At about 5pm today news broke of a 7.0 magnitude (off the Richter Scale) earthquake struck Haiti (www.haiti.org). My heart sunk. Just HOW much more can this island take? It is still recovering from a devastating hurricane which occurred in 2008, killing about 800 people. Just how much more can they withstand?
I immediately started perusing the internet for all sorts of news. My best friend of 19 years is of Haitian background. Both her parents were born in Haiti. I've been around them long enough to have some from of remorse personally, and a wealth of sympathy for its people. And sadness overcame me thinking about their families.
This is a tragedy. I stared at the television screen, flipped from browser to browser getting updates about this disaster. I can't stop saying the word. Its so close to home that, I can't help but feel displaced myself. I can't begin to imagine the moans, the cries, the shrills of voices screaming at pitches unknown, unheard. My pores raise at each thought of what its like to be there, this moment, this hour.
Haiti was the first Caribbean Island to have an uprising against slavery in 1797, sending a vast message that slavery was at an end. Today and for years since then, it has been a country struggling to see freedom from trials and tribulations.
If you stop by this blog and want further news and updates please refer to:
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
They're a people in need ... and we can be their bridge.
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