The Haiti earthquake
The National Palace
It seems that every few years there is a major earthquake somewhere I have lived. Now it is a major one near Port-au-Prince in Haiti.
I hear the hotel where I lived for two years partly fell down. The hospital where one of my brothers was born has collapsed. Schools have crumbled, and even the Palace. I hesitate to think what the slums look like now, given that they were mostly cardboard and aluminum and rotting wood to start with.
Haiti is not a country that can afford a disaster like this. Its infrastructure is almost non-existent. People literally use sewage as drinking water for lack of anything else, and vast areas of the country are hugely deforested. A common part of the diet is “cakes” made of clay and water.
This page has info on where to donate and how to help: Impact Your World – Special Reports from CNN.com.
Update: photos can be found here. And apparently, the UN headquarters (Hotel Christopher) collapsed as well. It’s not clear how damaged Hotel Montana is.
How to donate: per the White House, text “HAITI” to “90999” to donate $10 to the Red Cross, charged to your cell phone bill.
19 Responses to “The Haiti earthquake”
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Passing that donation information along down the Facebook food chain. Please keep us informed, Raph.
The latest is that most of my mom’s colleagues are missing, many presumed dead. And the woman who was my brother’s nanny… her neighborhood is just gone. We have been told to expect bad news.
Sorry to hear that, Raph. We’ve been sitting here waiting to see if we can do the updates on PR’s EMA system. Given proximity, we weren’t sure if they were on standby to help. So far, no or at least not using our system. I don’t know what kind of interagency cooperation is possible there.
This is when it sucks. We have systems designed to help in public safety emergencies. The sales cycle goes on forever. We’ve been in PR for three years with a health version that was only finally accepted recently after being final for over a year. I don’t mean to redirect away from the tragedy to business matters except to say even when trying to help, it’s a difficult region to provide to.
Raph – it may be VERY early to ask this, and the last thing i want to do is to sound insensitive, but could this be a good thing for Haiti?
They will gain international attention and aid, which is something they would never have received otherwise. And it’s hard to “rebuild” a country with nothing to rebuild, so perhaps the funds donated will go towards things Haitians need and have never had – namely proper infrastructure?
The last thing an AIDS-ravaged and destitute nation needs is a natural disaster, but i can’t help but wonder whether this will wake us up to the plight of a completely disadvantaged group of people?
We sponsor a family in a rural area of Haiti – nowhere near the same as having lived there, but our money and prayers are with the country now more than ever.
– Ryan
Ryan, I think it is safe to say no.
Haiti was already getting piles of international aid. The hole this created… I dunno, I just have trouble believing the aid will go up in a sustained fashion as a result of this.
I mean — they now have no power, no clean water, no food, no hospitals, no prisons, no police, no government buildings, no churches, no archbishop, no Doctors Without Borders, no UN mission, no highways, and (effectively) no housing.
So yes, there’s an airport left, but I have trouble seeing all that flowing in through it.
BTW — I have often said that the best thing that could happen to Haiti would be to get annexed, honestly. It was that much of a failed state previously. It already would have taken ridiculously concentrated effort to save the country, effort it was not getting. But knowing how disasters go, the world’s attention will shift. What is needed is for Haiti to be a source of revenue, then people would actually give a damn. 🙁
What’s left (even pre-earthquake) that makes Haiti worth annexing?
Nothing, that was kind of my point. 🙁
I’m trying to wrap my head around the 100,000 + number in the press. I guess or I hope we’re sending the military ASAP. That is the only agency I can think of that can put enough helicopters and logistics on the ground to help.
Bill Clinton (UN special envoy to Haiti) spoke with Greta Van Susteren on her show the other night. He said that they had conferences, something like 100 investors attending, and other things going on in an effort to build Haiti up and bring it out of it’s depressed state of being. The government there is in with it, as are Haitian private citizens. According to him, things were moving along well before this hit. It sounds like there’s hope for them.
Haiti does have something to offer as a Caribbean nation, just like all the others.
Of course it won’t be easy and will take a very long time to work through all the troubles that come to any nation as it grows out of poverty. But they will be their own nation, and hopefully not stumble on the way to freedom and human rights and democracy.
[…] I wish I could be there to help but have no means or nothing to give/donate. Articles: https://www.raphkoster.com/2010/01/12/the-haiti-earthquake/ http://www.newsgone.com/haiti-earthquake-victims-1841.htm […]
Just thought you all might like to read this. It was posted on a sports forum by a navy pilot the other day.
twindo.bloggplatsen.se
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The Haiti earthquake – Raph’s Website
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The Haiti earthquake – Raph’s Website
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The Haiti earthquake – Raph’s Website
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The Haiti earthquake – Raph's Website