GlobalGiving.org: Urgent Information for Haiti’s Earthquake Victims

"News You Can Use" Marks its 450th Program

Nina Sheth — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:48:25 GMT

On September 30, 2011, the popular radio program Enfomasyon Nou Dwe Konnen (ENDK), or “News You Can Use,” produced its 450^th program. Due to its widespread success and popularity, the program is still being broadcast for free on more than 30 radio stations in Port au Prince and the provinces. Described by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as the “backbone of the humanitarian information operation of Haiti,” ENDK has been instrumental in providing critical information for the Haitian population that is based on their information wants and needs. While the program continues to have a strong public health and disaster alert component, it is steadily working towards a broader focus on recovery, reconstruction, development and civic education topics. With the support of funding from the Office of Transitional Initiatives (OTI), Internews and ENDK are contributing to media capacity building by intensive training and coaching exchanges with 15 partner media who will continue to produce such content in an ENDK type format beyond the current OTI grant. Internews is committed to ensuring that programs like ENDK become self-sustainable and continue to provide vital and life-saving information.

In addition to supporting the radio program and training local journalists, Internews is also supporting a team of 19 Haitian researchers to develop the first independent Haitian research firm BRESI. Internews originally formed a team of Haitian researchers to conduct research on the access to and use of the media by Haiti’s earthquake affected population and most importantly its information needs. The idea was that this information would feed into ENDK programming to ensure that it was responsive to the affected populations’ information needs. In recognition of the important work conducted by this outstanding team of researchers, OTI supported Internews-Haiti’s goal of helping the team develop into an independent research firm capable of operating to international standards. The bi-monthly reports put out by the team are widely circulated among other NGOs, the Haitian government and other key actors, showcasing the tremendous capacity of the team to execute high quality research.

Thank you for your continued support of humanitarian news and information in Haiti.

GlobalGiving visits Internews in Haiti

Britt Lake — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 21:46:28 GMT

Internews' research staff in Port-au-Prince

The day after the one year anniversary of the earthquake my colleague, Marisa , and I rode up the hill to the Hotel Montana to meet Internews’ staff. The Hotel Montana, previously one of the nicest hotels in Port-au-Prince had collapsed during the earthquake, killing and injuring several people inside. When we arrived the main part of the hotel had been completely destroyed, although most of the rubble cleared in the past year.

A downstairs portion, including a conference room, remained in tact. For the week of the one-year anniversary of the earthquake, Internews set up a temporary journalist station in this conference room where both local and international journalists could come to learn, write, and post their stories. “Half of the time journalists spend in this country is just working out logistics – finding power, internet, etc,” said Phillip Allouard, Internews’ Haiti Country Director. Each day, they brought in experts from the country about different topics to present to the journalist present. They covered topics like the cholera outbreak and the reconstruction efforts in the country.

Internews’ mission is to empower local media worldwide to give people the news and information they need, the ability to connect, and the means to make their voices heard.. Their first program, ENDK, produces a 15-20 minute informational radio program six days a week to provide Haitians with information they need on topics like where they can access health care, employment opportunities, and disease prevention and treatment. This program is currently run on about 40 community radio stations throughout the country. As evidence of their reach, a recent study of the program’s target areas found that 100% of people surveyed had not only heard the program, but could cite specific examples of useful information they had gained from listening.

Internews works hard to make sure that the information they’re providing is what Haitians actually want to hear. They’ve created a research unit that has grown to almost 20 employees in the past several months. The research unit originated to identify and track the information needs of the communities they serve. They have found that across the board – from the time of the earthquake to now – people want health-related information. Internews has responded with information about where people can access clinics, what symptoms indicate illnesses like cholera, malaria, and typhoid, and what people can do to prevent illness. Their research has become so respected that other organizations, including government officials and other non-profit organizations, have begun paying for access to the information. One long-term possibility is to turn this research unit into an information consulting business run by Haitians even after Internews is no longer involved.

Jennifer Mandel, Deputy Country Director, believes that one of the biggest impacts Internews will have on the country is the lasting training and capacity building they have been carrying out throughout the past year. As funding for the radio program winds down, the journalists and researchers they’ve trained throughout the last year will remain in the country, continuing to provide high-quality research and reporting to rebuild Haiti in the future.

ENDK's radio equipment

Vital Response to Cholera Outbreak in Haiti

Felicia Montgomery — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:59:25 GMT

Public information and effective community outreach identified by World Health Organization (WHO) as the single most effective way of tackling cholera

In close coordination with the Government of Haiti, local media partners, the United Nations, international and local relief organizations, and health and civilian protection officials, Internews is helping to coordinate and disseminate a large-scale emergency public information campaign vital to the containment, prevention and early treatment of cholera as the World Health Organization (WHO) states "that a public information campaign can make the difference between life and death" in Haiti.

