Haiti, One Year After

[KingBiscuit]

Hey folks,

One year ago, a massive earthquake struck near Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital. The city was leveled and much of the country was devastated. Around a quarter of a million people died and over a million people are still homeless, one year later. If you've read the news, you know that the country has since been ravaged by a cholera epidemic and very little reconstruction has occurred.

Last year, some of us thought it would be a good thing to donate some money to the rescue effort in Haiti, since the island of Shartak is a copy of the island of Hispaniola.

Cold Seether said

Giving to Haiti now is nice and my $10 made me fell like I was... er... giving $10 that might see good use. Giving $10 to Haiti in 3 months when everyone else has stopped caring... that might be critical. This is a place that needed all the help it could possibly get before that earthquake. An annual fundraiser from Shartak's players might be a pretty neat gesture.

Well, it's been a year and Haiti, which was already a troubled country before the quake, is still in big big trouble. A lot of the aid efforts have been hampered by numerous factors way too complex to get into here, and really, none of that is important. Helping people out is never a bad thing, and if you donate money to a good place, it's bound to do some good one way or another.

To make things easy, below are links to the donation pages for a few agencies involved in relief operations in Haiti. Please post more if you know of any worthy organizations.


Provided by Flamese, here is a page that contains many charities donating directly to Haiti: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/haiti-earthquake-relief-h_n_421014.html

Doctors Without Borders: http://www.msf.org/msf/donations/donations_home.cfm

Unicef: http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=1023561

American Red Cross: http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main&s_src=RSG000000000&s_subsrc=RCO_Donate_OnlineGiving

British Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now?single=1

International Red Cross/Red Crescent http://donate.ifrc.org/?navid=02_02

For other types of donations and activism, Kataara has suggested:

http://www.30hourfamine.org/
http://freerice.com/

Per Mencken's suggestion, it would also be beneficial to contact your legislators. To find out who they are, use the following links:

US: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
UK: http://www.parliament.uk/about/contacting/

Anthor suggests vetting charities through the Better Business Bureau: http://www.parliament.uk/about/contacting/

and shopping at The Greater Good: http://www.greatergood.com/

If you can't give any cash, please say a prayer if you're the praying type or just think some good thoughts for the Haitian people. Anything helps.

[Killian]

Poor old Haiti. I've been in contact with some of the relief aid, but I've been too busy assisting with Darfur relief to visit the country personally. What matters is not how much you donate, but who you donate it to. Médecins Sans Frontières are the only people with expertise who are using their skills true to the spirit of altruism.

[Killian]

Yeah.

[Bobby the Hatchet]

My wife's coworker had some fairly wealthy parents over there who are now pretty wiped out. I'm just skeptical and cynical of donations and the futility of positive human endeavors thrust upon the lower, working-class. I could give my ten dollars or Oprah Winfrey could have canceled her audience's Australia trip and sprinkled some loose change down. So long as there are bogusly rich people and a government officials wasting -loads of money in America, :palm:ing over our own troops overseas while they eat dinners prepared by a personal chef, I'm going to be a bitter and spend my $10 on a nice steak and a cold Coca-Cola classic.

It's not that I don't care about Haiti, I just think the human race needs a major overhaul and no amount of money can dig us out of the hole we're all in.

Edit: Hey, you know what. I might scrounge up a ten-dollar bill and toss it in a envelope for one of those organizations. Seems a depressingly small amount, but I'll jump into that. I'm not going to need to open up a second mortgage on my home or anything.

[KingBiscuit]

Last year, this thread got dragged down by people arguing over whether Haitians deserved any help or not. I would really like to avoid that this year.

Feel free to be cynical, but there's nothing wrong with trying to help other people. I don't see what's good about trying to discourage other people to help others though. If the human race needs an overhaul, a good start would be people being a little better to each other.

I suggested a donation to relief agencies because it takes about as much effort as ordering something off Amazon and so would be easy and convenient. There are many other ways to help, many other people deserving of help, and it would be very productive for people to use this space to discuss that.

