Team C2C ING New York City Marathon RUN04HAÏTI

Team C2C 

ING New York City Marathon 

Run04Haiti

By Lindsay Muscato

On your marks, get set...launch!

Announcing Community2Community (C2C)’s Run04Haiti

Here at C2C, we are thrilled to announce the launch of our next event: the Team C2C ING New York City Marathon Run04Haiti, a fundraising campaign supporting C2C volunteer Jonathan Eustache, a Haitian-American runner who will be taking on the ING New York City Marathon on November 4th, 2012.

TEAM C2C is Jonathan’s cheerleaders and support team – he is the real engine behind our  RUN04HAÏTI campaign to raise funds for the C2C Haïti Restoration and Transformation Pilot Project (HRTPP) and we would love your help.

Who is Jonathan Eustache? Why is he running for C2C?

At first, Jonathan -- a 911 dispatcher raised in Brooklyn -- was no marathoner. He was just an interested Haitian-American, contacting C2C CEO+FireStarter Marie-Yolaine Eusebe about volunteering after reading about her in the Daily News. But soon a campaign evolved to merge help for Haïti with Jonathan’s newest passion, running. In 2008, Jonathan began running after doctors gave him two options for solving his back problems: lose weight or have surgery. By the time he had lost 36 pounds, he had begun to seriously improve his stamina and endurance. He had never tried to run a marathon before. But if it could raise money for Haïti, Jonathan was willing to try. He had lost a cousin and a close friend in the 2010 earthquake. By aligning with C2C, Jonathan thought his 26.2 miles could really make a difference.

3 Ways You Can Help Jonathan and Team C2C:

1. Come celebrate with us and pledge your support!  Show your support by coming to the launch event and making a pledge to sponsor Jonathan’s 26.2 mile run. The first 100 people to pledge $2.62 per mile will be entered a drawing to receive dinner for two at New York's hottest Haitian restaurants.  The launch kicks off on Wednesday, August 22nd at 6pm; at Copia NYC; 307 East 53rd Street in New York.
2. Come shout with us!  We will be on hand at each of Jonathan’s runs to cheer him on. E-mail events@community2community.info to find out details of where we are meeting. 
3. Spread the word.  Fan us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @C2CHaïti and #Run04Haiti and retweet our announcements about the launch and the run.

Look out for future blog posts on Jonathan’s upcoming practice runs; get great tips on diet, training and gear; and -- as always -- learn new ways to support our vital mission.

All proceeds from Jonathan's run will go to C2C for continued funding of the C2C Haïti Restoration and Transformation Pilot Project (HRTPP). The Run04Haiti is one in a series of events and fundraisers during 2012 designed to bring individuals and institutions together in a collective effort to pool resources in support of C2C’s Haïti Restoration and Transformation Pilot Project and the completion of its first initiative, a water treatment system bringing clean, potable water to over 16,000 people. C2C hopes to raise $13,624 in support of Jonathan’s marathon run.

Lindsay Muscato is a writer for Community2Community (C2C).

Where Did The Money Go? Part 1

"What You Can Learn From A See-Thru Pig"

by Elona Dotson

Tonight I was sitting on my couch looking around my living room.  My eyes settled on the fireplace mantle and on one of my favorite items that resides there…Malachi.  Malachi is a see through piggy bank.  Malachi has been a part of my family for many years.  When my daughters were young, we started a family tradition of putting all our loose change in Malachi and saving it until Malachi was full.  Then, we would cash all the coins and use the money for a special treat, like going to the movies, out to lunch, out for ice cream or doing something else for fun.  My girls would watch, in great expectation, the change in Malachi grow and watch Malachi fill up.  I thought, there is nothing like being able to see where you put your money, watching it grow, and being able to see the effect or end result of spending it.  This joy is the reason why the Malachi tradition in our family still exists.  

I thought, what if the Malachi principle was applicable to the NGOs?  What if all the money donated to them was as transparent as when I look at Malachi?  What if we could tangibly see the results of the $1.6 billion in aid relief and $2 billion in recovery aid that was supposed to be given to Haïti and the Haitian people?  Yet, what we saw was nothing.  Most know that almost none of the money donated by the general public went to Haïti or its people.  So where did the money go?  Where is the Malachi in all this?  I and others search for the truth no matter what it may reveal. 

