On Haiti

At this point everyone has heard about the earthquake in Haiti and the resulting devastation. DAI, the company I work for, has worked on international development projects in Haiti for more than 30 years. We’re happily reporting that all 50 of our staff are accounted for, though we don’t know the status of their families. Over the past few days I’ve heard from a number of friends and colleagues in country. They’re reporting horrific conditions on the ground: bodies in the streets, entire neighborhoods in rubble, no water, no electricity, little fuel for generators, dwindling food supplies, and so on. Mobile phone networks are just now returning and we’re hearing that they’re running intermittently at best. I heard from a colleague that planes carrying aid and humanitarian workers are now landing at the international airport every five minutes.

From the Big Picture: A day after the earthquake, a young woman climbs over shopping carts and the rubble of a collapsed store on January 13, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (THONY BELIZAIRE/AFP/Getty Images)

If you haven’t already, DONATE. It is incredibly easy to donate money via text message: simply text “Haiti” to 90999. $10 will go directly to the Red Cross’ relief efforts and be billed to your cell phone bill. The company running the service, mGive, is suspending fees on the donation (their cut, essentially) and they’re apparently working with the cell carriers to quickly transfer incoming funds to the Red Cross. As of 5 p.m. ET on Friday, more than $10 million was donated. An amazing amount, but much more will be needed.

Interesting links:

• Google’s Haiti relief website has more information on how to give, how to search for friends or relatives, and updated maps and imagery; they’re also offering free Google Voice calling to Haiti right now
• Why Is Haiti So Poor? by Bob Corbett — more than 20 years old but still relevant
• Recent Sources on Haitian Culture and Social Change
• Spend a few minutes over at The Extraordinaries where you can help tag pictures and match photos of missing people with photos in news reports (its addictive)
• The Boston Globe’s always awesome Big Picture has a heart-wrenching series from photographers on the ground
• Ushahidi, a platform designed for mapping incidents in a crisis, is live with a Haiti site; the site already has 400+ reports and if you know anyone in country, please forward the link
• This NYTimes article describes the devastation, frustration of rescuers, and challenges facing Haitians – even those rescued from beneath collapsed buildings
• Paul Currion On Not Caring About Haiti, or why this crisis should be considered in the larger context of the international community’s historical failure to adequately respond to Haiti’s needs
• David Brooks’ NYTimes Op-Ed on “The Underlying Tragedy“
• Comprehensive and up to date report on the situation and who is doing what from Haiti Innovation

I am very proud to have made a very small contribution to the work of the Ushahidi team over the last few days and I look forward to chipping in over the next weeks with their efforts and with the team at DAI. I’ve been amazed at the collaborative spirit within the tech/development/humanitarian community and it’s an honor to participate. If you have any technology skills, you should consider getting involved; visit CrisisCommons to learn about events around the country.

If you have an interesting link, please do put it in the comments.

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