Earthquake Destroys Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 4:53 PM, a Magnitude 7.0 earthquake began approximately 15 miles from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Over 200,00 people were killed by the earthquake, another 300,000 were injured, and 1 million people have been displaced from their homes. The city of Port-au-Price has been destroyed.

Search crews are still pulling bodies from the rubble, and occasionally, they find someone that is still alive, clinging to hope after being trapped under concrete for a full month.

Evan Muncie was found by chance, just after the search efforts have been called off.

Today marks one full month since the day of the earthquake.

People, as a rule, are so very good in a crisis. When the United States was rocked by tragedy on September 11, 2001, we came together to aid each other, support each other – to give each other hope. When a tsunami destroyed many of the coastal cities of Southeast Asia in 2004, we sent aid, volunteers, whatever we could spare. When the levies failed in New Orleans, we held back our rage at a failed government and went to work ourselves, rebuilding cities, rebuilding lives. People – just regular people – gave their money, their sweat, and their hearts to take care of those in need after acts of God, after tragedies too big to understand.

But the further away the crisis is, by distance and by time, the harder it is to stay connected to it.

We may have made a ten dollar pledge via text message, or donated the proceeds of a t-shirt or two, but that doesn’t end the wake of this disaster. Though we have all but forgotten as the news media coverage has dwindled, the earth hasn’t. Since the initial earthquake, there have been 59 aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 or greater. One of these was magnitude 6.0, just seven minutes after the quake, and the other was magnitude 5.9…and it occured eight days later.

Try to imagine losing your home, your loved ones, your sense of community and your belongings in natural disaster so devestating that it will ring in your ears for the rest of your life. Then imagine, eight days later, feeling those tremors again.

Imagine that fear.

You may have donated already. You may have bought a t-shirt with a cool design based on the promise that “a portion of the proceeds” would go to charities that support Haiti. (Why not all of the proceeds? Because, apparently, profiting from a tragedy is a noble venture. Yeah, I don’t get it either.)

It’s true: no matter the amount or the method, your support is important. It is vital for those still suffering – for the millions of people grieving, hurt and homeless. But please, don’t stop just because the initial crisis is over. Go a step further, and donate to a charity that gives the highest percentage of your money to Haiti relief:

…and there are so many more. When you donate, make sure your money is being used wisely – check out this interview with Daniel Borochoff, founder of CharityWatch.org, then go to Charity Watch’s Top Rated Charities page and look under the International Relief section to find the charity that best uses your funds to help others in need.

This isn’t over for them. It shouldn’t be over for us, either.

Images via CNN.com, Getty Images, the Washington Post and Hope for Haiti Online.

Tags: disaster, donations, earthquake, haiti, help, nonprofit

Comments (11)

February 12, 2010 |

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11 Responses to “Earthquake Destroys Port-Au-Prince, Haiti”

Ashe Mischief says:

February 12, 2010 at 9:10 am

Overall, I tend to get really upset by the nature of these events– because as you so rightly pointed out– it isn’t over for them.

But meanwhile, giving/donating/sending “part of proceeds” has become a trend… it’s the big thing to give to the next natural disaster & tragedy, and all the while to forget how much it REALLY impacts their lives. Because as soon as the media coverage happens, people forget… unless it’s happened to them.

Living in New Orleans 5 years after Katrina, we still haven’t recovered. We still aren’t repaired. But people don’t think about it or realize it. Every dance performance and event at Tulane has been in benefit of Haiti, with us collecting donations, putting on special performances, so that we can benefit our friends and cultural centers there….

People need to remember, give continually, help continually. Because forgetting as a nation the plight our own people have, that others have had, is so disappointing.
.-= Ashe Mischief´s last blog ..A Magic Little “Potion” =-.

Jennifer Nicole says:

February 12, 2010 at 10:27 am

You hit the nail on the head, Ashe. I held back from my usual ranting on this post, because I don’t want people to be turned off to donating because of it, but there’s a deeply-ingrained part of me that wants to tear into those that, without thinking, buy a t-shirt that donates ten cents to a cause, instead of spending that (ridiculously inflated) amount in direct donations to nonprofits that continue to support places all over the world that are recovering from natural disasters, whether it’s only days or full years later.

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