Smart Assets: The Philanthropy New York Blog

By Penny Fujiko Willgerodt
Executive Director, Prospect Hill Foundation

A catastrophic earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale hit Haiti on Tuesday, January 12th, shortly after 5 p.m. The epicenter of the earthquake was just outside of Port-au-Prince, the nation’s capital and the most densely populated area in the country. Thousands of people have died, and thousands more are wounded, most of them without access to adequate medical facilities. Millions are homeless. The national government’s infrastructure has been seriously damaged: the Presidential Palace; Ministries of Finance, Public Transport, Communications, and Justice; and Parliament have all collapsed. Many leaders are missing or known to be dead. The Hotel Montana (built in 1947), one of the most famous hotels in the city, where many U.N. staffers lived, apparently was pretty much destroyed; another famous hotel, The Christopher, home of the U.N. Mission’s headquarters, was badly damaged.

Since daybreak on the morning of the 13th, when people could finally see clearly what the earthquake had wrought, there has been a lot of pain and despair. However, the Haitian people are demonstrating that they are strong, creative, and resilient in the face of such catastrophe. Getting information is difficult, but Facebook and Twitter have emerged as the main vehicles for communication. #haiti and #haitiquake are active Twitter sites; so are those for organizations like Partners In Health and the Lambi Fund of Haiti and individuals like the musician Richard Morse and Melinda Miles, Co-Founder of Konbit Pou Ayiti/KONPAY (both of whom are on the ground in Haiti). Since January 14th, film students from the Ciné Institute in Jacmel have been posting short videos in Kreyòl, French, and English.
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