Special Report: Crisis in Haiti February 2010
World helps with fundraising efforts LAURA EBER Head Illustrator The earthquake that took place in Haiti was a horrific event that altered the lives of thousands. Earthquake victims have been left severely injured, starving, homeless, and many are dead. Many buildings and homes have collapsed. There are countless organizations and online fundraisers that are providing aid to those victims experiencing the aftermath of the earthquake. The Haiti Foundation of Hope is an organization that has been providing victims with amputations and treating their injuries. Not only do they supply the victims in Haiti with medical care, but they also aid with food distribution. This has been a focus for the Haiti Foundation of Hope and will continue to be as they help and care for the victims of the earthquake. Another nation-wide fundraiser for Haiti survivors was called “Hit for Haiti.” This fundraiser for the earthquake victims was held in Melbourne, Australia on January 17, the day before the Australian Open. Professional tennis players Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewit, and Samantha Stosur participated in the event. The fundraiser raised $185,000. In addition, many celebrities, including actor George Clooney, participated in a telethon to aide the devastated victims in Haiti. This telethon was called Hope for Haiti. It aired commercial-free on
January 19, across many networks including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1 and CMT. Clooney spoke on air in Los Angeles, musician Wyclef Jean aired in New York, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper was in Haiti. The event was two hours long and featured musical performances and many surprises celebrity appearances. Also, according to OK! and People Magazine, celebrities Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have donated $1 million to the group’s emergency medical operation. Another fundraiser that took place on January 28 was the Rebirth and Rebuild Haiti Fundraising Event. The Art Village Gallery, located in the Historic South Main Art district, hosted an event to aid in the salvage and rebuilding attempts in Haiti. There are many organizations that you can donate to and volunteer for. Some organizations are the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, and Yele Haiti (Wyclef Jean’s charity). “I have a collection box in my classroom for donations to Haiti. Although it was not popular to a lot of students, I contributed several of my own clothes. I think Verizon had a great program affiliated with the Red Cross that allowed an easy $10 donation towards helping Haiti,” said English teacher Ms. O’Neill. Junior Lauren Kaplowitz stated, “I think the fundraising is great and has been extremely productive in the efforts in providing aid towards Haiti relief.”
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Photo courtesy of wikipedia commons The above map shows how close to the capital the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti.
The earthquake in detail CASSIE MICHELOTTI Staff Writer
On January 12, at 4:53 p.m. a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti just 10 miles west of its capital Port-au-Prince. After the earthquake, there were three million people in need of emergency medical care in a country of less than 10 million people to start off with. This is the strongest earthquake to hit Haiti since 1770, before it was independent from France. There have been over 50 aftershocks of a 4.5 magnitude or higher since the initial earthquake on January 12, and in a country where there are no real construction standards, the damage is very severe. “Early reports suggest hundreds of buildings have collapsed in Port-au-Prince, including the presidential palace, the World Bank local offices, hotels, a hospital, the University and the UN headquarters. Hundreds of other buildings have also been destroyed or sustained severe damage. Hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to be made homeless,
however this is a very early estimation.” said Neena Saith, senior catastrophe response manager at Risk Management Solutions, according to broking.co.uk. All 18 members of the government’s cabinet have survived and they are now working out of a national police building near the Port-au-Prince airport. “What we did was to go to every neighborhood to evaluate the damage and we feel that what was important was to right away to bring some help to the people,” said President Rene Preval, according to CNN. Before the government can go forward, they want to make sure everybody gets the necessary food, water, and shelter, and that all needs are met, and reconstruction can commence. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80 percent of the population living under the poverty line, according to the CIA World Factbook. Organizations all over the world are contributing to the relief effort, and donating has become as easy as
sending a text message, making a phone call, or downloading a song. Social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter have played an important role on updating the situations in Haiti while many of the official lines of communication were down. News organizations like CNN have been relying heavily on things like Twitter feeds to supplement the lack information from Haiti. “We immediately moved someone supervising social media and our iReports (a section of the website where users can upload video and contact information) to the Haiti desk,” said Nick Wrenn, of CNN International Digital Services. Social networking was one way people found out about the earthquake almost as soon as it happened. “I saw [the news] in a status on Facebook before I saw it on the news,” said Senior Bilkis Islam. After having a couple weeks to organize, Haiti is starting to get some of the help it needs, but is still far from having all the necessary aid.
Haiti by numbers
$8 million: Roughly the amount raised through the American Red
Photo courtesy of wikipedia commons A Red Cross doctor checks the health of a Haitian woman.
Cross text messages. $1 million: The amount JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs have each pledged to donate. 200,000: The pounds of prepackaged and freeze dried meals the Salvation Army has provided to survivors. 8,000: The number of people the U.N.’s World Food Program (WFP) feed daily. 6,000: The tons of food salvaged by the WFP from Haitian warehouses.
Information from huffingtonpost.com