As an actor, Sean Penn has few peers. A five-time Oscar nominee and two-time winner (for 'Mystic River' and 'Milk'), the 50-year-old is one of only nine actors ever to capture the Academy's top acting prize twice. And though he turned in a fantastic performance as Joe Wilson in the Doug Liman-directed Valerie Plame biopic 'Fair Game,' for Penn, 2010 was defined less by his onscreen acting than it was his tireless humanitarian work in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following the catastrophic earthquake that devastated the Caribbean nation in January.
In the aftermath of the quake, many performers turned out to contribute their time and talent to raise money for the millions of Haitians left homeless and in dire need of basic necessities and medical care. None, however, have gone as far as Penn, who has spent the majority of the last year living in a tent in the island nation and serving as a camp manager in a temporary, makeshift city on the grounds of what was once the Petionville Golf Club.
The actor, our Celebrity Humanitarian of the Year, spoke to PopEater via e-mail from Washington, DC about the current situation in Haiti as well as what the country needs most moving forward in order to rebuild. "As long as parallel organizations [to his J/P Haitian Relief Organization (J/P HRO)] focused on shelter and economic development find every reason to not act boldly -- the life saving, the provision of clean water, the neighborhood returns, we'll all continue to be a small part of this very large situation," Penn said. "What we need is funding so that our pro-activity can enhance its influence."
Just one week after the Jan. 12 quake, which killed a quarter million people, left nearly a half million injured and over a million homeless, Penn sprung into action. With Sarajevo-born philanthropist Diana Jenkins, he founded J/P HRO. The pair recruited crisis-response expert Alison Thompson to assemble a team of relief volunteers, and from there departed for Port-au-Prince, bringing a dozen doctors with them.
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 05: Actor Javier Bardem attends the SAG Film Society Screening of Biutiful at the Directors Guild of America on December 5, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/WireImage)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 05: Actor/director Sean Penn attends the SAG Film Society Screening of Biutiful at the Directors Guild of America on December 5, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/WireImage)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 05: Actor/director Sean Penn attends the SAG Film Society Screening of Biutiful at the Directors Guild of America on December 5, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/WireImage)
In March, Penn was named an International Organization of Migration-designated camp manager at the Petionville Golf Club facility, which, according to AOL News, is "one of the most complex temporary camps in Haiti." But Penn has met the challenge posed by the size -- there are estimated to be over 55,000 Haitians residing at the camp -- and complexity of the situation head on. His is reported to be one of the best run camps in all of Haiti, and the depth of his involvement combined with his international celebrity has put the actor in a unique situation: He is both an expert in the on-the-ground situation in Haiti and someone the public will listen to.
"What you will hear is that there are now frameworks in place, and project plans by multi-nationals, which adhere to the protocols of those frameworks. The projects are shelter-focused with connective tissues to basic services, but even the most well-funded among them are poised to take very small cautious steps in terms of permanent housing," Penn told us of the current situation in Haiti. "There are 1.2 million people displaced, and only small pilot projects in the foreseeable future. In the current emergency, highlighted by the epidemic of Cholera, and the first wave of social unrest, the progress will remain largely untended by any substantial preventative measure."
As a camp manager, Penn concerns himself with issues both pressing -- "Expect next year's hurricane season to again threaten somewhere in the area of a million people who will still be living in tarp shelters and otherwise unsanitary and highly vulnerable conditions," he warns -- and long-term. Asked about the current political environment in Haiti and where the recovery stands now, Penn warned that, more than anything, greater oversight of the money pledged earlier this year at the U.N.'s Haiti donor conference is needed.
"Quite frankly, in a time where most call for either a re-count or a complete do-over of the election, it's my view that the Haitian people would be better served by complete do-over of the donor's conference. Rather than smoke-and-mirror pledges of money, the international donors would be held to the same value of their initial pledges," he said. "But they'd also have to specify what area of infrastructure they'd take responsibility to implement, and by what date, so the value of their pledges would come to completion. We need this accountability in housing, schools, hospitals, and nationwide access to clean water."
In Penn's Petionville camp, J/P HRO has opened a women's clinic -- one fully run by Haitian women. The clinic has provided 7,000 women with medical care and offered family planning, hygiene and pre-natal education services to nearly a thousand more. A temporary school has also been built in camp.
Mobile medical units provided by J/P HRO regularly treat 350-400 patients a week in neighborhoods near Petionville and in camps that do not provide medical services, and the organization has been recognized by IOM (the United Nations agency responsible for camp management and coordination) for its rubble removal method. Nearly a year after the tragedy, rubble removal continues to be a constant and on-going process in Haiti, where 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings -- the Presidential Palace, National Assembly building, Port-au-Prince Cathedral and the country's main jail among them -- were either severely damaged or destroyed entirely.
J/P HRO has removed over 45,000 cubic meters of rubble, clearing the way for Petionville camp residents and other internally-displaced persons to return to their communities as the rebuilding of the country continues, and has relocated thousands vulnerable to landslides and flooding during the rainy season in the Caribbean.
Earlier this year, he told Vanity Fair, "There is no exit for me until there is more life than death. I can always see light in any situation. ... I can see the light very clearly in terms of the 'big picture' for Haiti." His faith in the future of the ravaged nation can be seen in the accomplishments of J/P HRO, which were provided to PopEater by press representatives for the organization.
