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Please Donate to the Haiti Earthquake Rescue Efforts

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(E)  Please donate to support the worldwide earthquake rescue efforts in Haiti. The human suffering from the January 12, 7.0 earthquake is beyond what we have ever seen! More than three million people have been affected. Present estimates are that 100,000 people have already died. And to make things even worse, Haiti has experienced in its past some of the most powerful hurricanes on earth. Discovered by Christopher Colombus in 1492, Haiti which was the “Perle des Antilles”, because of its sugar, coffee and tobacco plantations, became the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere in the 20th century and an ecological disaster with no water and food on the island. Haiti is a country with no roads, schools, hospitals, health care and with no other vital infrastructure.

So please donate to:

(You can Text Message “HAITI” to 90999 and make a $10 donation to support the American Red Cross in Haiti)

Thank you!

Detailed information about the organizations involved in the relief efforts

To find a missing One in Haiti, Family & Friends

Some other valuable resources

A brief description of Haiti (adapted from Wikipedia:Haiti)

Haiti is a Creole and French-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola. Haiti is a republic with a population of 8.71 million. Its capital is Port-au-Prince. Despite having common cultural links with its Hispano-Caribbean neighbors, Haiti is the only predominantly Francophone independent nation in the Americas.

Haiti’s regional, historical and ethnolinguistic position is unique for several reasons. It was the first independent nation in Latin America, the first post-colonial independent black-led nation in the world, and the only nation whose independence was gained as part of a successful slave rebellion.

A brief history of Haiti

Christopher Columbus discovered Haiti in 1492 leading the exploitation of the island by Spain for its limited gold. Many French settlers from Martinique, Guadeloupe and Bordeaux developed sugar, coffee and tobacco plantations making the island the “Perle des Antilles” and bringing with them thousands of Africans as slaves. The country became a French colony but a revolution from the slaves against Napoleon won making the country independent in 1804.

Haiti_2

Following its independence, Haiti has never known any political stability with many interferences from foreign governments in particular France and the United-States. The US occupied the island from 1915 to 1934. From 1957 to 1986, the Duvalier family reigned as dictators leading many Haitians to exile in the United States and in Quebec. From the 1970s to 80s, the United States provided military and economic aid to the regime. Fortunately, the Duvalier left the island in 1986 and a new constitution was approved. Since then, the country has never known any positive political leadership, grew into severe economic poverty and became an ecological disaster due to deforestation.

A few books about Haiti

  • Haïti n’existe pas : 1804-2004 : deux cents ans de solitude, Christophe Warngny, Broche
  • Haiti, la perle perdue, Gerard Barthelemy – Mimi Barthelemy, Broche
  • Nouvelles d’Haiti, Kettly Mars – Jean-Claude Fignolé – Lyonel Trouillot – Faubert Bolivar – Gary Victor, Magellan et Cie

Note: The first painting is the General Toussaint Louverture who led the Afro-Haitians in their fights against Napoleon. The second painting is “Le Serment des Ancetres” from Guillaume Guillon-Lethiere, a painter from Guadeloupe. It symbolizes a historical meeting between Alexandre Petion, leader of Saint-Domingue, and Jacques Dessalines, a lieutenant from Toussaint that led the Haitian revolution. That painting was displayed at Le Palais National of Haiti destroyed in the earthquake.

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Categories: Humanitarian