14 January 2010

Crossroads' UN Partnership Official Launch is Today!

Hi all,

Just a quick note in case you were looking for something to do at 12 noon
New York time.

Our Global Hand team which is a part of Crossroads
Foundation has been developing a platform to
enable the partnership of corporations and non-profits through the United
Nations for the past few years.

All that work is going public today! Our live launch has been scheduled for
January 14th for some time now, and as our site is very relevant to the
disaster response in Haiti, it will be included in the UN's noon briefing
from New York.

Go to: http://www.un.org/webcast/#
It is on "Channel 2", under the heading "12:00noon Daily Noon Press
Briefing".

You can watch John Holmes' briefing on the response to the Haitian
earthquake and his tie in to the announcment of the Global Hand
launch. Interesting timing with the tragic events in Haiti. The site will be
launched in "Emergency/Disaster Mode" which wasn't the initial plan, but
will bring in a flood of interest as the public response to this crisis is
rapidly growing... this will cause more than our general traffic in its
normal mode of connecting and equipping non-profits in developing nations.
More exposure for businesses to see the multi-faceted ways they can be
involved in pulling up the poor both in times of peace and tragedy.

If you can't watch the live launch, poke around the UN's
Siteafter 1pm East Coast time to scope out our
partnership with them.

Everyone on staff has been working beyond capacity around here... lots of
huge projects. Half our staff is heading to Davos, Switzerland next week to
run a Refugee Run simulation at the World Economic
Forum.
The likes of Prime Ministers, big time CEOs and names I'm not sure I can
drop yet will be experiencing just a taste of what internationally displaced
people live with on a daily basis. One of our
directorswill
also be on a panel with dudes like Jeffrey
Sachsdiscussing
innovative initiatives on ending poverty.
Wow, that read like a Wikipidia page. Links to keep you busy all afternoon.

Exciting times.

As far as disaster response in Haiti goes, we are not a 'first responding'
organization. Since we are focused on long-term development we do not have
the resources that would meet the emergency rescue efforts going on in Haiti
right now. We do have a shipment that has been in the works to Haiti for the
equipping of a hospital. That may be fast tracked now in light of the
earthquake. There are many obstacles though, as you can imagine. For
starters, we have yet to get in contact with our consignee on the ground and
it could be several weeks before we know if they are even in a place (or
have a building) to accept these goods.

In my line of work I am daily reminded of a hurting world and the problems
it faces. Lucky for me, I am on the solutions side of the work, which keeps
me fairly optimistic. These last two days, however, watching as the dust
settles over Port-au-Prince to reveal some of the worst suffering humanity
is ever exposed to... it leaves me beside myself, fighting back tears and an
acute sense of anger at injustice that comes in too many forms. Its enough
to keep me on the front lines.

Thank you for standing with me in the fight.
courtney


To support me, the work I do, Crossroads, Global Hand, or our disaster
relief fund (you can now receive US Tax exemption receipts) visit
www.crossroads.org.hk/donate_money and be sure to specify what you would
like your donation to go towards in the "What For?" box (e.g. "Courtney
Brandt" if you want to help me stay out here as a volunteer).