Since his arrival in Port-au-Prince, Penn's J/P HRO organization has:
►Treated approximately 50,000 medical patients in its primary hospital
►Delivered over 270 babies
►Distributed over 2,000 hygiene kits to promote health and wellness
►Treated approximately 3,000 patients in mobile medical units
►Delivered more than 100,000 pounds of medical supplies
►Distributed 10,000 water filters and buckets (in collaboration with Waves for Water and Buckets Across Haiti)
►Distributed 12,000 tents to families across Haiti left homeless by the earthquake
Asked if there was any one thing he felt wasn't being given enough attention in the worldwide conversation on the disaster in Haiti, Penn replied: "Yes. I believe it's time for our country's donors to be educated about where their dollars go and, in the future, be able to guide those dollars to the organizations that truly represent their intentions."
With the exception of time spent on set filming the 'The Must Be the Place' and in Washington, DC, where he's lobbied on behalf of the Haitian people before the Senate Foreign Relations committee and was, more recently, "door banging" to raise awareness and funds for J/P HRO, Penn has spent nearly the entire year on the ground in the battered nation. With the Terrence Malick-directed 'Tree of Life' (which co-stars Brad Pitt, a man well-known for his own humanitarian work) completed, 'Place' in post-production and no other films on his plate, Penn is free to spend 2011 much like he spent 2010: on the ground in Haiti, doing whatever he can to remind people that the recovery effort there has only just begun.
Sean Penn is a great actor, a great American and great humanitatian. All you half-brain haters should do half as much good. He doesn't give a rat's azz what you no-brainers say about. He's above it and you.
First Hugo Chavez was legally elected by his people. He has the support of well over half his people and all working people in Venezuela.Yes he took the oil from greedy rich, some of them American, and gives it to the people. Last, Chavez don't hate America, just the way it's government let's the rich mistreat the working people. Don't see anything wrong with any of that. It really would be nice if people would educate themselves on what they are posting about before they post it.
What a joke! Hollywood by and large is Anti-American. So it's no surprise that they would award Sean as Celebrity humanitarian of the year. These people are not worth the worship of so many. How many of them in the headlines over Christmas were seen or reported too have attended a church service? NONE !
Sean Penn is a great actor and as an actor appreciates a good photo opt however where was he when the USofA needed help. I feel that your award whould have been better served by naming Brad Pitt as the humanitarian of the year for his selfless involvement with New Orleans after Katrina
ok good for sean penn ...what...he had no movie to make? but he could do us a BIG favor by enlisting with him Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Alex Baldwin, Jane Fonda, Spike Lee Rev Al Sharpton etc etc ......... spare us having to even hear them cry for DONATIONS AND ENLISTING our time while they sit here in the good ole USA pontificating what we can do but don't see them moving their butts to do a damn thing...crap its out of the headlines...NEXT DIASTER please so they can open their phony liberal left wing mouths once again!
What a silly mommy! Katie Holmes takes Suri into the water in her clothes as the two spend the afternoon at the beach in Miami. More of Today's Hottest Photos
Adina Porter: The Newsroom, True Blood and Motherhood
Who Should Play Christian & Anastasia In 'Fifty Shades Of Grey'?
As an actor, Sean Penn has few peers. A five-time Oscar nominee and two-time winner (for 'Mystic River' and 'Milk'), the 50-year-old is one of only nine actors ever to capture the Academy's top acting prize twice. And though he turned in a fantastic performance as Joe Wilson in the Doug Liman-directed Valerie Plame biopic 'Fair Game,' for Penn, 2010 was defined less by his onscreen acting than it was his tireless humanitarian work in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following the catastrophic earthquake that devastated the Caribbean nation in January.
Add a comment
Sean Penn is a great actor, a great American and great humanitatian. All you half-brain haters should do half as much good. He doesn't give a rat's azz what you no-brainers say about. He's above it and you.
Reply
Well put!
I read that someone investigated Sean and only 1% of the money went to Haiti. Can you find out for us if that is true?
Reply
First Hugo Chavez was legally elected by his people. He has the support of well over half his people and all working people in Venezuela.Yes he took the oil from greedy rich, some of them American, and gives it to the people. Last, Chavez don't hate America, just the way it's government let's the rich mistreat the working people. Don't see anything wrong with any of that. It really would be nice if people would educate themselves on what they are posting about before they post it.
Reply
You are a tool. Do you know what happens to people in Venezuela who vocally disagree with Chavez? They vanish.
Give me a break. He's a camera hound. Christina Aguilera did far more for Haiti with out the fanfare. She's the real celebrity star.
Reply
What a joke! Hollywood by and large is Anti-American. So it's no surprise that they would award Sean as Celebrity humanitarian of the year. These people are not worth the worship of so many. How many of them in the headlines over Christmas were seen or reported too have attended a church service? NONE !
Reply
Sean Penn is a great actor and as an actor appreciates a good photo opt however where was he when the USofA needed help. I feel that your award whould have been better served by naming Brad Pitt as the humanitarian of the year for his selfless involvement with New Orleans after Katrina
Reply
Oh, he is so sweet. Why is it that the elections are all rigged and he has shut down news media, except for the ones that kiss his behind.
Reply
Bono.
Reply
ok good for sean penn ...what...he had no movie to make? but he could do us a BIG favor by enlisting with him Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Alex Baldwin, Jane Fonda, Spike Lee Rev Al Sharpton etc etc ......... spare us having to even hear them cry for DONATIONS AND ENLISTING our time while they sit here in the good ole USA pontificating what we can do but don't see them moving their butts to do a damn thing...crap its out of the headlines...NEXT DIASTER please so they can open their phony liberal left wing mouths once again!
Reply