Haiti earthquake - Chris' message - Page 7

nancyk58 · 23-01-2010, 10:47 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by AnnaElisabeth;3918793
Wow, so many dead... It's horrible. It's like my whole town would be wiped out...

Yes, it is really terrible.
I am sure that the telethon "Hope for Haiti Now" has led to many more donations to HAITI.

I read and posted the news item that UNICEF warned against foreign adoptions. But then in Telethon there was a mini-interview with a leader of an orphanage in Haiti. He said that there were so many new orphans that it would be nice if many of the surviving orphans went to foreign countries via adoptions so that there would be room for more children in the orphanages, because he had had to say no to 80 orphans - and that was BEFORE THE DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE ON 12 JANUARY 2010 THAT KILLED MAYBE 200,000 PEOPLE SO THAT EVEN MORE CHILDREN BECAME ORPHANS!

nancyk58 · 24-01-2010, 11:04 PM

APPEAL FROM OXFAM: HELP HAITI TODAY AND TOMORROW

CANCEL THE DEBT

Our biggest concern right now is dealing with the immediate aftermath of the humanitarian disaster caused by the devastating earthquake. But in our concern to help those suffering, let’s not forget the long term.

The world’s attention is focused on Haiti. Leaders are pledging to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people and help them to build a brighter future out of the rubble. The debts that Haiti owes will hamper efforts to rebuild the country and lock them in poverty for years to come.

Leaders are meeting in Montreal on Monday to decide on the amount of aid that they will give. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that it will work to cancel the debt, and this now needs to happen.

Email the head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn to demand that when leaders meet on Monday, they cancel Haiti’s debts immediately.

WHY IS DEBT CANCELLATION SO IMPORTANT?
Haiti still owes hundreds of millions of dollars in debt - a legacy of loans from global financial institutions and donor nations to unelected governments of years past. It is one of the poorest countries in the world and yet the IMF response to the earthquake was to offer a $100 million loan. This loan would increase Haiti’s debt burden at this time of crisis.

EMAIL THE HEAD OF THE IMF
Haiti currently owes over $891 million in debt. If these debts aren't cancelled, Haiti will be sending tens of millions to the IMF and other international bodies even as it struggles to rescue and rebuild.

Email the head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn to demand that the IMF cancels Haiti’s debt immediately to make sure that earthquake relief doesn't create a new debt burden.

Our biggest concern right now is dealing with the immediate aftermath of the humanitarian disaster caused by the devastating earthquake. But in our concern to help those suffering, let’s not forget the long term.

The world’s attention is focused on Haiti. Leaders are pledging to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people and help them to build a brighter future out of the rubble. The debts that Haiti owes will hamper efforts to rebuild the country and lock them in poverty for years to come.

Leaders are meeting in Montreal on Monday to decide on the amount of aid that they will give. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that it will work to cancel the debt, and this now needs to happen.

EMAIL the head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn to demand that when leaders meet on Monday, they cancel Haiti’s debts immediately.

After having sent this email:

"To: publicaffairs@imf.org

Subject: Cancel Haiti’s debt

Dear Dominique Strauss-Kahn

In the wake of the earthquake, we call on you to work to cancel Haiti's $890 million debt and ensure that earthquake aid comes as grants, not loans. Haiti's scarce funds must be used to help its people rebuild their lives.

The international community and the IMF must take action to cancel Haiti’s debt immediately, as you have indicated. You have said that you are working on a way to turn the $100 million loan already announced into a grant and I very strongly urge you to do everything you can to make sure that this happens.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Nancy Boysen "

I received this from OXFAM:

Thank you,
Thanks for taking action. Although our biggest concern right now is dealing with the immediate aftermath of the terrible humanitarian disaster caused by the devastating earthquake, we need to still think about the future of Haiti.
It’s vital that while the world’s attention is focused on Haiti we show our support to help the people of Haiti build a brighter future.

