Paraguayan philanthropic organizations have launched major campaigns to help earthquake survivors in Haiti. (Courtesy of La Pastoral Social Arquidiocesana)

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay – Paraguayan residents and organizations are holding flea markets and collecting donations to help earthquake survivors in Haiti.

Shortly after Haiti was rocked by a massive, 7.0-magnitude earthquake on Jan. 12, civic organizations throughout Paraguay mobilized their relief efforts to assist the impoverished nation. The country launched a citizens' platform – the Plataforma Ciudadana de Ayuda a Haití – to assist the nation, as it brought together several organizations, including the feminist group of Paraguay (Grupo de Feministas del Paraguay), to strengthen its resources.

“Well-known feminists died in the Haitian earthquake – Magalie Marcelin, Anne Marie Coriolán and Miriam Merlet,” said Dr. Clyde Soto of the Paraguayan center for documentation and statistics (Centro de Documentación y Estudios del Paraguay), also a well-known feminist. “We decided to get in touch with international initiatives that support women in Haiti.”

The feminist group hosted a flea market at the corner of the Mariscal López shopping mall and Palma street, a main artery of downtown Asunción. It raised US$4,000, which will be donated to the woman and health collective organization (Colectiva Mujer y Salud). The group, which helps female earthquake survivors, is based on a campsite on the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Soto says while the money may be considered minimal when compared to the millions donated by other agencies worldwide, the sum “is probably much more than we could donate individually.”

Meantime, Paraguay's Archdiocesan social pastoral (Pastoral Social Arquidiocesana) has launched a more ambitious campaign to raise funds, using the slogan: “United for Haiti. No one is too poor to give, nor too rich to receive.” The campaign, which collects donations from churchgoers at Mass, already has raised US$60,000 of its US$100,000 goal. The organization also has representatives on street corners to collect donations from motorists.

“We also opened an account, Pastoral Social – Emergencias Haití at the Interbanco bank, and people have responded positively,” said Ricardo González, the Pastoral's executive secretary. “The money will go to Caritas Haiti – a Catholic organization that collaborates with Caritas International.”

González said the campaign, which concludes at the end of the month whether or not it reaches its monetary goal, “has been inspiring” because he's seen donations come from kids reaching into their piggy banks and from wealthy businessmen opening their wallets.

But Rubén Valdez, a senior captain of the volunteer firemen’s corps of Paraguay (Cuerpo de Bomberos Voluntarios del Paraguay), made a different kind of donation. He was one of the unit's 13 volunteers who went to Haiti to pull corpses from the rubble in addition to distributing the ton of aid sent by the Paraguayan government.

Paraguay's relief effort is impressive, considering 38% of the country's six million residents live in poverty, according to the department of statistics, surveys and census (Dirección General de Estadísticas, Encuestas y Censos, DGEEC).

“[There are Paraguayans who] do not live well, but Haitians [barely] survive,” Valdez said. “A liter of water can make a big difference and give someone hope to be alive the next day. It is imperative to help them, but also to be respectful of their dignity, as people and as a country. They don’t want charity. They want help with long-term development to rebuild as a country.”