The government and the humanitarian community are responding to a cholera outbreak that is blamed for more than 250 deaths and over 3,000 confirmed cases to date, putting in place measures to prevent the disease spreading further from outlying St Marc, Artibonite, the epicenter of the outbreak, to the Port au Prince region and other affected areas by the January 12th earthquake.

Under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and the Department of Civil Protection (DPC), Internews is assisting Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Haiti, a communications coordination platform, to rapidly roll out a comprehensive public information campaign using radio, television, megaphones, sound trucks and community-based mobilization, to communicate messages about cholera and cholera diagnosis, prevention and treatment. In addition, Internews is helping to broadcast an SMS message campaign from the Ministry of Health encouraging Haitians to text "Maladi" to 4636 to receive health information via SMS message on cholera, free of charge.

Internews is producing special radio shows of its own ENDK, News you Can Use program that reaches up to 70% of the Haitian population in partnership with over 35 local radio stations. These radio shows carry information on cholera, symptoms, prevention messages, the evolving situation, and responses by the Haitian Government and its humanitarian partners. These two ENKD programs have already been broadcast across Port au Prince and have been rushed to St-Marc to air in Artibonite on local radio stations.

Communications coordination is key

From Port au Prince and St Marc, CDAC is focusing on facilitating information sharing with local media, community outreach, and ensuring collaboration and support from all responders involved to the national communication strategy through the Ministry of Communication. CDAC Haiti is mapping the existing communications initiatives and capacity, identifying gaps and needs such as megaphones, speakers, radios and community mobilizers, as well as gathering approved messages on cholera treatment and prevention from the government.

CDAC, led by Internews in Haiti, is sharing all this information with the government, humanitarian organizations and local media in the affected areas and Port au Prince to ensure that messages transmitted are consistent, easy to understand, widely disseminated and approved by the relevant authorities.

“We know from past experience that unless someone is there to facilitate and coordinate communication, we will see inconsistent, confusing and possibly contradictory information going out,” says Imogen Wall, UN Humanitarian Spokesperson for Haiti. “All this is particularly important in this context as Haitians are not familiar with cholera and in environments like this misinformation and rumors take root very fast. In cholera epidemics, 80% of cholera patients’ lives can be saved through information: people need to know how to prevent transmission and identify and treat early symptoms especially if they are in remote areas where they cannot receive medical help.”

Links:

Internews Supports Vital Response to Cholera Outbreak

Thank you for Supporting Sustainable Haitian Media

Felicia Montgomery — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:53:20 GMT

To date, Internews has produced and distributed more than 150 Enfomasyon Nou Dwe Konnen (ENDK) shows. The show – “News You Can Use” in English – covers information of critical importance to those affected by the Haiti earthquake.ENDK is recorded daily, and delivered by motorbike in Port-au-Prince to local radio stations that air the broadcast. Initially nine radio stations were broadcasting daily. Today, that number has reached 33. Recent issues covered to inform camp residents and others include:

• Elections: Where to vote, register and file disputes • Disaster preparedness: A US medical boat stands ready to help the Haitian population in case of hurricane disaster. • Entertainment: Announcement of free outdoor movie screenings in Pétion-Ville

On June 1st Internews launched www.enkd.info, with French summaries and Creole transcripts of ENDK broadcasts. The site also allows any radio station to download audio content and customize it for broadcast. The site features Weekly Mailbox, a choice of the most relevant Q&A addressed during the week. More than 400 Weekly Mailbox questions have been answered so far on topics that vary from “How to get a death certificate for a person whose body was never found” to “Is shooting into to the sky to celebrate after a soccer match allowed?”

This information is vital to Haitians as they continue to recover from the devastating earthquake. The radio is the most popular form of consuming information. A recent GlobalPost article details the importance of Haitian journalists and their reporting to the country’s recovery: “Broadcasting from tents outside crumbled stations, Haiti’s radio journalists are striking a stronger, more critical tone, holding local and foreign officials accountable for missteps as the country limps toward recovery.”

Thank you for your support of humanitarian news and information in Haiti.

Links:

Article: In Haiti, radio evolves into powerful mouthpiece

Haitians in Tent Cities Get Humanitarian Info

Felicia Montgomery — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:49:59 GMT

Man receives handcrack radio (Winnie Romeril)

By supporting Internews’ efforts in Haiti, you can directly make possible the broadcast of vital information in a country that largely depends on radio for its news and information. Help us continue to serve the needs of earthquake victims in Haiti and contribute to the long-term recovery of Haiti’s media sector.

