Haiti Earthquake (again)

[jamaicam]

Woke up this morning to my bed shaking. Went online and discovered a major earthquake had just hit Haiti. Reports I'm seeing are anywhere from 6.7 to 7.6 in magniture.

Initial reports are major damage. Haiti cannot deal with this!

[Bad Dingo]

www.nytimes.com/2021/08/14/world/americas/haiti-earthquake.html

I can't even process how devastating this could be for people who have already been through too much.

[Velar Fricative]

Awful. I don't want earthquakes to severely impact anywhere, but certainly not Haiti.

[sju]

This is heartbreaking. Add a tropical storm coming to the area next week to complicate matters even more.

[sakoro]

Oh man. First an earthquake in 2011, then hurricane in 2016, assassination of their president in July and now this! It’s too much. I hope the US steps in and helps.

[Jalapeñomel]

I just saw this, how horrible.

[abs]

This is absolutely awful.

[mbcdefg]

These poor people can’t catch a break - how heartbreaking


jamaicam I hope you are OK

[underwaterrhymes]

This is terrible.

I’m sure there will be articles on organizations to support (International Rescue Committee, Doctors Without Borders, and Partners in Health are all great, but I’ll also be looking for Haitian organizations to support), but I want to encourage people to avoid earmarking your donation specifically for hurricane relief efforts. Donate, but let the organization determine how to use those funds. People tend to donate for specific disasters, and it creates administrative challenges for organizations because they get a ton of designated dollars after disasters and may not be able to use it all. That money goes unused.

Also, send money not stuff. People often have great intentions and want to send items that appear useful, but it’s hard to get those items to the people who need it.

[penguingrrl]

Oh how awful.

[erbear]

Awful awful awful

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I have a former student from Haiti (very sad story - he was orphaned by the 2011 quake, adopted by a family here and now lives next door to me). He came over this morning and just sobbed

He also said send money and not stuff. There is no one to organize and distribute stuff.

[bcv513]

My God those people have already suffered so much. It’s just awful

[RitzyHeifer]

Aug 14, 2021 10:08:56 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

This is terrible.

I’m sure there will be articles on organizations to support (International Rescue Committee, Doctors Without Borders, and Partners in Health are all great, but I’ll also be looking for Haitian organizations to support), but I want to encourage people to avoid earmarking your donation specifically for hurricane relief efforts. Donate, but let the organization determine how to use those funds. People tend to donate for specific disasters, and it creates administrative challenges for organizations because they get a ton of designated dollars after disasters and may not be able to use it all. That money goes unused.

Also, send money not stuff. People often have great intentions and want to send items that appear useful, but it’s hard to get those items to the people who need it.

Roxane Gay (author and of Haitian descent) recommended Fonkoze and Hope for Haiti as places to donate. I have done no further research on them yet, but I trust her as far as celebrities go.

[underwaterrhymes]

Aug 14, 2021 15:26:44 GMT -5 RitzyHeifer said:

Aug 14, 2021 10:08:56 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

This is terrible.

I’m sure there will be articles on organizations to support (International Rescue Committee, Doctors Without Borders, and Partners in Health are all great, but I’ll also be looking for Haitian organizations to support), but I want to encourage people to avoid earmarking your donation specifically for hurricane relief efforts. Donate, but let the organization determine how to use those funds. People tend to donate for specific disasters, and it creates administrative challenges for organizations because they get a ton of designated dollars after disasters and may not be able to use it all. That money goes unused.

Also, send money not stuff. People often have great intentions and want to send items that appear useful, but it’s hard to get those items to the people who need it.

Roxane Gay (author and of Haitian descent) recommended Fonkoze and Hope for Haiti as places to donate. I have done no further research on them yet, but I trust her as far as celebrities go.

Thank you. I was on Hope for Haiti’s site earlier. They had a Charity Navigator rating of four stars, which is great, and their staff is diverse and comprises Haitian nationals (along with Americans). I was hoping they’d turn out to be a good choice because I prefer to donate to organizations with an existing presence in the country.

[pumpkin]

This is awful and my heart breaks for those affected.

Thanks for the suggestions of where to donate.

[jamaicam]

Aug 14, 2021 10:07:38 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

These poor people can’t catch a break - how heartbreaking


jamaicam I hope you are OK

Thanks. We are all fine. After the 2010 earthquake, a lot of jamaican doctors went to work in field hospitals set up by the Caribbean disaster agency. But with covid, our doctors are overwhelmed here. Covid makes everything so much worse.

[jamaicam]

Death toll is now past 1,300 people. And Tropical Storm Grace has just dumped rain on them.

And St Vincent, who is still being effect by the volcanic eruption, has sent a donation to Haiti. They aid the Caribbean family has looked after them and they want to help t heir neighbours now. So this is also a plug for CDEMA - the Caribbean's disaster relief agency. They do amazing work in the region - they are able to buy in bulk for local/regional organisations and they are able to send emergency workers and health care people who understand the local settings. Much better than some of the big international agencies! Friends of mine volunteered to go to Haiti through them after the 2010 earthquake - while they didnt speak the language, at least they knew how to work in conditions with low resources, understood the climate and some of the culture - and also were feel Caribbean people - so no white saviour complex issues.