Born Seattelite his vision is simple: to paint poetry back into the hearts & minds of the masses using visual backdrops of mixed media projections & a tailored sound score of live and synthesized music. To some his unique presentation may signify the evolution of poetry, to Jesse Lee it just simple poetry, excessively dressed.
Seattle’s soul-singer-songwriter Darrius Willrich drips a sensuous interplay of soul, jazz, and inner city longings. Sure to engage all your senses, with the look, sound and feel of yesterday’s soul-today. The spirit of Stevie Wonder, D’Angelo, and Herbie Hancock, season the musical stew that is Darrius…Sweet Urban Soul
Trombonist/Composer Andy Clausen established his sextet in 2007 with fellow members of the Roosevelt High School jazz band to serve as a testing ground for their diverse compositions. The compositions range in tone from powerful to lyrical to whimsical, yet each song conveys the commitment of the members of this group of young musicians and friends to a common vision of jazz that is both fresh and sophisticated
Greta Matassa wins wide acclaim in the Pacific NW for her contribution to Jazz Music. Readers of Earshot Jazz Magazine have voted her the best jazz vocalist in the Northwest. Jim Wilke, host of the syndicated “Jazz After Hours” radio program, praises her versatility. “She has a fearlessness in approaching material.” Seattle Times critic Misha Berson described Matassa as a vocal chameleon who “can sound husky or crisp, ebullient or wailing, girlish or jaded.” Matassa consistently displays these qualities in each of her performances.
“A rising Seattle talent, Kelly blends classic jazz and contemporary jazz, soul, blues, funk and Brazilian music to create an engaging atmosphere. Subtle, sensitive and polished, her honest delivery complements the rich, soulful quality of her voice.”
Seattle’s favorite neo-soul artist, Adrian has shared the stage with national R&B and soul artists Jon B, Avant, Case, Carl Thomas, and Dwele to name a few. With numerous performances at a steady pace and word-of-mouth spreading among the town and it’s artists. Counting Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, D’Angelo and Raphael Saadiq as some of his primary influences, Adrian has combined his inspirations into a stunning new sound all his own.
EMILY MCINTOSH is an indisputably gifted Vocalist and one whose voice deserves to be listened to and celebrated. This Cum Laude Cornish College of the Arts Graduate is a full-time Vocal Coach & Session Singer. Emily has many accolades to her credit. She is the voice singing jingles of many of the most popular radio shows including The Delilah Show. She was the opening act for soul legend Al Green last year, and she’s shared the stage singing duets with Huey Lewis.Be on the look out for big things from Seattle’s Soulful, Jazzy Songstress Emily McIntosh
Guitarist Tom Baker, drummer Greg Campbell, clarinetist Jesse Canterbury and bassist Brian Cobb have been working as a quartet since 2004, playing modern avant-jazz tunes and crafting beautiful and haunting improvisations. Their music blurs the boundaries between notated music and free improvisation; the unique sonic landscapes that result are grounded in history, while pushing at the boundaries of avant-jazz music.
AIDG is currently seeking a Boston-based Program Assistant to provide program and administrative support to the organization. The position is a 6-month temporary position, with the possibility to convert to a permanent position at the end of 6 months.
Location: Boston, MA
Duration: 6 months
Position description:
The AIDG Program Assistant will be responsible for:
Developing printed materials (invoices, reports, letters and other documents) for publicity, reporting, and presentations
Consolidating financial and operational information from field offices, and preparing reports for bookkeeping and accounting
Handling incoming emails, paper mail, phone calls and faxes
Assisting with fundraising, grant writing, and donor management activities
Maintenance of donor and contact relationship management databases
Processing donations and sending acknowledgement letters and receipts
Coordination of events, staff travel and meetings
Minor updates to the AIDG website
Providing updates to social networks (facebook, twitter, blogs, etc)
Assisting with recruiting and human resources management
This is a full-time position with an initial commitment of 6 months. The position will generally require the applicant to work from 8:30am-5:00pm Monday-Friday.
Preferred Qualifications:
Applicants interested in this position should possess the following skills:
1-2 years office management experience
Excellent computer skills, must be able to learn new programs quickly
A commitment to issues of international development, the environment, and appropriate technology
Detail oriented and extremely organized
Strong written and oral skills
Good penmanship
Must be a self-starter with good time management skills, specifically must be able to anticipate next steps for successful project completion
The following additional skills are highly desired:
Spanish and/or French language proficiency (oral and written)
Experience designing or editing web pages
AIDG seeks a versatile, mature, friendly, independent, and dedicated individual, who also possess a good sense of humor. The candidate must demonstrate initiative and ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
Terms:
6 month contract, salary commensurate with experience. Review after 6 months, with possibility to convert to permanent staff.
