Haiti (Not over for a long time)

Even though Haiti isn't in the news anymore, the situation isn't getting much better. The ammount of people who are concerned is vast but the amount of people who actually donate money or attempt to help the cause is pity.



Naomi Judd  (1946-present)
"If you want a helping hand, first look to the end of your own arm."

One of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, Haiti in recent years has struggled with problems ranging from near-constant political upheaval, health crises, severe environmental degradation and an annual barrage of hurricanes.

On Jan. 12, 2010, a devestating earthquake hit Haiti, reducing much of its capital to rubble. It was the worst earthquake in the region in more than 200 years. A study by the Inter-American Development Bank estimated that the total cost of the disaster was between $7.2 billion to $13.2 billion, based on a death toll from 200,000 to 250,000. The toll was later revised by Haiti's president to upwards of 300,000.

Huge swaths of the capital, Port-au-Prince, were destroyed, and thousands of people were trapped in the rubble of government buildings, foreign aid offices and shantytowns. Schools, hospitals and a prison collapsed. Thousands of new amputees faced the stark reality of living with disabilities in a shattered country whose terrain and culture have never been hospitable to the disabled.

At a conference in New York in March 2010, donors promised Haiti $5.3 billion over the next 18 months. Two weeks later, although questions about giving up control to foreigners arose, the Parliament approved the creation of an interim reconstruction commission to be led by former President Bill Clinton, the United Nations special envoy to Haiti, and Jean-Max Bellerive, Haiti’s prime minister.

Six months after the earthquake, only 28,000 of the 1.5 million Haitians displaced had moved into new homes, and the Port-au-Prince area remained a tableau of life in the ruins.

Sites where you can help Haiti:

• Action Against Hunger
• American Jewish World Service
• American Refugee Committee
• CARE
• Catholic Relief Services
• Children Incorporated
• Compassion International
• Doctors Without Borders – USA
• International Medical Corps
• International Rescue Committee
• Lutheran World Relief
• Mennonite Central Committee
• Oxfam-America
• Partners in Health
• Project Concern International
• Salvation Army
• Save the Children
• UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief)
• William J. Clinton Foundation
• World Concern (Program of Crista Ministries)
• The Y (formerly YMCA of the United States) – N.O.

Please help raise money now.

 Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."