Friday, January 15, 2010

I have no words

The Boston Globe's "Big Picture" Series says more about the earthquake in Haiti than I ever could:

The First 24 Hours || 48 Hours Later


I just have to say this: ...Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson have been weighing in on how Haiti has been cursed by God once again, but, you know, the truth of the matter is that this is a manmade disaster in the sense that the extreme vulnerability to earthquakes is manmade. And that has a long history and that‘s a history that begins way back with the slave colony that the French established in Haiti, the hideous slave colony, and the fact that the Haitians [are] the only slaves on earth who freed themselves and created their own republic and then got punished for it ever since.

And, you know, we need to fix this. We need to fix this problem right now. We need to get as much material and doctors and everything in there as we possibly can and do this in a concerted way, but afterward, we need to continue to care about Haiti. It is one of the most beautiful and important cultures ever born under the face of this earth and it is in danger. It seems to me, long-term danger.

We need a concerted effort, one that—one that is not self-serving, but one that attempts to serve the poor of Haiti, the vast majority of Haiti. And to do that through strengthening Haitian institutions instead of doing what the United States has done all too often there, which is to weaken them.


-Tracy Kidder, The Rachel Maddow Show

American Red CrossInternational Rescue Committee
Text HAITI to 90999 (Donates $10)Text HAITI to 25383 (Donates $5)
Salvation ArmyYĆ©le
Text HAITI to 52000 (Donates $10)Text YELE to 501501 (Donates $5)
The United WayThe United Nations Foundation
Text HAITI to 864833 (Donates $5)Text CERF to 90999 (Donates $5)
The Clinton FoundationOther Relief Organizations
Text HAITI to 20222 (Donates $10)

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