Application Instructions:
Qualified applicants should send their cover letter and resume or CV to jobs (at) aidg.org.
Energy poverty is hardship caused by insufficient energy sources and/or their inefficient or deleterious use. EarthSpark International is a nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce the causes and effects of energy poverty and thereby empower communities in need. EarthSpark achieves this by developing local businesses and country‐scale supply chains for clean and efficient energy technologies; providing technical education and training to farmers, students and small and micro‐enterprise owners; and mitigating local environmental damage caused by energy poverty. EarthSpark envisions a world where forests thrive; where schools, hospitals and businesses are reliably powered; where homes have safe, clean energy sources; and where all residents have the opportunities for advancement and health that robust forests and clean energy provide. This spring, EarthSpark launched its pilot Tree Nursery Business Project and Clean Energy Store Project in Haiti. Together, these projects are expected to have a significant impact on two towns with a combined population exceeding 50,000. Please visit EarthSpark’s website to learn about its history, leaders, and current projects: http://www.earthsparkinternational.org.
Description:
We seek to hire an Executive Director who shares EarthSpark’s vision and convictions. The Executive Director will be an entrepreneurial leader with the capacity for perseverance and innovation, both as an individual and as a team member. This individual will have an enthusiasm for EarthSpark’s mission and will possess the ability to persuade, inspire and motivate others. The Executive Director will also be adept at solving the practical problems of daily operations in an entrepreneurial international organization.
Requirements:
Other qualities the Executive Director will possess include:
Collegiality: ability to communicate, listen, and collaborate with partners
Strong sense of self, ethics, and integrity
Ability to learn by doing and to adapt and respond constructively to challenges
Experience working in low-income neighborhoods in the U.S., a developing country, or in the international arena would be valuable but not essential
A willingness to work at EarthSpark sites in Haiti about 25% of the time
Proficiency in Haitian Creole or French would be valuable but not essential
Community organizing experience (e.g., grassroots coalition-building with networks of community leaders and partners) would be valuable but not essential
Duties and Responsibilities:
Executive Leadership:
Serve as an international ambassador for EarthSpark, strengthening its reputation and public image
Continually refine and improve organizational approaches that support EarthSpark’s mission
Communicate frequently with EarthSpark donors, partners and extended network contacts
Coordinate and lead EarthSpark’s fundraising efforts
Manage day-to-day operations and lead by inspiring and motivating partners, colleagues, and EarthSpark’s extended networks
Engage the Board to help EarthSpark achieve its programmatic, financial and mission objectives
Work cooperatively with the Board to complete and continuously refine EarthSpark’s strategic plan
On-the-Ground Duties:
Market research: requires survey design and analysis; strong familiarity with existing academic and institutional research in the development literature; strong familiarity with existing organizations working at the intersection of energy and development; strong familiarity with social, political and economic conditions of the developing world
Project development: requires cultural awareness; ability to conduct meetings with community associations with a translator; identifying strong, local liaisons and strong, local project managers; ability to set appropriate targets and goals for liaisons and project managers as well as to follow-through on targets
Project follow-through: requires site visits to project; coordination between international and domestic vendors, importers, distributors, and project manager via phone and e-mail Community Organizing:
Seek out community support and build a base of support in Haiti among community members and existing local organizations in Haiti
Based on community needs and participation, develop projects and programs that further EarthSpark’s mission
Coordinate with EarthSpark partners in Haiti to provide tools and trainings that will allow partners to realize their goals and meet performance targets
Help to implement and evaluate programs that support EarthSpark’s mission and the goals of its partners
Collaborate with partners in Haiti to measure EarthSpark’s impact through rigorous monitoring and evaluation
Supervision and Oversight:
The Executive Director will have a high level of responsibility and autonomy in daily tasks but will collaborate with senior staff on important matters
The Executive Director will answer to the Board of Directors
Evaluation of the Executive Director will be carried out by the Board and founders annually
To Apply We ask that applicants submit their resume and cover letter to info {at] earthsparkinternational [dot} org by November 15, 2009.
Three and a half weeks may have passed, but the situation on the ground is still much the same as what is shown in this photo series. The major differences are that the search and rescue operations have come to a close. The field hospital at MINUSTAH logbase where much triage of earthquake victims was occurring has also closed. The type of medical personnel needed on the ground has shifted. Initially surgeons, especially orthopedic surgeons, were in high demand to deal with trauma, fractures and amputations. Now many of these patients require post-operative care. The 1000+ amputees will require intense physical therapy. An untold number will need grief counseling. Many doctors have answered the call, including my good friend Dr. Megan Coffee, who is manning the TB tent at the general hospital (see Haiti Hospital’s Fight Against TB Falls to One Man in NYTimes). Unfortunately, nurses who spend much more time delivering care to individual patients than doctors ever can are in short supply. As we move out of the early phase of the post-earthquake response, infectious diseases ranging from diarrheal diseases to tuberculosis are becoming a grave concern. Most of the remains of quake victims that are visible (i.e. not under rubble) have been cleared, burned or buried. Many will never find the bodies of their loved ones to give them a proper burial.
