Maria Bello Brings Change to Haiti (Radar Online)

August 10, 2011 By

 By Leah Ornstein - Radar Style & Beauty Editor

After the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, actress Maria Bello and a group of women started the WE ADVANCE charity to improve the health, safety and well-being of women throughout the slums of the ravished country’s capital city, Port-au-Prince.

The group recently re-visited the developing nation, bringing a camera crew with them to document their program in action, and RadarOnline.com has the inspiring video, narrated by the critically acclaimed actress

In the video, which premiered at The Hamptons For Haiti Benefit last month to a crowd which included Mariska Hargitay, Liev Schreiber, Fisher Stevens,Patricia Arquette and Donna Karan, Bello explains how she, Barbara Guillaume, Alison Thompson, Aleda Frishman and a group of prominent Haitian women got together to discuss the problems facing Haiti.

“This small country boasts over 10,000 NGOs and received over a billion dollars of aid after the earthquake, yet the conditions remain abysmal,” Bello says. “Where did all that money go?  It made us angry. WE ADVANCE was created because, basically, we were p***ed off.  We wanted results.”

PHOTOS: Stars Help Out at the Help For Haiti Telethon

In the last 7 months, the group has created the Nap Vanse Family Clinic, which has seen and treated more than 10,000 people, started-up educational programs, providing natives with the opportunity to learn English and take classes in sanitation, art therapy and physical education, and also treated children to a weekly wash day, where 200 kids get to take a bath.

To read the full article on RadarOnline.com, click here or on the image below:

Maria Bello Brings Change to Haiti

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Hamptons for Haiti Benefit (SociallySuperlative.com)

July 20, 2011 By

Socially Superlative

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WeAdvance.org, GlobalDirt.org and Plum Hamptons Magazine hosted the Hamptons For Haiti benefit event on Sunday afternoon to raise funds for Cité Soleil in Haiti—the poorest region in the Western hemisphere.

After holding the hand of a young boy who had his arm amputated without anesthesia due to lack of medical supplies, Maria Bello co-founded WeAdvance.org to take direct action for the well-being of suffering Haitians.

The fundraiser was held at The Ross School in East Hampton on Sunday, July 17th, 2011, and featured musical performances by The Diva of Haiti Barbara Guillaume, prodigy pianist Gamar Josama and singer Melky Jean (sister of Wyclef) as well as a sobering yet uplifting documentary about WeAdvance.org that hits home for why Haiti needs our help right now.

Other notable guests included Mariska Hargitay, Patricia Arquette, Donna Karan, Cristina Cuomo, Sean Avery, Hilary Rhoda, Terry Quinn, Doug Liman, Fisher Stevens, and Liev Schreiber.

Silent auction items included a visit to Maria Bello’s NBC Fall series Prime Suspect set with actor Aiden Quinn, a visit to NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit set with actress Mariska Hargitay, lanterns fromRestoration Hardware, tablets from VINCI Tab, artwork by artists Peter Tunney, Beth O’Donnell, Anthony Russell in conjunction with Raphael Mazzuco and Marc Baptiste, a photo shoot with Elizabeth Jordan, and a cruise aboard Courtney Ross’ glamorous boat.

Sponsor tables included Soft Serve Fruit Co. to keep us all cool, rum from Ron Dominicano, and a fancy lemonade stand  from the Sweet ‘Tauk ladies.

All proceeds from the event benefit WeAdvance.org and GlobalDirt.org, whose impact on the community was immediately felt from their first days on the island.  They’ve established the first-ever ambulance service in the area, and are providing medical care, education and support for those who need assistance in rebounding from the 2010 earthquake.

Guests received gift bags with items from Christopher Fischer Cashmere, Madame Paulette®,GlobalDirt.org, Kenneth Mark, M.D., FACMS Office, restaurants Philippe Chow and Nello Summertime, Angelo David Salon, RéVive, Popchips, Bond No. 9 New York, Laura Geller Makeup, Rene Furterer, Plum Magazine, and The Third Wave: A Volunteer Story by author Alison Thompson.