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved..._the_debt.html

EMAIL the head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn to demand that when leaders meet on Monday, they cancel Haiti’s debts immediately.

nancyk58 · 25-01-2010, 12:17 AM

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 24 JANUARY 2010

BBC World / News:
Haiti capital toll "tops 150,000". The confirmed death toll from Haiti's devastating earthquake has risen above 150,000 in the Port-au-Prince area according to Haiti's Communications Minister who also told the news agency AP (Associated Press) that the death toll is based on bodies collected in and around Port-au-Prince by state firm CNE.
Many more remain uncounted under the rubble in the capital and elsewhere including the towns of Jacmel and Leogane.
The focus has shifted to aid.

1 million Haitians have now left Port-au-Prince, and 600,000 have been made homeless by the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010.

Danish DR1 (Text-TV / Teletext):
Norway doubles its aid to Haiti and transmits 200 million Norwegian Kroner to the relief work for the victims. The money is to be distributed between UN organizations and voluntary relief organizations. In particular relief / aid to women and children shall be given priority.

The UN to employ local 220,000 Haitians. The UN is identifying 500 sites outside Port-au-Prince where camps are to be built for the homeless, people without shelter. 220,000 local Haitians are employed to help build emergency / makeshift houses. Mr Henrik Kastoft from the UN's Development Programme UNDP says: "It has turned out to be an efficient model employing local people. By employing one Haitian, we help 5".
130,000 Haitians have accepted the government's offer to be sent to the countryside.

According to the United Nations 132 Haitians have been rescued from the rubble - this number of rescued after such a devastating earthquake is record high.

TV2 Text-TV (TV2 gossip) on Text-TV:
On Saturday evening the "Canada for Haiti" show starring among others Celine Dion, Nelly Furtado and James Cameron was broadcast live from Toronto.

Thursday Leo DiCapricio donated 1 million $ to emergency relief work in Haiti.
Saturday George Clooney donated 1 million $ to Haiti.
At the beginning of the week the fund "Not on our watch" initiated by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle sent 1 million £ to Haiti.

Port in Haiti is expected to open on Monday, 25 February 2010. The emergency relief goods can reach their destination quicklier when the port can take delivery of ship containers, as this will speed up the distribution of food, medicine and other supplies. Ulrik Jørgensen, press agent in Danish Red Cross, just returned from Haiti. He says that it will really make a big difference when the port opens. Currently only one landing slot can be used in the airport meaning that many aircrafts/planes have to wait or land in the Dominican Republic.

ZDF text:
Haiti stops adoptions of Haitian children to prevent child trafficking. New adoptions are forbidden or at least stopped after reports of increase in child traficking. Only adoptions already approved before the earthquake struck on 12 January 2010 are allowed. Due to child traficking the Haitian government intensified the border control.

Record-high amount collected after the US Gala for Haiti: 58 million $ or 41 million Euro. This is a new record of donations in connection with a show like this. 130 Hollywood actors and musicians performed including Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and COLDPLAY.

A young man (23 or 25 years old) saved after 11 days. A French team of firemen rescued the young man from the rubble of a collapsed shop at a hotel in Port-au-Prince. Wismond Exantus told the French news agency AFP that he took refuge under a table and was lucky enough to have coca cola and biscuits within reach - that saved his life. He was able to move a little, but not to free himself by digging. He had told the rescuers that there were 4-5 other people in there - alive.

DR1 TTV (latest news):
Italian criticism of Haiti relief efforts. Guido Bertolaso, the Italian Minister for Civil Security criticizes the international relief work and efforts for lacking leadership. "The USA should have been in charge of relief efforts in Haiti". He is in Haiti to coordinate relief efforts and describes "the terrible situation that could have been handled much better". He warns against the risk of unrest among the Haitian population.

The worst hit towns have no food. For 12 days the inhabitants of Leogane 30 km away from Port-au-Prince have not received any emergency relief. On Sunday the first amphibious ships arrived with food for the town - the worst hit town being completely destroyed by the earthquake. Thomas Ubbesen, a reporter from Danish TV channel DR, was shocked when visiting Leogane. He thought that nothing could be worse than what he had seen in Port-au-Prince, but this was even worse. Not one single house was standing. The inhabitants were starving - many of them had nothing to eat and had not eaten anything since the earthquake struck on 12 January 2010.

nancyk58 · 25-01-2010, 06:15 PM

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 25 JANUARY 2010

ALL-STAR HAITI TELETHON RAISES $57 MILLION, SO FAR

(01/24/2010 | 08:50 AM - GMA News.TV)

NEW YORK – Organizers for the all-star "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon say the event raised $57 million — and counting.

