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Haiti earthquake emergency

Haiti suffered a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Saturday, August 14, leaving homes and workplaces destroyed, over a thousand lives lost, and thousands more injured and homeless.

AVSI has a large base in Les Cayes, where over 65 local staff are already on the streets, responding with first aid. Immediately, AVSI began looking for shelter solutions and distributing plastic sheets for temporary coverage while assessing the damage to the schools, health centers, and homes.

In front of this dramatic situation in Haiti, AVSI worldwide has set an initial goal of $50,000 to provide first aid, shelter, food, and water to the affected population. Help us provide some immediate relief and a glimmer of hope.

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Let's Go Back to School!

AVSI-USA COVID-19 EDUCATION FUND

Access to distance learning is uneven, with huge disparities based on income and geography. We have seen that even in the best cases, distance learning is not the same as children attending school in-person, surrounded by peers and in direct relationships with teachers. Globally, parents struggled to fill the gap, and there is a well-founded fear that the most vulnerable children will not be able to catch up with their learning goals.

Now is the time to act and prepare children to go back to school.

In Haiti, Uganda, Lebanon, and Ecuador, AVSI and partners are already planning customized responses together with families and communities.

With your help, we can provide an extra boost to this back-to-school effort, address learning loss, and allow children to begin to heal so that they can thrive.

From the 4th of July to Labor Day (September 6), we want to raise $15,000 to ensure that 500 kids get the support they need to get ready for school.

Special Note: the first $5,000 in donations that we receive will be matched, dollar to dollar, by a special friend. Donate today and see your contribution double!

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HAITI

Background: On Saturday, August 14, Haiti suffered from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, leaving severe destruction, hundreds dead, and thousands injured and homeless. Our first response is to address immediate needs, providing first aid, shelter, food, and water to the affected population, but our staff in Haiti is already visiting schools and families assisted by AVSI’s Distance Support Program to plan psycho-social and educational activities for children and adolescents. Your donation can help us continue to accompany children who were already experiencing poverty, hunger, and violence before the devastation brought by the earthquake in the weeks and months ahead.

Goal: $5,000 to support children supported by AVSI Haiti.

Uganda

Background: On June 6, Uganda's president reimposed a lockdown as part of an effort to prevent the COVID-19 surge from overwhelming the healthcare system. Uganda's lockdown will last at least 42 days and includes the closure of schools. The 2021-2022 school year that was set to start in August will only begin on September 20. During this new lockdown, Luigi Giussani High School teachers will print and personally distribute lessons and homework to their students once a week. Apart from preventing that these children fall further behind, the activity prevents three side effects caused by previous lockdowns: early pregnancy, school dropouts, and child abuse.

Goal: $5,000 to support 150 children at Luigi Giussani High School.

ECUADOR

Background: The Government has decided that the return to school in-person won't be mandatory. They propose a hybrid system, in which some students will be in-person while others will continue remotely. The schools that Fundación Sembrar children and adolescents attend won't have safety measures in place to welcome all students, and many will return to school remotely. To help children catch up academically while providing psycho-social support, Sembrar has organized a summer camp. The goal is to prepare and motivate children and young people to resume studying. For two weeks, young adults working as counselors and children will rediscover, through educational activities, the desire to learn.

Goal: $5,000 for 150 children to attend a two-week camp at Sembrar.

LEBANON

Background: Children in Marjeyoun, South of Lebanon, including Syrian refugees, do not have access to quality education. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened existing problems and created others. Parents could not give children the materials needed to access online education. The number of children working instead of going to school increased, and the number of drop-outs is alarming. AVSI Lebanon is working to fill this educational gap before schools reopen in September by offering children catch-up courses, counseling, and recreational activities while supporting parents and schools with training sessions and regular follow-ups.

Goal: $5,000 to support 150 children in Marjeyoun, South of Lebanon.

why we donate to avsi!

General operations FUND

Your support to the AVSI-USA General Fund enables us to leverage our fundraising capacity through outreach to foundations. Without your support, none of the life-saving emergency response work or the long-term development initiatives would be possible.

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