Ayiti

Distraught. Shock. Worrisome. in Daze. stress. Are some of the words that describes what Haitians are experiencing right now. As a Haitian-American, I must say, I still cannot believe what just happened to Haiti. Although I haven't been there in 10 years, memories are vivid. As I sit and watch the disaster, I think about my grandfather, relatives, friends, and my 13 year old god daughter. My story is no different than anyone else, nor is it more important. We are all experiencing the same pain that Haiti is in. What shook me the most was when Rene Preval, president of Haiti said he himself was homeless. Haiti's government is no where to be found and our leader, Preval, shows signs of despair. If you ask me, he looked drunk and ready to skip town. There's no communication, all we have are footage on CNN. As I watch my family sitting down near the phones drinking poro tea (tea that brings down your blood pressure), tearing up from time to time, I feel helpless and I'm not sure what I'm suppose to feel. It scares me to know that thousands of Haiti's worse inmates escaped once the prison collapsed. There's a shortage of food and water and I know people will start bathing in the river as well as drinking from it. It scares me to think of diseases spreading from dead bodies and through rivers. Homeless people are sleeping on Chanmas, the place known for traditional kanavals.

Not sure if Haiti will ever be the same after this. It's like we've been wiped out. I still go to bed thinking if I've been dreaming. Apparently I'm not.

There are several ways of helping the people in Haiti.

Wyclef’s non-profit organization Yele is raising funds to that will go directly to the people of Haiti. Wyclef Jean is urging donors to text 'Yele' to 501501 and make a $5 contribution to the relief.



Also if you text HAITI  90999, $10 will be donated to the Red Cross. 

http://www.yele.org

http://www.unicef.org
http://www.savethechildren.org
http://www.redcross.org
http://www.worldvision.org
http://www.cnn.com

Please send aid to Haiti.

L'union fait la force

P.S. As I'm sitting at work writing this, I'm listening to a ignorant co-worker of mine saying that Haiti deserved this because of voodoo. For anyone out there who believes this non-sense, think about people of different races and cultures who've died from cancer, AIDS, car accidents, natural disasters, Asian Tsunami, Oklahoma city bombing, Katrina, 9/11, Virginia Tech, WWI, WWII, Hiroshima...Much Haitians are far more Christians than the people you find in US. Check out CNN, the people who are screaming Bondye, Jezi, are crying out to God. The people who have their hands in the air, are devoting themselves to God. And it's not because they're in a horrible situation and now looking for God, they cry out God's name since the day they were born. After the earthquake, they were singing gospel songs into the night. Know your history. Much of Haiti's and Central America's current problems go back to Reagan's economic policies. Haiti's buildings and houses weren't built for earthquakes. California has quakes all the time, but their buildings are designed for it. Voodoo caused this earthquake? Give me a break. Voodoo is done in Puerto Rico, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Africa, Jamaica, Cuba, etc. It's a religion. Religion has nothing to do with natural disaster. Learn all the ways that U.S. government has screwed over Haiti for the past 50 years instead.
Ignorance of cause and effect if you blame voodoo...