"The public has set a new standard of giving for a relief telethon with 'Hope for Haiti Now,' and the donations continue to come in," Lisa Paulsen, president and CEO of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, said in a statement released Saturday. The group is helping to oversee the funds gathered from the event.

The two-hour telethon aired Friday night on the major networks and dozens of other channels, including MTV, Bravo, and PBS, and was also streamed live online. Stars like Brad Pitt, Beyonce, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and more used their presence to encourage donations for Haiti, following a Jan. 12 earthquake that killed an estimated 200,000 people.

The total released Saturday includes money raised by phone, text and the Web. It does not include donations by corporations or via iTunes, where people are able to buy performances of the event for 99 cents each, or the entire album for $7.99. Those funds also go to Haiti relief.

The "Hope for Haiti Now" CD is the biggest one-day pre-order in the site's history and the new song "Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)" by Jay-Z, Rihanna, Bono and the Edge, debuted during the telethon, is the No. 1 single on iTunes.

People can donate via text, phone or through the "Hope for Haiti" Web site for the next six months. Among the organizations who will receive funds from the telethon include OXFAM America, UNICEF, and the Clinton-Bush Haiti Foundation.

- AP

nancyk58 · 25-01-2010, 08:25 PM

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 25 JANUARY 2010

DR1 (text-TV/teletext):

UN: "It may take weeks before everyone has received aid!" This statement was made by Henrik Kastoft who is head of communications in the organization UNDP (UN's Development Programme).
He realizes that some areas in Haiti have not yet received any emergency relief and aid, and it may take some time before everyone has received aid, because the Haiti relief efforts are UN's largest task and biggest challenge ever. "Don't forget that we had to start from scratch here."

The Haiti earth quake was registered on the Danish island of Bornholm according to the website videnskab.dk (videnskab = science). The sound was registered by one of the sensitive seismometers (seismographs) run by Danish researchers at GEUS, the National Geological Surveys for Denmark and Greenland.

50 aftershocks after the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010.

TV2 TTV (Text-TV):

Registration of life under Haiti's rubble. French rescuers have registered movements under a collapsed building by radar 12 days after the devastating earthquake in Haiti on 12 January 2010. They started digging in the hope of finding a survivor. More than 20 rescuers are participating in this mission. The movements might also have been caused by an animal.

ZDF text:

The EU has agreed upon sending 350 paramilitary police officers to Haiti. The European Union Police Mission is to ensure the distribution of relief goods. Today the foreign ministers within the EU agreed on this in Brussels. Currently up to six European states participate in the Police Mission. France and Italy will send 100 policemen, the Netherlands 50, whereas Spain, Portugal and Roumania are planning to participate in / contribute to the Police Mission.

1 million homeless. According to the United Nations' Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs / OCHA, the number of homeless could be as many as 1 million (between 800,000 and 1 million) who urgently need shelter, tents and building materials. Makeshift camps for the survivors must be established and maintained. Still more people are leaving the capital Port-au-Prince. According to the Haitian government more than 150,000 people were killed by the earthquake on 12 January 2010.

ARD text:

Planning of rebuilding / reconstruction. The EU foreign ministers decided to send about 300 police officers with a paramilitary training to Haiti to ensure more security. In Montreal in Canada representatives from 20 countries prepare a donors conference. At the beginning of the meeting Canada talked in favour of a substantial debt relief. Few pledges were made in this meeting. A sort of Marshall Plan is needed. One of the globally largest group of exiled Haitians live in Montreal.

BBC WORLD:

Haiti quake operation "lacks leadership". Guido Bertolaso, head of Italy's civil protection service talked about "lack of leadership in international aid operations" and criticised the US forces in Haiti saying that the troops had no training in running a civilian relief operation.
It is believed that the quake on 12 January 2010 killed 200,000 people.

