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Dear friends,

I have witnessed too many life-saving opportunities lost in past disasters. There are large international organizations that provide immediate material needs such as shelter, water, medical and food supplies, but there are gaps in disaster relief response and preparedness. There are very few engineering experts immediately present in these dangerous conditions whose expertise may fill these critical gaps in emergency response. Too many people suffer needlessly because of a lack of knowledge, expert advice, and fast actions. So the concept for Miyamoto Global Disaster Relief is to rapidly provide adequate funding for critical engineering expertise before, during, and after a disaster.

Lycee de Petion-Ville is an old 3-story school in Port au Prince, Haiti. I see it every day when I commute to the disaster sites. Daily, it is full of high school students and I consider it to be one of the most dangerous buildings in Haiti. We call it a non-ductile concrete, soft story structure. It did not collapse in the 2010 earthquake since it was located far from the epicenter. From my experience, I know that it is almost guaranteed to collapse in the event of a nearby Magnitude 7 rupture. I am sickened by looking at it every day. But, it would take less than $100,000 to strengthen this school to make it safe. As a result we could save and preserve hundreds of children’s lives. So why don’t we act now?

I know one school may be a small task for large international organizations to deal with, but I also know that the act of strengthening one school often creates a cascade of public awareness and action. This is called leadership by action. We provide strategic leadership to save as many lives as possible.  So please join us in acting today. Together, we will affect millions of lives.

Kit Miyamoto, Ph.D., S.E.
Miyamoto Global Disaster Relief, Chairman