It seems astonishing that such extreme destruction could have taken place in such a short time, and with possible radiation threats from the reactors in Fukushima, the embattled people of Japan continue to face instability and uncertainty. Our prayers are with them as the official death toll reached 4,000 today, thousands more are displaced from their homes, and an astonishing number are still trying to locate lost loved ones amidst the turmoil.

We wish all the Japanese people safety, security and peace. We encourage you to keep them in your prayers.

If you’re looking for a way to help, there are a number of emergency relief organizations accepting donations, including:

• World Vision – worldvision.org/Help Japan
• Unicef – unicefusa.org
• Red Cross – Japanese jrc.or.jp or American americanredcross.org
• Global Giving – globalgiving.org/projects/japan

One of multiple news reports on the earthquake, tsunami and their effects on Japan (published 3/11/11):

Today, Jan. 12, is the one-year anniversary of the disastrous earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In the wake of the catastrophe, while aid groups worked to provide much-needed emergency relief services, other NGOs looked to implement long-term financial services to empower the Haitian people. Opportunity worked with Fonkoze, the largest microfinance organization in Haiti, to help restore their services, getting them up and running in a matter of days, much earlier than local traditional banks. It was further proof that microfinance institutions often have the power to impact people’s lives where traditional banks cannot.

To that end, reports CGAP blogger Chris Bold, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in coordination with USAID, has made $10 million available for the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative (HMMI) to encourage mobile operators and banks to launch mobile money services. And on Monday, Jan. 10, they awarded $2.5 million to mobile operator Digicel and their partner, ScotiaBank.

Here, Bold interviews Greta Greathouse, Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Haiti Integrated Finance for Value Chains and Enterprises project (HIFIVE), the group responsible for running the HMMI, discussing the ways in which mobile money and greater access to financial services can help people at the bottom of the economic pyramid:

Why was mobile money seen as important in responding to the damage caused by the earthquake?

Greathouse: “…In the days immediately following the earthquake severe liquidity problems mounted as banks remained closed. …[M]obile financial services had potential as a solution that would support many other relief efforts and hopefully leave a legacy of safe, easily accessible and affordable access to financial services for the poor even after the relief agencies had departed.”

Summing up the immense challenges in Haiti, Greathouse concludes, “Who has ever had to face the combined challenges of earthquake damage of apocalyptic dimensions, connectivity issues, hurricanes, cholera, post election violence, gas shortages all within the same year? Despite it all, the government of Haiti and the private sector, working together, have made mobile money services a reality for Haitians.”

To read the complete published interview on the CGAP Technology Blog, click here.

After years of struggling to adapt traditional banking software to its microfinance operations, Fonkoze began working with Opportunity to implement the technology tools it needed to manage its operations. The same technology innovations Opportunity developed for its microfinance banks around the world are now used at Fonkoze.

When the earthquake struck, Fonkoze’s main headquarters and a number of branches were destroyed. Once Fonkoze was able to get its hardware set up again, Opportunity began working with them behind the scenes to restore their operations. Within four days, half of Fonkoze’s 42 branches were operational and all but two were ready within the week. The organization’s nationwide client base of 200,000 depositors (50,000 of whom area also borrowers) had access to the cash they so desperately needed to survive.

As a trusted institution in the community and through tools such a mobile banking, microfinance is now able to play an even greater role in disaster recovery. So much so that Newsweek is now asking, “Could microcredit be the next Red Cross?”

For news coverage of Fonkoze’s remarkable response, visit http://www.newsweek.com/id/233334.

In this immediate aftermath, we would encourage you to consider supporting one of our partners with operations in Haiti or one of the many other great organizations who are providing services in the country.

A terrible tragedy like this demonstrates the vulnerability of those living in poverty, and reminds us of how much work remains to help strengthen poor communities around the world.

As President Obama recently said, “Few in the world have endured the hardships that you [Haiti] have known. Long before this tragedy, daily life itself was often a bitter struggle. And after suffering so much for so long, to face this new horror must cause some to look up and ask, have we somehow been forsaken?”

We join with the President and the international chorus of voices declaring, “You will not be forsaken; you will not be forgotten.”

Partners with operations in Haiti:

Compassion International
http://www.compassion.com/

World Relief
http://worldrelief.org/

Fonkoze
http://www.fonkoze.org/

 Other organizations supporting the relief and rebuilding effort:

World Vision
http://www.worldvision.org/

 Habitat for Humanity
http://www.habitat.org/