To read the full article and view photos from the event on SociallySuperlative.com, click here or on the image below:

Hamptons For Haiti Benefit - Socially Superlative

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Stars Shine For Hamptons in Haiti Fundraiser At Ross School (Hamptons.com)

July 17, 2011 By

East Hampton - On Sunday, July 17 from 12 noon to 3 p.m., Maria Bello, Mariska Hargitay, Keifer Sutherland, Donna Karan, Cristina Ross, Elizabeth Jordan, Clare Munn, Sonja Nuttall, Leslee Feldman,Brian Doug Lyman, Jean Shafiroff, Fisher Stevens, Terry Quinn, Courtney Ross, Beth O’Donnell, Alison Thompson, Kristine Szabo, Andrew Saffir, Amanda Patricia Velasquez, Marc Baptiste, and Ross Bleckner are just some of the stars to appear at “The Hamptons For Haiti” fundraiser to be held at the Ross School. The event will feature a cocktail brunch and a live auction featuring walk-on roles on many of today’s hottest primetime shows. There will also be a musical performance by The Diva Barbara Guillaume all to raise funds to benefit We Advance and Global Dirt, two not-for-profits that are dedicated to making a difference in Haiti.

“All proceeds will go to We Advance and Global Dirt, two Haiti organizations that work side by side” said Thompson, one of the founders, along with Bello, of We Advance, and author of “Third Wave” a book about volunteering. “We Advance focuses on gender-based violence, with an emphasis on educating and empowering rape victims and the children of Haiti, while Global Dirt’s mission is to buy an ambulance and mobilize a 911 rescue service that is very much needed.”

To read the full article on Hamptons.com, click here or on the image below:

Stars Shine For Hamptons In Haiti Fundraiser At Ross School

 

 

 

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Hamptons for Haiti Shines Light of Hope (East Hampton Patch)

July 17, 2011 By

Star power unites to help change lives in Haiti. By, Lisa Finn

Sunday’s star-studded “Hamptons For Haiti” fundraiser at the Ross School, is far more than just another glittering summer cocktail gala.

The benefit which will feature a slate of A-list prime-time celebs, including Maria Bello, Mariska Hargitay, Keifer Sutherland and many more, who will lend their star power to making in a difference in the lives of impoverished children and rape victims in Haiti.

The event, which features a cocktail brunch, live auction – with exciting prizes including walk-on roles on primetime television shows – and a musical performance by The Diva Barbara Guillaume, benefits We Advance and Global Dirt, two not for profit organizations aimed at bettering tomorrows.

Global Disaster Immediate Response Team (DIRT) was founded in January 2010 by Adam Marlatt shortly after the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Adam and fellow Marine Robert Sullivan have created a volunteer force dedicated to providing immediate assistance to victims of disasters worldwide, including Haiti.

We Advance founders Alison Thompson, humanitarian and disaster relief veteran, and “ER” star and women’s right activist Maria Bella work together on infusing hope into dire situations.

To read the full article on EastHampton.Patch.com, click here or on the image below:

Hamptons for Haiti Shines Light of Hope

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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MeiMei Fox: The Life Out Loud: Alison Thompson, an Angel in Action (Huffington Post)

July 13, 2011 By

If you asked me who my heroes are, my answer would be: my mother (the subject of a future blog post) and Alison Thompson. Whether responding to an earthquake in Haiti, a tsunami in SE Asia, or a terrorist attack here on US soil, Thompson selflessly devotes her life to serving those in need.

I had the good fortune to work with Thompson on compiling and editing her memoir about volunteering around the world, The Third Wave, which hits bookstores this week. However, I am writing this article for just one reason: because knowing Thompson has made me a better person.

Ten years ago on September 11, most New Yorkers fled lower Manhattan in horror as the first World Trade Center tower collapsed in a paroxysm of glass, metal and fire. Not Alison Thompson. The investment banker-turned-filmmaker feared that many of her friends, who had been working on the building’s top floors, were at that very moment fighting for their lives. “I had to help,” she recounted.

To read the full article on Huffingtonpost.com, click here or on the image below:

MeiMei Fox: The Life Out Loud: Alison Thompson, an Angel in Action

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Healing Haiti (Michael Stars Blog)

March 10, 2011 By

Maria Bello in Haiti

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A year after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Michael Stars co-founder, Suzanne Lerner, joined actress Maria Bello and Women Donors Network (WDN) along with We Advance teams to advocate for the health, safety and well-being of Haitian women in a nation already overcome by great loss.

Equipped with 500 pounds of donated toiletries and 200 Michael Stars tees, these organizations made their way through Haiti visiting a number of women’s organizations, including the We Advance clinic in Cité Soleil, one of the poorest areas in the Western hemisphere, distributing goods to those in need.