[Bobby the Hatchet]

You're right. Wasn't aware of last year, but that's why I'd rather throw down ten bucks on a legitimate organization and taper off my passive cynicism. Didn't intend to derail anything positive, I'm just naturally a Scrooge towards things that don't directly affect me or my close friends and family.

[Killian]

I know you were joking about it, but you're right, assholes are fun.

I can't blame you. The system's snafu'd. The world's nucking futs. But when you witness the poverty directly, it all seems less trivial. Sometimes I question if my sweat in Darfur was worth it, but when I hear a street full of impoverished children giving their profoundly grateful thanks, it's the most sonorous music. All the doubt disappears. I guarantee your Hamiltonian will be well spent, and will go far, in the caring hands of the groups above.

[Johnny Hobo]

There are people right here in the US that need crucial help. I know the local city mission is so full of people, that it spills out onto the streets, and I'd rather take my money and use it to buy food, clothing, and medicine to distribute to those on the streets. It's not like everyone can receive help around here, and I'd rather make sure that people are getting help....rather than it going to God knows what (I know the Red Cross manages their funds with a heavy-hand). This isn't to say that the people of Haiti don't need help, but I can go out right now and very likely find a mother and her children living in a car in the dead of winter. I want to see my community change for the better, and I will still wish for the best for those who are living in the disaster-stricken country.

[KingBiscuit]

Then do that, Johnny Hobo.

My family has a saying that out of all bad comes good. The events in Haiti are horrifying. So is the abject poverty experienced by many on the streets in the US or UK. But if we think about those things and react by doing something positive in some small way, then at least that's one good thing that's happening against the bad. 

Who you help is less important than the fact that you are helping someone.

If people want to talk about other communities that need help or other ways to help people in general, that is fantastic and I encourage that here. But don't use this thread as an opportunity to say why we can't or shouldn't try to help relief efforts in Haiti. No one is saying 'Hey, you! Take the time, effort and money you're spending on X thing, and do it for Haiti instead!'

Haiti is a place relevant to Shartak that is in need. This does not mean there are no other communities that are in need. If the horror in Haiti moves you to help out people in your own community, that is a positive thing.

[Kataara]

What about Australia?

[KingBiscuit]

What is that, some sort of all terrain vehicle?

EDIT: Stupid stupid me. Apologies for being flip, I didn't realize you were referring to the floods there. If you have any words on how to help there, please share.

[Kataara]

Australia...is a country.

Um. I was just asking. Frankly, I think that if you're so willing to help Haiti, you should be willing to help the problems in your own country. Not to mention, if you're gonna' pass out money, send some to Darfur. Or Rwanda. Or any of those other countries that need food. Why just Haiti?

[Johnny Hobo]

I think he means he has a special concern for Haiti. Or something. I believe he acknowledges everywhere else, but....yeah. Haiti does have a lot of problems with food, suitable housing, and clean water (seeing as there are outbreaks of Cholera). There are a lot of places in deep need, and really, helping anywhere is a good thing. Like, I want to help my own countrymen who don't have enough. Sensible enough, seeing as I was homeless at one time. Maybe he knows somebody from Haiti or just feels awful over watching the news, reading stories in the newspaper, or seeing the striking photos on the internet. Who knows. Help whoever you want, it all boils down to the same thing.

[Dani]

Last year, some of us thought it would be a good thing to donate some money to the rescue effort in Haiti, since the island of Shartak is a copy of the island of Hispaniola.

This.

I can see the value of donating; I work as an admin assistant for my university's alumni donation office. But I have no money to actually give. It's a good idea though, and I don't see poverty in one's own country as an impediment to donating elsewhere too, if you can afford to.

[KingBiscuit]

Exactly, Mencken.

Shartak:



Hispaniola:



I must be very unclear with my words. I am not saying people shouldn't devote time, energy or money to other worthy causes. Since Shartak = Hispaniola, I thought it would be kind of neat if the Shartak community got together for an annual fundraiser for the people in Haiti who are pretty much as bad off as it gets. Or if it could spark people talking about and/or giving to their own pet causes, that would be fantastic. I'm not trying to make people guilty or harangue them into some sort of martyrdom for the Haitian people. I just thought it'd be nice to talk about ways to help some people in need.