by purplesofa 16 Replies latest jw friends
Nelly: water? you serious rob? when the twin towers struck from the jw emails circulating they were ridiculing clergy for giving out water to groundworkers and wasting preaching opportunitys (while they they were handing out far more worthy spiritual food instead.)
Oh yeah. I remember that and expected nothing different from them.
What I meant was, with all the money and goods donated by other countries, why doesn't that man have any water or food? What's the hold up?
The problem with getting the supplies out of the airport is that the roads are destroyed/blocked with debris. The kind of heavy equipment that could clear paths can't get in because the port is destroyed. What we are seeing is the fragility of a modern society (even one as backwards as Haiti).
If the JW's wanted to actually do something, they'd be carrying water jugs on their backs instead of handing out toilet paper (and I'll bet money that is where most of the literature is going).
The problem with getting the supplies out of the airport is that the roads are destroyed/blocked with debris.
But CNN has no trouble getting it's reporters in.
I hear ya Rob,
Get some 4-wheelers down there. Horses,
anything.
The money that has been donated, there should be a surplus of water and food and medicine.
They are content for now in the streets and open to sleep.
Worry about rebuild when it's time to rebuild.
purps
But CNN has no trouble getting it's reporters in.
I thought the same thing.
Anyway, not a time for redtape, I saw how some ex-general was telling how supplies had to get down there, warehoused and inventoried then sent out, I was like WTF?
The Huffington Post JANUARY 19, 2010
Works with TiGeorges Laguerre (of TiGeorges Chicken) on Haiti
Posted: January 18, 2010 12:56 PMEver since the earthquake hit Port-au-Prince (and surrounding areas) on Tuesday, a lot of attention has been directed to what could broadly be called the 'situation' in Haiti. People all over the world are turning their thoughts, prayers and donations towards Haiti, and wanting to know all about what is going on. But Haiti is a country that seldom escapes media attention unscathed, despite being undeserving of the coverage (and 'conventional wisdom' / stereotypes) it receives. With that in mind, here are a few things to keep in mind about Haiti right now.
1) You always hear that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, and on par with the Congo or Somalia. In the (capitalist) US, this has the subliminal effect of suggesting that Haiti is lazy, unsafe, to be pitied, etc. It is true that Haiti lacks a solid economy and employment (with the obvious resulting problems of malnourishment and underdevelopment), but Haiti has a wealth that we can hardly even imagine -- a spiritual wealth within the people. If you want to know about humanity, compassion, humor, happiness -- go spend some time in Haiti! You may not be pampered with material comforts, but you would have a better time eating sugarcane on the sidewalk in Port-de-Paix than high tea at Buckingham Palace.
Also, the poverty in Haiti has specific roots -- it is far from accidental or simply a series of misfortunes. When the Haitian slaves finally beat Napoleon, he levied against them a 150 million gold franc fine -- and they had to pay or else no other nation (most neighboring nations still having slaves and not wanting them to know about the successful revolt in Haiti) would trade with them. So they started in debt. And the story continues... but I'll leave that to you to read about.
2) You can't talk about Haiti for too long without its much maligned religion coming up, so I will say this about Vodou: you would never know it existed if you hadn't been told about it. Why? Religion is a private matter in Haiti, so these things aren't in your face like 'righteousness' is here. Also, the vast majority of Vodou ceremony is directed at healing, not turning people into a newt -- so it's not like you need to be afraid of it. See (1) above -- Haitians are not a malicious people.
3) How to help? Unless you get a phone call, you aren't going to Port-au-Prince anytime soon, so here are a few ways you can help from far away.
First is to donate money. I like Partners in Health. They've been on the ground all over Haiti for 20+ years, proven again and again that they are effective and efficient (and not embezzling), and their staff is almost 100% Haitian. In fact, you don't need an earthquake to donate to them, they are an incredible organization always in need of help.
Second, thoughts / prayers / meditation. Open your heart and send love. Fast for a couple of days. Haiti is a spiritual place -- it will respond to this. It will help.
Third, education. There will be (and has been) no shortage of bullshit flying around-- read some books, learn the history of Haiti. This will help you separate out the BS in the newscasts as well as put everything into context. Plus, the history is really interesting as well as inspiring. I recommend The Uses of Haiti by Paul Farmer (for history); Mama Lola by Karen McCarthy Brown (Vodou and culture) and Haiti: The Black Republic by Selden Rodman (general overview).
4) This quake has caused an unbelievable humanitarian crisis -- people are sleeping in the streets alongside dead bodies, people are hearing the cries of people trapped under rubble and there is no food or water to go around. In a city of 2 million people. (And let's not forget Jacmel and other cities that were hit). But before this quake unimaginable suffering has been the norm throughout the entire country -- malnutrition (hunger), sickness (which comes from malnourishment), poverty and so forth. Port-au-Prince needs help, Haiti needs help! (I remain hopeful that PaP will be rebuilt as the modern city it should be, yet remain in the hands of Haitians, and that this will pave the way for the rest of the country to rise economically) Haitians are some tough people -- they'll survive this one way or the other. You and I can't imagine how, but you and I can't imagine making it through a day in the life there anyway.
5) When someone is starving or dying of thirst and they steal food or water, it isn't "looting." It's "surviving". This is especially true after a devastating natural disaster. (And more so when your country is about 100 degrees year round.)
