UN development head gets behind Haiti trust

Former prime minister Helen Clark, head of the United Nations Development Programme, stands...
Former prime minister Helen Clark, head of the United Nations Development Programme, stands before a painting of her and Hearts and Hands for Haiti trust adviser Robyn Couper, of Oamaru, at the Oamaru Opera House last night. Photo by Rebecca Ryan.
Former prime minister Helen Clark, head of the United Nations Development Programme, packed out the Empire Room at the Oamaru Opera House last night for a Hearts and Hands for Haiti (HHH) fundraising event.

HHH was established through Oamaru's Robyn Couper to provide assistance to the people of Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake and last night's event marked the anticipated completion next year of a training school for physiotherapy technicians in the city of Cap Haitien.

Miss Clark has supported HHH in many ways since the North Otago-led project was first brought to her attention.

''Someone got in touch with me, I think on Facebook, and said I needed to meet Robyn [Couper] and we started corresponding which led to me coming and speaking at an event [in Oamaru] four years ago,'' she told the Otago Daily Times.

''I've been to see Robyn in Haiti ... and done my best to assist.''

The physiotherapy school had been a major undertaking, and the support from HHH, in terms of funding for the school and providing training, had been invaluable, Miss Clark said.

Without physiotherapy, life could be ''very, very difficult'' for people with a disability in Haiti, she said.

''It can completely debilitate people without access to these services,'' she said.

''What Robyn could see was, in the aftermath of the earthquake with the amputations, there was a need for physio that just couldn't be met.''

The UN mission in Haiti had also offered support for the North Otago-financed health facility by deploying military engineers to rehabilitate the building and install plumbing, electricity and windows.

''That was a huge help - it would've been very difficult for a community group to fundraise that,'' Miss Clark said.

Life based in New York, as head of the United Nations Development Programme, was ''good - busy, busy'', she said.

''But there's a lot of crisis and one of the points I'll make tonight is that a poorer country like Haiti, with a lot of needs, when there's not a cyclone or an earthquake, or some kind of major crisis - it goes off the TV screens,'' she said.

''Our TV screens now are preoccupied by Gaza, Eastern Ukraine, Iraq - we're not even hearing about Syria where almost 200,000 people died and there's a war going on - we're not hearing about South Sudan where a quarter of the people have fled their homes ... There's a lot going on.''

Miss Clark's speech at dinner was followed by an art auction of works by Donna Demente, Burns Pollock and other local established artists.

The evening also included the Lexus Future Opera Stars concert, presented in association with the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation.

The concert featured 2014 Lexus Song Quest finalists Bianca Andrew and Edward Laurenson and internationally acclaimed piano accompanist Terence Dennis.

The Oamaru and wider community had really got behind HHH and the support had been ''incredible'', trustee Alan McLay said.

''In excess of $300,000 has so far been given and as the project draws towards completion the final $70,000 needed becomes a challenge requiring a huge effort for this final stage,'' Mr McLay said.

The concert and dinner were more ways for locals to show their support for a project that was making a difference, he said.

Miss Clark is in New Zealand for three weeks. After Oamaru, she plans to go skiing.

rebecca.ryan@odt.co.nz

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