Britons donated £46 million to Haiti fund. Britons donated that amount to the Haiti earthquake appeal fund after another £4 million was added over the week-end.
200,000 people were killed and 2 million made homeless by the quake on 12 January 2010. The UK's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) said relief agencies were working "round the clock" in Haiti. Meanwhile Development Secretary Douglas Alexander will meet religious groups to discuss how to provide long-term help for victims of the disaster.

nancyk58 · 26-01-2010, 12:47 AM

From MTV.com:

The "Hope for Haiti Now" album is the biggest one-day album pre-order in iTunes history and is currently the #1 iTunes album in 18 countries. The studio version of "Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)," the original track performed by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z and Rihanna during "Hope for Haiti Now," is currently the #1 song on iTunes in 12 countries.

"Hope for Haiti Now" will continue accepting donations for six months via the following methods:

» Online: www.hopeforhaitinow.org
» Phone: 877-99-HAITI
» Text: Text "GIVE" to 50555
»Mail: Hope For Haiti Now Fund, Entertainment Industry Foundation, 1201 West 5th Street, Suite T-700, Los Angeles, CA 90017

"Hope for Haiti Now" benefits Oxfam America, Partners in Health, the Red Cross, UNICEF, United Nations World Food Programme, Yele Haiti Foundation, and the newly formed Clinton Bush Haiti Foundation. Proceeds from "Hope for Haiti Now" will be split among each organization's individual funds for Haiti earthquake relief. With the exception of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, each partner organization was selected for its history of operation and collaboration within the nongovernmental organization (NGO) community in Haiti.

nancyk58 · 26-01-2010, 09:38 PM

HAITI EARTHQUAKE

UNICEF SITUATION REPORT No.7 , JANUARY 22

Situation overview

The Interial Minister has presented the numbers of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the six regions that have been evaluated. In Nord: 2,500, Northwest: 29,500, Centre: 20,530, Antibonite: around 50,000, Grand Goave: more than 10,000 and Sud: more than 10,000 persons. Totally more than 120,000 IDPs. The problem of IDPs is very big and the influx continues.

The result of the rapid needs assessments at Petit Goave confirms that there were no significant injuries or damages as a result of the aftershock on 20 January.

Aid is getting through to more and more locations. WFP and partners have the target of distributing food to 120,000 persons today, where each individual gets a 5-day ratio. The US Army also started airdropping yesterday. Since the start of the response, WFP has provided around 3 million meals to more than 200,000 people.

The Prime Minister has been expressing concern over the insufficiency of food and food items being distributed. It has also occurred that the same site received delivery twice. The Prime Minister urges the humanitarian agencies working in Haiti to further increase communication amongst them. He also pleaded that the humanitarian organizations should be working through the offices of the mayors in the region, in order to improve the cooperation.

While making rapid assessments on orphanages etc, UNICEF Child Protection teams have localized more than 70 children, some of them babies that urgently need to go to the hospital because they are injured or ill in some other way. UNICEF is trying to find some partner that could take care of the transportation.

Guido Bertolaso, the chief of the Italian Civil Protection, has arrived to Haiti together with a group of experts in emergency relief.

Humanitarian needs

There have been demonstrations in the streets because of the lack of food.

From Jacmel it is reported that the coordination is very slow. For instance, there are too many doctors, due to the lack of coordination. There has been no protection meeting. The first meeting between MINUSTAH, UN and the Canadian Forces is being planned for tomorrow.

There is a need for recreation kits for children in the sites.

Progress in hygiene is slow in Jacmel. Only three latrine blocks have been built.

UNICEF Response

Since yesterday, WFP with the support from UNICEF has been distributing 1,076 rations for children under the age of five at eleven small sites in Jacmel. WFP has also distributed 18 000 rations to grownups today. The rations consist of rice, tea, oil and salt which makes it possible for people to cook themselves. The sites are organized by the Committee de Quartier and most of them are small ones. The Committee de Quartier also helps with cooking when necessary.

The organization ACDI, VOCA and Save the Children want to start collaborating with UNICEF in the field of health, nutrition and protection. The collaboration is yet to be defined.

Programme Commitments:

Nutrition:

A car with supplies (vitamine A, zink, ORS, plumpynut) left Port au Prince today for Jacmel. The distribution of the supplies to severely malnourished children between six months and five years started this afternoon.
Representatives of the committee for nutrition yesterday visited orphanages to make an assessment of their needs of supplies. The distribution will be coordinated with the committee for Child Protection.
Terre des Hommes have reported on IDPs. UNICEF has been in touch with Terres des Hommes to see how UNICEF can help with food distribution.
UNICEF is working on contracts with ACF to operate in nutrition programs and concerns.

