HAITI - WHAT WE CAN DO RIGHT NOW

DCBULL PHOTO UPDATE AS OF FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Two weeks ago in my first article - just days after the earthquake, I promised that I would offer updates as they became available via my contacts in Washington DC. I will be making a trip to Haiti in the weeks ahead for a variety of reasons and will offer a first hand account of the progress taking place.

If you have not made a contribution to the relief effort in Haiti, please take a moment to do so - and if you have already made a contribution, please consider another.

Please go to the emergency Red Cross site set up on The White House website for instructions on how you can donate $10 today - right now, via a text donation from your cell phone or at:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/13/help-haiti

Or:

You can also help immediately by donating to the Red Cross to assist the relief effort. Contribute online to the Red Cross, or donate $10 to be charged to your cell phone bill by texting "HAITI" to "90999." Find more ways to help through the Center for International Disaster Information.

Please view the slideshow of 10 new state department photos from Haiti.

Click on the photo to view close up of the images - and viewer discretion is advised as the pictures are graphic and tragic.

As reported by Arthur L. Ekrem

January 14, 2010

It has often been said; that it is the small things that count - a simple tiny effort towards another of our fellows that will make a difference.

This was never truer than it is today. Each one of us who reaches out to help the people of Haiti with a few bucks from our Starbucks fund will make a difference and save a life. I usually do not buy into these quick pitches to help another nation, however in this instance we can truly make a dent. This is a call to take a little attention off of our own lives and kick into the karmic coffers.

I had entered 2010 with the intention of kicking off the New Year with a series of articles from DCBULL about the reality of Afghanistan, the unfortunate similarities between Barack Obama and George W Bush, the end of the two party system, as well as a host of other hot and nasty topics - they can wait for another day.

Here we are today, observers of the crisis in Haiti – perhaps the worst natural disaster in the last 100 years. We stand on the sidelines watching the news footage on CNN and Fox as if it were a movie reel of a past event in a fictional land. The reality is that this tragedy has occurred 1500 miles from New York City - a mere neighbor of the United States separated by a short body of water.

The people of Haiti are not long lost cousins, they are our brothers and sisters, and we need to feel their pain. The Haitian people suffer as we suffer, feel pain as we feel pain, suffer broken hearts over the loss of a child, spouse, brother, sister, mother or father just as we would. In addition, the pain they feel is coupled with the loss of dignity so richly afforded to us in America, where despite our fights over health care and the economy, we still have the capacity to care for one another in a proper medical setting in the midst of a catastrophe - we are a blessed people.

We are still the wealthiest, healthiest and most productive country in the world - so we need to step up today.

Haiti’s population of 9.6 million has a per capita income of about $560, with 54 percent of Haitians living on less than $1 a day and 78 percent on less than $2 daily, according to the World Bank. The country is still recovering from four tropical storms or hurricanes that killed at least 800 people in 2008.

As President Clinton stated yesterday, "what is needed now are the basics - the first needs are for food, shelter and water, the absolute basics.” These essentials can be best obtained with your support through a cash contribution. Whether you contribute one dollar or one hundred dollars, it will make an immediate difference in how the people who are suffering can be helped.

Please go to the emergency Red Cross site set up on The White House website for instructions on how you can donate $10 today - right now, via a text donation from your cell phone at:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/13/help-haiti

Or:

You can also help immediately by donating to the Red Cross to assist the relief effort. Contribute online to the Red Cross, or donate $10 to be charged to your cell phone bill by texting "HAITI" to "90999." Find more ways to help through the Center for International Disaster Information.

I am certain that we can make a huge difference in the healing that needs to take place in Haiti - your prayers, money and immediate action are needed now.

Families of Americans living in Haiti are encouraged to contact the State Department at 888-407-4747.

I will stay in the loop with my contacts in Washington DC and The State Department for other ways we can help as the days and weeks pass.

I sincerely appreciate the support you have shown for DCBULL and I call on your continued support by way of the help needed in Haiti.