Haitians are still struggling with devastating after effects of the January 12 earthquake. Almost two million people are living in displaced person camps, in which problems of garbage disposal, health, security and violence are compounded.

Providing Haitians with reliable information is critical to their continuing struggle to obtain employment, education for their children, permanent housing and access to health services.

Since a few days after the earthquake, with a team of local reporters, Internews has been producing a daily 15-minute news program – Enfomasyon Nou Dwe Konnen (News You Can Use) – that is currently airing on 25 local radio stations.

A survey found that 82% of men and 67% of women listen to Enfomasyon Nou Dwe Konnen as an information source. “If you go to Haiti, everyone, just everything they say is, 'News You Can Use said that. News You Can Use said that,'” said Caitlin Klevorick, Special Assistant to Counselor Cheryl Mills, US State Department, at a panel discussion on the role of media in the response to the earthquake. Almost one million Haitians listen to and depend on Enfomasyon Nou Dwe Konnen for humanitarian news and information.

The program reports critical information about water distribution points, openings of displaced persons camps, the role of search and rescue teams, public health advisories, education, culture and more. The program invites direct feedback from the affected population in the form of SMS text messages and emails, keeping the broadcast current. Radio, along with church, is one of the most trusted sources of information in Haiti and people overwhelmingly prefer local stations.

The continuation of humanitarian broadcasting as well as building and sustaining a strong local media is critical to Haiti’s reconstruction and political and economic development.

What donors are saying:

“(I give because of) the unsurpassed work Internews does in emergency situations in restoring access to information and news, which does "save lives" – Sarah Tisch, DC

“(I give because I) believe that the power of communication is imperative in a humanitarian disaster of this sort” – Katie Well, London

Thank you for your support. Together, we can make a difference.

Links:

How You've Helped Quake Survivors Connect in Haiti

Felicia Montgomery — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:18:32 GMT

Robenson Sanon interviews quake survivors

Thanks to the quick response of Global Giving donors like you, Internews was able to immediately initiate a media response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti within days and continues to meet the information needs of the people of Haiti post-earthquake.

Your support has funded the production of over 40 humanitarian broadcasts to date: Internews Network’s daily humanitarian information program, Enfomasyon Nou Dwe Konnen, began January 21, and reaches Haitians via 27 local radio stations, with information on safety, health, aid and reconstruction. The program is reported and produced by local journalists, who convey useful information to listeners in camps, makeshift shelters, and homes.

The show’s practical health and nutrition advice is saving lives. Even simple information can have a wide impact on the well-being of earthquake survivors. Along with receiving information, listeners rely on the program as a means to communicate their needs to the government and aid agencies.

- Frantz Larsen’s five-month-old child had been trying to drink cow’s milk for several days, after Frantz’s wife stopped breastfeeding and Frantz had been trying without success to buy milk formula. When Frantz heard a radio report that said babies should be breastfed for at least six months, he told reporters he encouraged his wife to breastfeed the baby again.

- Armand said he now makes sure his children take soap with them to camp latrines to wash up, after hearing a report on the humanitarian broadcast, Enfomasyon Nou Dwe Konnen (News You Can Use), about disease risks incurred by people who do not wash their hands when leaving the toilet.

Internews as partners in the community: Earthquake survivors respect and trust the Internews team in Haiti. We receive over 100 SMS/text messages a day. Questions are aggregated and incorporated into the programming, and we deploy journalists to investigate and report on issues of most interest to the people.

Sample SMS/text messages received on February 23: “My name is Richard and I live in Delmas 75. I commend you for the right information you bring to the country.”

“We live in the village Renesans, and we have received no official visit… not even a bottle of water… We ask for help for the village of Renesans. Thank you.”

“Please, tell us where we can find tents and tarpaulins, and where we should get them, because I have a nurse with many children, and there one who is sick because he sleeps outside.”

Direct Link between Aid Agencies and Earthquake Survivors: Enfomasyon Nou Dwe Konnen provides a direct link between listeners like these and the aid agencies who are providing direct services. Internews’ radio journalists have established contact with all major humanitarian players and routinely carry public service messages from the agencies and report on their aid work.

Dimitry Leger of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said “I find Internews invaluable for getting [UNFPA] messages out to the affected population. News You Can Use is a huge hit among Haitians, and its young Haitian journalists are well-trained and very sharp. Their questions give me insights on how the UN could do a better job.”

