12 days ago a massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the island of Haiti (see CNN for coverage and current news for its recovery efforts). Its major city Port-Au-Prince was demolished. Neighboring towns of Jacmel and Léogâne. The scope of this devastation is far to grave to compose into a blog. My mind just does not settle well enough to post content that won't seem like babble. Its that distressing. The images, the pain, the suffering of the Haitian people take a toll on my mind. I can't in anyway, imagine what they can be feeling or going through, but my heart and prayers are continuously with them.
For information regarding the severity of the earthquake and why it was so sever, I browsed the internet and came across FOXNews.com's link. It gave a scientific explanation of the earthquake and immediately it eliminated some of the fear that cornered me about my unanswered question "why?". The earth is simply doing what it must. Shifting.
Just as the earth is doing what it must, we as humans, also came together to do what we must. We banded together to create search teams, relief posts, and raise funds to help the citizens of Haiti.
The world stopped when Haiti shook. Stopped to help, heal and hear the cries of the citizens of Haiti. Governments from around the world came together to search for the dead, alive and missing, under the rubble of the collapsed cities. Celebrities and non celebrities became one and raised millions of dollars in aid (see hopeforhaitinow.org for info on the organizations that will be benefited by the funds raised).
Its a disaster where recovery seems unreachable. It was announced that the Haitian Government ... trying hard to imagine what's left of a functioning government to make such a decision ... has officially called off its search for survivors so that a rebuilding effort can begin. Yet as of yesterday people are still being found alive, as reported by CNN and CNN.com.Amidst this heavy truth, its still a glimmer of hope. I pray they at least extend the search efforts for another week.
As I tried to understand this massive catastrophe, I came across so many ignorant statements regarding what happened. Some from those who just have hatred in their hearts, some from ignorant minds who speak what they don't know of and some from those who fear anything they are unable to explain. I got turned off by so many comments that I blocked it out for a while, but still I prayed. Wishing that there was more I can do. They need to be held and hugged and told that they are going to be alright. Its a fight, but they will be alright. I hope they would always remember that the world stopped. Prayers were offered up as the news coverage allowed us to see what was before us. It wasn't an act of God because he hated the Haitian people. It wasn't pay back to them fighting for their freedom from France in the 1800's. It wasn't their due justice for freeing themselves from slavery. It was an unfortunate fate they couldn't escape.
Visit the following for follow-ups and information on how you can support
www.cnn.com
www.msnbc.msn.com
www.nydailynews.com
www.haitifeed.com
earthquake.usgs.gov (for info on the earthquakes magnitude)
To make contributions for relief and aid:
www.yele.org (this is internationally known recording artist and Haitian citizen and humanitarian, Wyclef Jean's website)
www.usaid.gov/locations/latin_america_caribbean/country/haiti ( link to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) webpage with their public messaging about their Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) actions in Haiti and info about donations and volunteering.)
UNICEF (for any possible relief aid)
The American Red Cross
Hope for Haiti Now
Though the hype in the media may die soon, along with the lost ones, but its up to us to keep a civil duty alive to support and give aid as much as we can. I definitely intend to.
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