The search begins with  Community2Community’s (C2C) summer Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, June 19, 2012, at 6:00pm, featuring a screening of the film, "Haïti-Where Did the Money Go?," written, produced and filmed by Michele Mitchell, Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Film at Eleven.  Following the screening, C2C hosts a panel discussion and Q & A with a focused response by the Haitian community and Diaspora. The event, which will take place at Brooklyn’s Borough Hall, is co-sponsored by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and is part of Borough Hall’s Caribbean Heritage Month, a month-long festival celebrating Caribbean American culture.  The film, which aired nationally on PBS (Channel 13 in New York) has received much attention and is currently screening in various venues around the country. The Town Hall will provide a platform for the Haitian community to view the film and provide their feedback and comments. Confirmed panelists include Michele Mitchell, along with Haitian Councilman Mathieu Eugene (District-40), Councilman Jumaane Williams (District-45), Haitian American Caucus (HAC) President Sadrack Belony Diaspora Community Services Director of Programming and Training Saeeda Dunston and C2C CEO+FireStarter Marie-Yolaine Eusebe.   To quote Marie-Yolaine, “we must keep the question of where did the money go? relevant as it pertains to Haïti until funds have been properly dispersed”.  Equally important is the need to show how smaller Haitian non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) are doing collective work on the ground and doing much with little and without supplied funds from the bigger NGOs or governments.   It can be done.  We are doing it!  Come see how!

This town hall is the first of several Town Halls that C2C will present to the Haitian community as part of its intent to Expose, Educate, and Engage the community toward the development of a self-sufficient Haïti. I guess you might say that we have found a place on our mantle and we are waiting for a Malachi to be presented.  Won’t you join us? 


Elona Dotson is Director of Productions and Logistics for Community2Community.  She is the executive producer of the "Hope and A Future" Benefit Concert for Haïti.  Contact her at elona@community2community.info

"Up From the Rubble"

"Up From the Rubble"
by Elona Dotson

My first real visit to Haïti in August 2010—I say real as I now know that the short stay I had in 1990 on the shore of Labadee while on a Royal Caribbean cruise did not count — landed me in the midst of a tragic aftermath.  The grey ashen dust from fallen buildings and the stench of death seemed to be still in the air seven months after the January 10^th earthquake.  If you were to stand in the middle of any given street, you were surrounded by tents and rubble. 

At the time, there were many questions being asked regarding the millions of dollars that had been collected to assist the island nation in rebuilding.  Those same questions are still being asked now, in May 2012. Most of the aid has not been realized.  While the injustice here is beyond comprehension and should be addressed, I believe the immediate need to secure life is vitally more important. 

When we were there, we found many without food and clean water, existing in horrendous sanitary conditions, living in tents, and children who couldn’t attend school as their schools had been destroyed.  We listened to countless stories of earthquake survivors and what they had encountered.  We were invited in to their personal odysseys and introduced to their pain, their frustration, their anger and in some cases, bitterness.  However, in spite of all they had been through—the emotional scars that remained, the prospect of difficult times ahead—these seemingly destitute people with their resilient spirits and courageous hearts inspired us to believe in the promise of a hopeful future.  One man said, “We will rise up from the rubble and continue to be the great nation that is in our blood.” 

We came back from that first trip, and Community 2 Community (C2C) was born. We immediately set out to work with intent, focus and vision.  It would be another full year before I would get back to Haiti again. When I arrived there in October 2011, I was happy to see a Haïti that was indeed rising up from the rubble.  The ash had settled, most of the piles of concrete and bricks from destroyed buildings were gone and some of the damage to the roads had been repaired. Some rebuilding was evident.  While there was still much work to be done, the progress was comforting, made more so by the fact that much of it was occurring without the infamous “missing money.” The Haitian people embodied “where there is a will, there is a way.”  It seemed as if the people went about their daily lives with purpose and quiet determination.  

As I looked over the pictures the team had taken on that first visit in 2010, and also the ones from the October trip, I saw the upward movement that has and continues to take place.  I saw how things looked when we first went and how we have helped to impact the progress of restoration and renewal.  The photos showed this momentum, a sense of moving forward – in the land, in the culture and in the faces of the women, men and children.  We are thrilled to be sharing these photos with the public at C2C’s first photo gallery exhibit and auction, appropriately titled, “Up From the Rubble,” on Thursday, May 31st from 6-10pm at Bed Vyne Wines, corner of Putnam and Tompkins Avenues in Brooklyn, NY.  Renowned Haitian photographer Ocean Morisset will be donating two pieces from his Haïti collection for the auction.  Bed Vyne Wines has also agreed to partner with us by presenting a tasting from their collection of unique and exquisite wines.