Melanie Brooks of CARE International explained how her agency relies on the radio program: “CARE has already used the program to explain to people how to improve their shelters to make them waterproof for the rainy season – information that will help keep people dry and prevent illness. Having access to such a wide audience through the Internews program allows CARE to reach far more people with important messages than we could on our own.”

Internews Reporters in Haiti Cover Clinton/Bush Visit: Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush traveled to Port-au-Prince on March 22 in the efforts to continue raising awareness and funds for Haiti. They met with President René Préval and afterwards, held a joint press conference. Local Internews reporters in Haiti covered President Préval's remarks and interviewed local people about the event.

After the press conference, which was attended by local and international press, the Presidents visited Champs de Mars, one of the largest IDP sites in Port-Au-Prince. They met with the Haitian people and spoke to them about their lives in the camps. For about an hour, they addressed solutions and fund raising and provided support to the locals. The crowds poured out to shake their hands and to get a glimpse.

Thank you - Global Giving donors. You are helping make all this possible. Please leave us feedback, comments or vote on the usefulness of this report.

Internews Local Journalists Cover Press Conference

Haitian Father Listens to News on Surivival

Internews Haiti team broadcasting 'Hope for Haiti'

Links:

See the impact of your support!

Laura Lindamood — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:55:53 GMT

TIME video on radio news in Haiti

Two recent videos highlight the work you're supporting in Haiti.

From TIME magazine and Unicef, the videos show the work of local journalists in Haiti, producing daily news and distributing radios so those affected by the earthquake have accurate information about aid, health, and recovery.

Thank you again for your support! Please share these videos with others who might be interested in humanitarian media in Haiti.

Links:

Critical Information Reaching Haitians

Laura Lindamood — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:23:05 GMT

Internews’ daily humanitarian information program, Nouvelles-Utiles, is now airing on 21 local and national radio stations in Haiti since beginning daily broadcast on January 21. Reported by local journalists, stories in the program have included: where to find water, tips on avoiding water-borne illnesses, the location of medical clinics and special camps for children and orphans, plans for recovery & jobs, and more.

Radio stations are eager to air the programming, and individuals are grateful for the information. “People are stunned, dazed, and they’re still walking around in a bit of a dream wondering what’s going on with their lives, and I think one little bit of certainty they can have is to know what’s going on around them,” said Yves Colon, Internews Journalism Advisor in Haiti.

“Haiti is a poor country – we have so many troubles. It’s really nice to know that people are thinking about us,” said Gaelle Alexis, a Haitian journalist who was rescued by her husband after 10 hours under rubble.

On Friday, January 22, Alexis worked with Internews to translate MTV’s Hope for Haiti Now telethon into Creole for Haitian listeners. Internews facilitated the broadcast of the telethon into Haiti together with national radio and television stations with support from MTV, Westwood One, the BBC and CNN. (See Links for a video of the broadcast).

Thank you for your continued support – the flow of news to Haitians is critically important, and with your help, Internews will continue to make sure that local-language, accurate information reaches the people who need it most.

Links:

Humanitarian Programming on the air in Haiti!

Laura Lindamood — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:40:31 GMT

Journalists in front of the destroyed Radio Magic 9

An Internews team of media specialists and radio technicians has been in Haiti since the earthquake to assess damage to media infrastructure and support local media.

On Thursday, January 21st, 11 local radio stations in Haiti aired a Creole-language humanitarian information broadcast produced by Internews.

The program, Nouvelle-Utiles (News You Can Use) will be produced daily and distributed to local radio stations, which are eager to air it.

Thursday’s program included stories refuting rumors that there was an imposed curfew in Port-au-Prince, and notice of water distribution locations, bank re-openings, and waste management services. Information from the Red Cross discouraged hasty and uncoordinated disposal of bodies, and dispelled rumors that dead bodies cause disease.

Local journalists reported the stories in the broadcast, produced and distributed by Internews. More stations will be added to the distribution, as they return to broadcasting.

Stations airing the program include: Radio Signal, a popular Port-au-Prince station which never stopped broadcasting, even during the earthquake; Radio ONE, the only independent radio station with national reach; and Radio National, Haiti’s state broadcaster.

Thank you for your support – it is making a difference!

As reported this week by the Associated Press and others, news and information – on safety, food, shelter, water, and stability – are lifelines for victims of the earthquake in Haiti:

“The radio station is the people’s life right now,” said 56-year-old Roselaure Revil, a Haitian who runs a small church aid program that is out of food, water and clothing. “Without the radio station, the country is dead. Without the radio station, we can't communicate. We don’t have anything.”

Full article in The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/20/world/AP-CB-Haiti-Radio.html

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Haiti Radio Fills Information Void in Disaster