03/26/2024
Spring 2024 Sail Aid Voyage to Haiti
Dear Friends,
I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones healthy, happy and thriving in life. I am writing from the bubble of paradise at St. John, US Virgin Islands where I have been spending winters for the last six years. Yes it is sunny, warm and beautiful, I hope you can come visit some day.
As you must have heard, the situation in Haiti has been terrible and getting worse every week for several years now, and recently even worse as gangs of armed thugs have just about taken over in Port au Prince, shutting down what little government was functioning, and disrupting life for the whole country by hijacking the importing and distribution of many essential goods.
As you may also know, I have been delivering aid to southern Haiti on sailboats almost every year since 2010, twice a year the last 6 years. My last voyage there in December 2023 was number 19. The southern part of Haiti and the island of Ile a Vache have been safe and free from gangs, guns, violence and disruption, except that the turmoil in Port au Prince affects all the people everywhere: there are no jobs, no work, no income, no tourists spending money, even many NGO’s have left and taken their people out of harm’s way, and other NGO’s simply are not going to Haiti at all any more. Supply lines of trucks bringing food and fuel to southern Haiti have been severely disrupted and frequently stopped. The result is that their life on the edge of poverty and starvation has tilted even farther towards the abyss of struggling for survival. Myself and others I know who have been to Haiti are getting almost daily phone calls and text messages begging for help, even just a little bit of money to buy food, which has skyrocketed in price out of reach for many families. Yes they are fishing, growing livestock and vegetables and eating coconuts and bananas and other local fruit, but many cannot afford to buy staples such as beans, rice, flour and cooking oil, which they cannot easily grow or buy.
I plan to sail to Ile a Vache again this May and I want to fill my boat with as much food, rice, beans, flour, pasta, cooking oil and other staples, as we can possibly carry. I have a wonderful crew of dedicated volunteers who will all pay their own expenses and help loading, sailing and unloading our cargo to give aid to as many people as we can. No we cannot feed everyone, we cannot reach or help everyone, but for the people we can reach, it will make a huge difference and improve their lives. We will do as much as we can.
I have already obtained 16 donated batteries (enough for three solar systems) and we will be picking up a large batch of donated solar panels in Puerto Rico on our way to Haiti, so in addition to bringing them food aid we will be delivering and installing solar power systems on three or more schools that do not have any electricity in partnership with Sail Relief Team from Puerto Rico.
As someone who has donated in the past and helped me to install solar systems, water pumps and deliver many cargoes of aid to Haiti, I am hoping that you will be able to find it in your heart to lend a hand, to donate any amount you are able to, so we can buy as much food as we can carry. I think we can carry about up to 4000 pounds of food, in the past I have carried up to 3000 pounds, but this trip will be short and the need is greater now, so I want to carry as much as we possibly can. It will cost about $5000 to buy 4000 pounds of rice, beans flour, cooking oil, pasta and other staples, plus purchasing wire, connectors, charge controllers and inverters to complete the installation of three solar systems for which I already have the solar panels and batteries.
Please help me to help our Haitian brothers and sisters, any amount from $5 to $50, $500, $1000 or $5000, I promise you that 100% of every dollar donated will go directly to purchase aid supplies for Haiti, not one penny will be spent on food, fuel, travel expenses or overhead of any kind for us to deliver this aid. Myself and all my crew will be donating all of our time and own money to fund the voyage so that your donations can be 100% effective. How many other aid organizations do you know, (some that perhaps you already support with donations), that operate at 100% donation efficiency? Almost none, most spend a lot on travel and expenses for their team to deliver aid or do projects where needed, but at Sail Aid we are proud to say that 100% of all donated funds go directly to delivered aid, none to any overhead or expenses.
All donations are fully tax deductible in the US, make checks out to MOVE TO MATTER and mail them to:
Sail Aid International
1600 N. Delaware Drive
Easton, PA 18040
And of course you may make donations online at our website: www.sailaidinternational.org
Thank you so much for your generosity and support of our work to try to help some of the most disadvantaged people in the Western Hemisphere, the wonderful people of Haiti, who, through no fault of their own, just happened to be born in the most impoverished country and struggling against terrible and insurmountable odds and forces outside of their control.
A Big Hug, Much Gratitude and Many Blessings
Sequoia Sun
Captain s/v Tandemeer
Sail Aid International is an organization for anyone who wishes to lend a hand to isolated coastal villages and island communities where the small amount of aid and relief supplies we can deliver by sailboat will make a very large difference in the lives of the people we reach. We cannot reach ever...