We invite you to witness with us the power of a people and of a community. Please lend your support to the exhibit as all of the proceeds will go toward the completion of a water system that is a key part of C2C’s Haïti Restoration and Transformation Pilot Project.  

Elona Dotson is Director of Productions and Logistics for Community2Community.  She is the executive producer of the "Hope and A Future" Benefit Concert for Haïti.  Contact her at elona@community2community.info

A Water Crisis?

On a typical Monday morning, I usually wake up around 7:30ish, take my mom to the train station, come home, can’t go back to sleep, so I start my day with a cup of java and my 9am weekly meeting with my boss Marie. Little did I know on the morning of Monday, March 12, 2012, one moment would open my eyes and force me to realize how much I take for granted.

“Olivia I need your help! Go shut off the main water valve, water is overflowing from the toilet!!” This was my alarm clock on the morning of Monday, March 12, 2012. My mom was yelling to me in desperation to help her prevent another catastrophe from striking our home.  Luckily, we were able to stop the rushing water and another flood in our bathroom, which could have potentially penetrated through the walls, all the way down to the basement. Catastrophe averted!  Now the real headache begins. Getting someone to come and fix it.

Fortunately, we have a great home improvement guy that fixes anything and everything.  My only concern was that it was such short notice and we didn’t know if he could come that day to fix it. First thought, “Oh man we are going to have to shut the water off.” Someone shoot me now!  I was able to get our guy on the phone, told him the problem, and he responded with, “I can come today in a couple of hours.” Crisis averted yet again!

As he had me on the phone, he asked me if I had shut the water off. I told him no. In my head I was thinking, “I need access to the shower, to wash my hands, fill up the Brita with clean water because it is the main beverage I drink, make my coffee, cook pasta for lunch, and many other things.”  He tried to convince me the best thing was to shut the water off, but I wound up waiting till he came to my house to fix the toilet bowl. Because of my decision, I had to go up to the bathroom every 20 minutes and dump out the bucket of water from the busted pipe on the toilet. What a pain!

 After about the 10^th time trudging up those dreaded steps, it finally hit me.  Olivia, you are being ridiculous! The thought of having no water for just a couple of hours terrified me. As this realization hit me, I literally stopped on the steps and my first thought was about the people in Haiti. I am fortunate to be working with Community2Community (C2C), who believes that everyone, no matter where you are in this world, has the basic right to the essentials needed to live a healthy and happy life.  One of those basic and fundamental sources of life is water. 

Living in a country like America, we are fortunate that we don’t have to think about where we are going to use a bathroom, how and where we are going to wash ourselves, and what we are going to cook with. Clean water is easily accessible to us. Why can’t it be like this for our fellow brothers and sisters in Haiti?

 Here I was freaking out about the fact that I would not be able to use the bathroom, take a shower, have water to cook and drink with, and make my coffee that I oh so “needed”, when up until recently, the communities that C2C works with didn’t have a place to go to the bathroom.  After I started thinking about the people we work with in Haiti, I finally opened my eyes to the fact that I take water for granted and truly understood how imperative it is in our daily lives. Water is like air. We need it to function. Without it we literally don’t exist.

Now thinking about it, I am irritated at myself that it took an incident, such as my bathroom almost flooding, to realize how important water is in our daily lives. It is hard for me to even fathom how the communities we work with in Haiti, prior to us helping them build 15 latrines, had to search for an area to use as a substitute for a bathroom or risk not going at all. That is not acceptable! I am happy to say that I am a part of an organization that is working to ensure that all human beings basic rights are being met.

Olivia Robinson is the Project Coordinator and Executive Assistant for Community2Community. She is a recent graduate with a BA in Anthropology from American University. Contact Olivia at olivia@community2community.info.

One drop...

