The tragedy in Haiti

[TheRealLazare]

This post has nothing to do with our music, but please take the time to read it anyway.

I’m sure everybody here have been reading about the earthquake in Haiti. A quake this huge would be a tragedy anywhere in the world, but in Haiti it is an absolute disaster. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. An impoverished society ridden with violence, social distortion and economic challenges. With its lack of funding and its limited infrastructure, Haiti can not help its own citizens, and thus people keep dying – children keep dying - buried in the ruins of their own homes or homeless in the streets.

It is vital that Haiti gets help from the international community when it comes to handling this crisis, and it is vital that it happens quickly as disease will soon start to spread if the thousands and thousands of dead are not taken care of in the proper manner. This humanitarian catastrophe could soon be an even bigger catastrophe if help doesn’t arrive, so I am urging our fans and the heavy metal community to donate to one of the following organizations in order to help.

Unicef:
http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=1023561

SOS children’s villages:
http://www.sos-childrensvillages.or.../Pages/haiti-earthquake-donation-gateway.aspx

These are religiously and politically independent organizations, so you can donate knowing that your money will not be used to push religion or political ideas.

Everybody can spare a few dollars or euros, so please donate – many people’s lives depend on our actions, and this is an easy way for us to help.

Thank you for reading – thank you for helping.

Best regards

Lars A. Nedland
Borknagar

 

[Ond]

I have contributed already. Not much, but little is more than nothing.
I know some people that are going to Haiti with the portuguese army to help. I would really like to go myself, but since I'm unemployed it's impossible for me.
The United Nations already informed this is the biggest catastrophe they have ever witnessed.

 

[Defiance]

As someone who lives 'close' to the country, I can understand. It is an absolute disaster. Simply horrendous. It is not the same if an earthquake of such magnitude hit Norway, Canada or Haiti. The first two have very good infrastructures (except for one or two very old Norwegian houses ), but Haiti's is almost non-existent.

I live in a country that has 3rd world infrastructure. When an earthquake struck March (last year), about 150 people died buried under the mountain and/or houses. Those houses didn't follow what we call here a 'seismic code', so they were destroyed within seconds.

The houses in Port au Prince were not only of horrible quality (very weak, basically), but the earthquake that hit the city was incredibly strong. Believe me, I remember every earthquake here, and I've been through a 7+ one. It is not nice to see the house move so quickly that it looks like it leaves a ' black void' between the walls.

Put it this way. It was so strong that the buildings moved like waves. Waves.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, and one of the poorest in the world. The country has basically collapsed, even senators died in the 'white house'. (The president was unharmed.)

What is worse, the country is so damaged that the supplies and help have stayed (or stayed) in the airport, basically because they simply can't get to the city! And the airport is incredibly small, so it has collapsed too due to heavy traffic.

Then again, looking at a positive side, this is a great way so that the country can start again. A new beginning, despite the horrible circumstances.

Hopefully foreign aid will not stop when all this problem is over, but will continue and help the country get stabilized, and basically be 'born' again.

 

[Qu Appelle]

Lars,

Maybe this can get stickied for a while? (YES! Stickied!)

I also gave $50 US to Médecins Sans Frontières a couple of days ago.

Thank you for posting this, and I posted a link to this thread in the Vintersorg forum.

 

[mjollnir1965]

These poor folks got hit again!! I hope that this stops so they can work on rebuilding their lives.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_haiti_earthquake

 

[Defiance]

Oh wow another one, and 5.9 is very strong too. That is not an 'after-shock', it is another earthquake. 'Luckily enough', everyone is so scared of sleeping in buildings that apparently no one is trapped. Still, more buildings collapsed with this one. It's as if the entire island is going to sink .

 

[Qu Appelle]

There is now a controversy brewing in both Haiti and the USA.

A US-based Baptist church group decided, out of the goodness of their privileged upper middle class white Christian hearts, to travel to Haiti to "help those children who lost parents in the quake or were abandoned." and "help each child find healing, hope, joy and new life in Christ". So, they took 33 children, and were stopped by Haitian authorities when they were trying to cross the border into the Dominican Republic.

Those 33 children? Turns out that the vast majority of them aren't orphaned or abandoned at all, and are being reunited with their surviving parents and relatives. OOPSIE! So now, the members of the church group are in custody and are facing charges of kidnapping and human trafficking, either in Haiti or the US. They also didn't take care of the children well when they were in the church group's care, either.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100202/ts_alt_afp/haitiquakechildrenuscrime for more info. This is turning out to be a huge news story in the US. So I figured the rest of you would be interested.

I really hope they all get prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

 

[E J]

Great call you guys. Please continue contributing as much as you can.

Lazare... you are the man!