Immediate Aid For Haiti
On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, a major 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the impoverished nation of Haiti. Not long after, an aftershock measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale caused further widespread damage. The epicenter was not far from the capitol of Port-au-Prince.1
“Because of the earthquake’s proximity to the capital, and because the city is densely populated and has poorly constructed housing, ‘it could cause significant casualties,’ said Jian Lin, a senior geologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.” (CNN.com)2
Reports are pouring in of people running, screaming from a collapsed hospital. There is damage to several government buildings (including the parliament building), traffic jams are widespread and houses have crumbled.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere. Most of Haiti’s 9 million people survive on only $2 a day.3 Year after year, Haiti is hit by devastating hurricanes that misplace hundreds of thousands of people. The damage from yet another disaster will make it nearly impossible for people already at risk to survive.
In response to this crisis, Global Aid Network (GAiN) is already at work pulling together Emergency Response packages. These kits contain water purification tablets, food items – like rice, beans, canned meat and fish – cooking oil and personal hygiene supplies. They are similar to the ones GAiN has provided Haiti in the past.
For only $125, you can feed a Haitian family of six for a week and provide them with basic essentials necessary for survival. That’s less than $1 per meal. These kits will be distributed through local churches and other dedicated and compassionate in-country partners. You can help right now.
Give today to help a Haitian family who is searching for hope and in desperate need.
1 http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N12132601.htm
2 http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/HA_UNR.htm
3 http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/12/haiti.earthquake/index.html