Many are the days that I think about when I am in Haïti.  I never thought a little country would have such a profound effect on me, causing me to reflect on life, its value, and the things that determine its quality.  While the sun hides partly behind the gray of what is left of winter, I sit by my bedroom window looking out, not seeing the sunny gray, but remembering a day in Haïti when I looked out the window of a room where I was staying.  My bed there was not like the thick plump mattresses I lay on at home.  There, it was a blow up bed on a cement floor.  I awakened that morning to the sound of rain as it fell freely from the gray sky above, gently hitting the leaves of trees, before making its way to the puddles on the ground and the pools of water that cascaded down the streets.  I remember thinking, “there’s a beauty in the rain.”  Every drop is clear, sent from heaven above to water the earth, providing for its growth, cleansing the ground, replenishing the lakes, springs, oceans, and other natural water sources.  I thought, if water is naturally free, why is it that people in Haïti, the elders, the mothers, the fathers, the children, thirst?  The same rain falls from the sky all over the world.  Why is it that I have clean potable water where I live in New York, but it is not that way in Haïti? 

Every day we wake up and we have the privilege and honor to live life.  We get up in the morning and turn on our faucets and water comes out to bathe with, cook with, clean with and drink.  In Haïti, every day, people wake up and prepare to live life.  Every day the people in Haïti walk miles, with 5 gallon buckets in hand, sometimes up and around mountains, to get to the nearest water source and once they fill their buckets with water, they then have to walk the long way back from where they came.  Picture mothers with babies strapped on their backs, elderly men and women, some pass what we would call retirement age, children, some not even 5, having to struggle, walking the distance, carrying the load (40-50 pounds) on their heads or in tow, bearing this burden no man should have to bear.  As if that is not enough, the water, that they have to travel so far to get, is not guaranteed to be safe.  Since there is no basic infrastructure that provides for proper sewage and waste disposal, water sources are known to be contaminated with harmful bacteria which can lead to water borne diseases such as cholera. 

We were fortunate to be able to stay at the house of C2C Project Manager and Engineer Trancy, while we are working in Haïti, a far cry from the many that are living in make shift homes and those that are still living in tents; their homes since the 2010 earthquake.  We, like most everyone else in Haïti, do not have running water.  In the bathroom where we bathe, there is a toilet and a shower stall with a huge plastic container (about 4 ft high and 36 inches in diameter) that must be filled every day in order for us to bathe, flush the toilet and just wash our hands.  A similar plastic container is in the kitchen and is filled with water every day for cleaning, preparing and cooking food and washing dishes.  Curious to see how this water got in the huge containers, I decided I would get up one morning before dawn to help.  In order to fill the container in the bathroom alone, I made eleven trips with a 5 gallon bucket, back and forth from the bathroom, down the hall, out the front door, down the 8-10 front porch steps, to the well, to get the water.   That was just enough water for the house for one day!  Not to mention that Trancy had to daily treat the water in the well by adding Chloratabs to prevent water contamination.  

The importance that water is a basic quality of life and the fact that we, here in America, have it readily accessible and at our fingertips, is a blessing.  However, knowing that there are others in other parts of the world, like Haïti, that do not have the same access, should bother us deeply and prompt us to immediate action.  What would your life be like today if you turned on your faucet and nothing came out, if you couldn’t wash your clothes, if you couldn’t flush your toilet, if you couldn’t drink?  What if there were no oceans, no rivers, no lakes? What if there was no rain?  Being a member of C2C has allowed me the opportunity to work towards making a difference.  We launched the water initiative in April of 2011 and together with the community we provided a new water source for the people of Petite Goâve by the fall.  

I can’t explain how I actually felt having the water from that new water source run thru my fingers the first time it was a reality.  I do know that I, and the members of my C2C family, know that we can’t stop there.  We have built the captage which encases and protects the spring from contamination by animals, animal waste, debris from hurricanes, garbage and other external pollutants.  We have also excavated the area for the installation and construction of the water tank that will store the water from the spring.  We now need to complete the project by actually constructing and installing the water tank and the water pump which will distribute the water to four water kiosks, also to be constructed.  These kiosks will be situated in common, easily accessible locations where people can go and get the water without traveling the great distances they currently travel. 

March 22nd is Water Day, a time that has been designated to focus on the importance of water globally. We would appreciate your sharing with us in Water Day by showing your support of our water project.  On March 22nd, help us bring the reality of clean, potable water to over 16,000 people.  Help us complete the water project by making your donation.  Just click here. Come be a part of something greater than yourself.

With your help, one day, the people in Haïti will be able to get up in the morning, turn on their faucets and just live life. 



Elona Dotson is Director of Productions for Community2Community.  She is the executive producer of the "Hope and A Future" Benefit Concert for Haïti.  Contact her at elona@community2community.info