6) To that end, Haiti is not a country of criminals. Ask a Haitian what happens when you're caught (or even suspected of) stealing. So when you hear about gangs of bandits terrorizing people and whatnot, keep in mind that 6 or 7 people out of however many that survived isn't that much, and you'd be out of your mind too if you had survived what they did. Also, the lessons of Katrina are not lost on the Haitians -- if you remember stories of Blackwater guards preventing people in New Orleans from getting supplies ("surviving"), shooting people who tried to escape certain areas and so forth -- well, the people in Port-au-Prince know this too, and anyone older than 5 has experienced a military occupation of their country. So when they see UN and US military personnel with guns walking around, they don't automatically think "Oh hey, help has arrived!" And check out Toussaint and Dessalines -- Haitians aren't about to surrender their country to anyone.
7) Please also keep in mind what has happened to other countries around the world when a tremendous natural disaster has struck: somehow or another, large amounts of land get bought up by foreign companies and the locals wind up getting displaced. Haiti is unfortunately ripe for this right now -- so please keep your own attention on this and help the Haitians resist such a takeover if it starts happening. (The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein is a great documentation of this happening all over the world)
8) To end on a positive note, as my good friend Marie Alice Theard likes to say: "Haiti is a country of miracles." If you've ever been, you know how true this is. Keep your eyes and ears towards Haiti -- there are going to be some astounding and unreal stories coming out -- survivors, rescue efforts, you name it.
Peace to all my Haitian friends. Se temps po nou monte!
I kind of highjacked my own thread.....
I did find it interesting that of all the things these people lost this man was able to save his bible and has WT literature,
another update, maybe Robdar will see this
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations is recovering little by little from last week's massive earthquake in Haiti to provide more and more humanitarian assistance to the devastated capital of Port-au-Prince, the UN chief of mission said Tuesday. "The situation on the ground is quite stable and normal," said Edmond Mullet, acting special representative of UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon, told reporters in a video teleconference from the Haitian capital. He also denied reports of mass looting and rampaging violence. Mullet, a former special representative in the Haitian capital, arrived about 36 hours after the Jan. 12 quake to take up leadership after Special Representative Hedi Annabi was fatally trapped in the wreckage of UN Haiti headquarters with one of his two deputies and the acting UN police commissioner. The bodies of more than 40 UN personnel have been pulled from the debris with approximately 20 more people missing, said David Wimhurst, a UN spokesman in Port-au-Prince. It is the single highest death toll of UN personnel in the world organization's history. Two major UN headquarters building collapsed. "My main task has been to put the mission back on its feet," said Mullet in describing how the United Nations has been reinforcing the UN Stabilization Mission to Haiti, known by its French acronym, Minustah. "It's like in airplanes when the pressure drops you have these oxygen masks that drop," he said. "You have to put it on yourself first and then you have to help the other ones. So we have to help ourselves first in order to perform our mandate and then help others." He said the UN mission was "under a lot of pressure from many groups, many sectors" to not only carry out its original assignment but also perform "much more right now in relation to humanitarian assistance, providing security, coordination mechanisms with everybody on the ground. So the pressure on the mission has been really, really enormous." "But, little by little, day by day, we have been improving in our performance and working better, not only internally, but also in our support side to other partners," Mullet continued. "It is true that some incidents have happened of looting," he said. "Food has been taken from destroyed supermarkets and shops, which is almost a normal situation in these kind of circumstances. But we have not seen, at all, any kind of violent rampages or swarms of looters, or people attacking or aggressive actions against anybody." Televised reports on U.S. networks from Port-au-Prince have shown what appears to be looting and some violence among apparent looters on the streets of the Haitian capital.. The acting special representative said that in the last 48 hours military and police patrols in Port-au-Prince have been increased, with the number of Haiti National Police doubling Tuesday from Monday's 2,000 on patrol. "We are helping with humanitarian deliveries," he added. "The military especially have been involved in that." Mullet said Canadian and U.S. troops were instrumental in humanitarian aid and agreements were being worked out with both nations on roles being assumed and areas to be covered. He said it was seen Canadian forces would be assisting in the south and southwest of the island nation and the U.S. forces in the capital. At UN World headquarters in New York, the secretary-general welcomed the UN Security Council lifting the ceiling on the number of troops and police that may be assigned to Minustah. That would be in addition to the Canadian and U.S. forces there on a bilateral agreement with the Haiti government. "By approving my proposal, yesterday, to send an additional 2, 000 soldiers and 1,500 police officers to Haiti, the Council sends a clear signal: The world is with Haiti," Ban told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York after the 15-member panel unanimously voted its approval Tuesday. "I am sure member states will respond quickly as well," he added. "We must do all we can to get these extra forces on the ground as soon as possible so that they can help maintain order and deliver humanitarian assistance." The UN chief also said 90 people had been saved by 43 international teams made up of 1,700 people. "Our relief operations are gearing up quickly," Ban said. "For those who have lost everything, of course, help cannot come soon enough. The good news is that we are making rapid progress, despite the extremely difficult logistical challenges." Water supplies were increasing; tents and temporary shelters were arriving in growing numbers; badly damaged hospitals were beginning to function again, aided by international medical teams, he said. "We distributed daily food rations yesterday for nearly 200,000 people," Ban said. "We expect to be reaching approximately 1 million people within a week. Our chief priority right now is to get the relief distribution system in Port-au-Prince fully operational so that we may more efficiently distribute supplies -- food, water, medicine, tents and other essential items." "We are concerned, however, that numbers of unsolicited and uncoordinated supplies and personnel entering the country will stretch limited logistical resources and interfere with the delivery of vital aid," he said. "I appeal to all international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and aid groups to work closely with the United Nations to make sure that our joint efforts complement one another, and not duplicate them." Capacity at the airport was improving, said Mullet, adding that a land link was established with Haiti's neighbor on the Caribbean isle of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic. Work was also afoot to reopen the destroyed facilities in the port of Port- au-Prince to further increase the flow of aid. |