To read the full article on MichaelStars.com, click here or on the image below:

Healing Haiti (Michael Stars Blog)

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How to Advance Our Money in Haiti (Huffington Post)

January 12, 2011 By

 

Maria Bello guest writes on Huffington Post…

A few days after the devastating earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010, I was on the Larry King show talking about the country that I love and had been working in for some years.

One of the celebrity guests who I shall not name was speaking for a large aid organization about how people can help and how their money will be well spent. She seemed to really know what she was talking about and so I asked her if she would be flying down. She looked at me agitated and said, “No, and neither should you, the last thing they need is another mouth to feed. You should go six months later when they need the press.” I asked, “Have you ever been to Haiti? She said NO. I then said, “Well, my friends on the ground are telling me that they are doing amputations with no anesthesia because they are not getting supplies.” She looked at me agitated and said, “Well, I work with one of the largest humanitarian groups in the world and that’s just not true!”

A week later I was in Haiti holding the hand of a 16-year-old boy having his leg amputated with nothing but Advil and local numbing solution for the pain.

To read the full article on HuffingtonPost.com, click here or on the image below:

How to Advance Our Money in Haiti

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Wyclef’s Out, but Women Are In (Huffington Post)

September 30, 2010 By

Maria Bello guest writes on the Huffington Post…

Whatever anyone thinks of Wyclef Jean’s bid for the presidency of Haiti, we can all agree on one thing: his potential running brought attention to the important elections in November for the devastated nation. Now, it seems the world is once again looking away. There is no news of the elections or information on the candidates running. So why should we still be interested? Because 53 women are running for Congress and Senate, and if elected, they could change the dynamic of the rebuilding of Haiti, end decades of corruption and turn the old Haitian system of politics upside down. It is not with the president but within the Parliament where the real power in Haiti lies.

The national elections are at the end of November and the truth is this: If more women win seats in Congress and Senate, it will change the political game in Haiti and be a model for other developing nations. A recent World Bank study found that an increase of women in government has been shown to decrease corruption. Other studies are showing that countries that have high percentages of women in leadership positions are more apt to focus on children’s health and education, social justice and economic stability. A case in point is Rwanda post-genocide, which now has the highest percentage of women in the electorate and one of the fastest growing economies in Africa.

To read the full article on HuffingtonPost.com, click here or on the image below:

Wyclef's Out, but Women Are In

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Worse Than Wet in Haiti (Huffington Post)

April 8, 2010 By

Urbans is a 7-year-old boy who lives in a makeshift shelter covered with bed sheets at the Petionville Displaced Person’s Camp in Port-au-Prince where I (Maria) have worked for the last two months. The first day I met him, a week after the devastating earthquake on January 12, he asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes. He is a gregarious boy, all smiles, smarts and wit. Shocking, as he lost most of his family and his home in the quake.

Last week, after a night of heavy rain, Urbans showed up at our camp with one flip-flop much too big for him and soggy, muddy clothes. I asked him where his other shoe was and he told me in broken English, “The mud stole it.”

After more than two months, hundreds of thousands of Haitians are still without tents. The rainy season is upon us and the hurricane season starts in May. Though many of the big aid organizations are doing their best to provide shelter, the “regulation” tents are still hard to come by and the bureaucracy of the aid world makes for a painfully slow process.

To read the full article on HuffingtonPost.com, click here or on the image below:

Worse Than Wet in Haiti

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Rebuilding Haiti, Starting Today (Huffington Post)

January 26, 2010 By

This is Part Three in a series of blog posts by Maria Bello, who is traveling with Artists For Peace And Justice in Haiti. Read Part One and Part Two of the series now.

It’s almost impossible to explain what I have witnessed over the last week in Haiti. How to relay the depth of sorrow and devastation of the Haitian people and acknowledge the sheer beauty of a community coming together to help their fellow man?

Three days ago, at St. Damien’s hospital, I held the hand of a 16-year-old boy as his leg was amputated with nothing more than local anesthesia. His screams of despair, I believe, were not only from the physical pain but from the knowledge that his life as he has known it would never be the same. Haiti was a hard place to survive before the earthquake. Now, with one leg, perhaps impossible. And there are thousands of men, women and children just like him. Missing arms, legs, paralyzed from spinal cord injuries, brain injuries… and the list goes on.

How will these people survive?

To read the full article on HuffingtonPost.com, click here or on the image below:

Rebuilding Haiti, Starting Today

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