“Earthquakes don’t kill people,” says John Mutter, a seismologist and disaster expert at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. “Bad buildings kill them.” And Haiti had some of the worst buildings in world. There are building codes, but in a country that has been ranked as the 10th most corrupt in the world, enforcement is lax at best. The concrete blocks used to construct buildings in the capital are often handmade, and are of wildly varying quality. “In Haiti a block is maybe an eighth of the weight of a concrete block that you’d buy in the U.S.,” says Peter Haas, the executive director of the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG), an NGO that has worked on buildings in Haiti. “You end up providing buildings quickly and cheaply but at great risk.”
Compared to the sensationalist reporting and scaremongering from other major news organizations, Amy Goodman and her team covered the situation on the ground with a great deal of sensitivity. I very much appreciate their balanced reporting as a counterpoint to dominant narrative being put forward at the time by CNN.
There are also significant problems with the quality of building materials used, says Peter Haas, head of the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group, a US-based non-profit group that has been working in Haiti since 2006.
“People are skimping on cement to try to cut costs, putting a lot of water in, building too thin, and you end up with a structure that’s innately weaker,” said Mr Haas, who was on his way to Haiti to help assess the safety of damaged buildings.
“Concrete blocks are being made in people’s backyards and dried out in the sun,” he said.
Mr Haas said there were also “serious problems” with the enforcement of building codes in Haiti.
He said the government did not function at all in several parts of the country, and many communities lacked basic services such as electricity, sanitation services or access to clean water.
“So the problem of code enforcement is low down on the list,” he said.
At the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group, a small nonprofit organization in San Francisco, projects are also developed from the ground up by providing support to local entrepreneurs, said Peter Haas, its founder.
Mr. Haas spoke while traveling to Haiti, where, before the earthquake, his group had been set to announce a competition for local entrepreneurs to develop plans for infrastructure projects. The competition has been delayed, and the group has added a new category: earthquake-resistant housing.
In Haiti, Mr. Haas’s group has already been helping Coopen, a business cooperative in Cap Haitien that will collect organic waste and human waste from public toilets and convert it to biogas, a fuel, for cooking. And in Guatemala, the group has aided a small company, XelaTeco, that builds hydroelectric projects for rural villages.
“We’re really not trying to dump some new expert solution on the population,” Mr. Haas said. Working through local businesses, he said, ensures that ideas that do not work do not stay around. “If a business fails and the market doesn’t accept the product, it disappears,” he said.
In a telephone interview, Haas warned that victims of the earthquake are fanning out from the capital to smaller centers across the country, raising the potential for problems beyond Port-au-Prince. To avoid a long-term refugee crisis, he said, the central government and its international supporters must help not only victims in the capital but those who have fled elsewhere.
Haas estimated that several thousand people a day are arriving in Cap Haitien from the capital and are largely left to fend for themselves.
“I think the immediate concern is intake and tracking [the displaced] for support,’’ he said. “Then they can be moved to temporary shelters and more permanent residences.’’
He sees ways to combine the postquake relief work and the longer-term rebuilding. For example, he has been talking with a Virginia company called Shelter 2 Home that builds prefabricated shelters designed to serve as a refuge in a crisis and then be improved to become a permanent house.
Catherine Laine captured this scene among countless other similar while driving through Delmas 33, Port-au-Prince on January 16
Dear readers,
Here is a brief update on our activities in Haiti.
We have established an operations center in Cap-Haïtien with our partner SOIL to serve as a hub for coordinating volunteer efforts and supplies coming into the country, especially those coming in through the port of Cap-Haïtien and the Dominican Republic (one of the few open routes into Haiti these days). Our presence in the north, away from the destruction zone, has allowed our communication and logistic abilities to continue relatively intact, which has been extremely useful in coordinating efforts on the ground with other partners and aid groups.
As an immediate priority, we are recruiting and mobilizing teams of engineers and other technical experts to directly support relief efforts of key partners. As I write this, we are preparing to send our first teams of engineers into Haiti to support the medical response efforts of Partners in Health, an organization that, as we previously noted, is having a significant impact here. We are particularly interested at this moment in placing French or Creole speaking civil and structural engineers. If you are, or know, an engineer that might be interested in volunteering in Haiti, please send a resume or CV to helphaiti@aidg.org.
AIDG will also be helping to coordinate the distribution of a large number of cookstoves in affected areas. Even before this week’s disaster, AIDG was in discussions with several leading stove groups (including Prakti Design, WorldStove, and Trees Water People), and in fact had been planning to host these groups at a conference in Cap-Haïtien next week to strengthen our collaboration in Haiti. Our focus has obviously shifted in the past couple days, and the group is now mobilizing very quickly to bring in as many stoves as possible, while at the same time developing local manufacturing capacity.
Aside from these immediate response priorities, we are also already hard at work developing a longer term strategy for supporting reconstruction efforts in Haiti, including a collaboration with our friends Architecture for Humanity to promote the development of low cost earthquake resistant housing. More details on this will follow in the coming weeks.
As you can imagine, we have all available hands on deck right now to support the response in Haiti. But WE NEED YOUR HELP to make sure we have the resources to continue these efforts. These next weeks are critical for us and for Haiti, and we are asking you to make a donation, whatever you can, to support our work here. Every dollar helps, and every dollar will have an immediate and direct impact in the wake of this tragedy.
You can make a secure donation online here, or if you’d like to mail us a check, you can send it to the following address:
AIDG
P.O. Box 104
Weston, MA 02493
We can’t thank you enough for all of your support.
Quetsol is a new business that will provide high efficiency, low cost solar technologies that aim to increase access to basic illumination, electricity generation, and water pumping in Guatemala. Their mission is to help their clients save money and improve their quality of life through the use of appropriate technology.
At approximately 4:55 pm Eastern on Tuesday Port Au Prince experienced a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, with aftershocks of 5.9 and 5.7. There is widespread damage to infrastructure with numerous collapsed buildings. It is anticipated there will be a high casualty rate
The National Palace has collapsed (eyewitness photo)
The UN headquarters has been seriously damaged (source: UN)
The Hotel Montana has sustained collapse with 200 missing (source: associated press france)
A Hospital has collapsed (source:NYtimes)
We are currently developing opportunities for AIDG to aid in reconstruction with the help of partners. We will make another announcement on this shortly.
As you all know we are a small organization. We require some basic additional budget resources immediately to help run an assessment that will determine this longer term response aimed at infrastructure and reconstruction. If possible mail checks to:
AIDG
P.O. Box 104
Weston, MA 02493
We will actually receive these funds faster than online donations. We will be running a larger campaign in concert with our reconstruction announcement.
For those wishing to have an immediate direct impact on populations in Port Au Prince we are recommending supporting the medical response teams of Partners In Health. www.pih.org They are working with a field hospital set up by the UNDP that immediately needs pain meds, bandages and other medical supplies.
We ask you all to hold Haiti in your hearts and prayers as this tragedy unfolds.
Former Prime Minister Pierre-Louise at the IDB investor meeting in Port Au Prince earlier this month with Former President Bill Clinton, President Rene Preval and Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno. Photo by Peter Haas AIDG
Haiti’s Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis was dismissed by the Haitian senate in late night voting. President Rene Preval has nomminated Jean Max Bellerive, the country’s planning and co-operation minister, to be her replacement.
Quotes on the dismissal:
From the Miami Herald:
” Pierre-Louis, in office for a year, said she has spent much of her tenure getting international support for Haiti after four back-to-back storms devastated the country last year, and it is too soon to see the results of her work.
Senators were not swayed.
But unlike the last censure of a Haitian prime minister — Jacques-Edouard Alexis in April 2008 following days of food riots — this one wasn’t as swift or orderly.
At times, chaos reigned: Lawmakers screamed and talked over one another in front a national television audience.
The Senate president often rang a small silver bell in a futile attempt to create order as the session stretched into Friday morning without a vote. The vote finally occured at about 12:15 a.m., long after Pierre-Louis’ Senate supporters had left, believing they had succeeded in preventing a vote.
“There is an error in the summons and everyone knows it,'’ said Sen. Youri Latortue, a Pierre-Louis supporter who last year successfully led the movement to oust Alexis.
But those lined up against Pierre-Louis weren’t moved by the constitutional arguments, nor her letter to the Senate president questioning the validity of the censure and informing him that she did not plan to attend the session.”
From Al Jazeera:
“The move to fire Pierre Louis comes days after Bill Clinton, the UN’s special envoy to Haiti and a former US president, told an investor conference in Port-au-Prince that Haiti’s political risk was lower than it had been in his lifetime.”
AIDG, P.O. Box 104, Weston, MA 02493. Phone: 800-401-3860 Fax:
866-450-8016. AIDG, Inc. is a 501c (3) non-profit organization.
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