Health:

Today, UNICEF met with the director of immunization programme at the Ministry HAITI of Health in order to discuss vaccinations. Early next week there starts a new initiative for DTP and DT. Within three weeks, the Measle and Rubella Campaign will start. Port au Prince has the highest priority, thereafter other areas affected by the earthquake. The cold chain is a problem since the refrigerators are run on propane gas, which there is a lack of, but UNICEF will be able to provide propane gas in time for the vaccination campaign to start.

PROGRAMME

Child Protection

Response

UNICEF has supported the mobilization of cadres of IBERS mobile teams to undertake rapid child protection assessments on sites, as well as at orphanages/institutions in Port Au Prince affected by the earthquake. These assessments include identifying key needs and providing NFI the following day. Currently, these teams are reaching some 10 sites per day, and the activity is being scaled up to reach 20 per day by next week. This is by no means sufficient to meet the magnitude of need, when considering the number of institutions/orphanages that were in Port au Prince before the earthquake and which have been affected. Due to challenges with Information Management, it has also not yet been possible to process the data that has come in – a preliminary analysis of assessment findings thus far will be available on Monday.

Through partners UNICEF Child Protection is reaching some 37,000 children through Child Protection Programming. These include a variety of programmatic themes, including psychosocial support, NFI support and referral for especially vulnerable children, non-formal education, adolescent programmes, services for child Gender Based Violence survivors and interim care arrangements for unaccompanied children, including family based care.

Child Protection programmes are being implemented both in areas directly affected by the earthquake and in those areas to which affected populations are moving. Partners in these projects include Save the Children, Solidarite pour les femmes; Aide Medicale International, Viva Rio, and IBERS, the child protection arm of the Ministry of Social Welfare.

In response to reports and risks of trafficking and illegal adoption of children from Haiti, UNICEF is supporting the Special Police Brigades for Child Protection to undertake monitoring of movement of children at the Port au Prince airport as well as along Border Areas.

Priorities

The immediate priority, both for the Child Protection Sub-Cluster and UNICEF response programme at the moment is ensuring the survival and protection of the most vulnerable unaccompanied children, including those in orphanages and institutions affected by the earthquake. The situation and needs of unaccompanied children is urgent and overwhelming at this stage. Through the urgent reporting form that has been developed by the child protection sub-cluster, there are more than 20 such reports coming in per day. Children are also being dispatched from hospitals either without being accompanied by adults or being in the company of adults that are not their relatives and there continues to be reports of organizations and groups attempting to fly children out of Haiti.Prevention of trafficking/illegal adoption as well as the registration of especially vulnerable unaccompanied children are key issues.

Gaps and Challenges

The lack of cars as well as human resources has impeded UNICEF’s ability to reach more sites per day. This is a key challenge to child protection activities, which require larger human and transportation resources.

Education:

Still, UNICEF is facing difficulties in filling the cluster of education because of lack of human resources.

HIV/AIDS:

Today there was an announcement through the radio that the organization AASON started a patient clinic for providing care for HIV-infected. People are being encouraged to go back to the clinic where they used to get treatment before the quake, but in case the clinics have been destroyed, the patients could get care in the AASON clinic.

Clusters:

Nutrition:

The cluster coordinator Mija Ververes together with Hedwig Deconinck (USAID) will arrive to Haiti tomorrow.
The strategy and the standards are being finalised engaging the government in a leading role.
The key constraints are communication and coordination and the capacity for storage. The plan for general food distribution is not fully implemented yet.

WASH:

Maximal production of main two companies can not serve all the needs that are increasing every day, so solutions have been analyzed and found. DINEPA is negotiating with private water distributor about water trucking and treatment and the cluster will support in wells and boreholes assessments. The cluster needs to identify new sources to meet the demand, and also to define a strategy for hygiene kit distribution.
Latrine constructions have started in three sites in Port-au-Prince and Petion-Ville.

Child Protection:

Currently there are 30 organizations participating in the sub-cluster. They have formed three working groups under the sub-cluster to look at specific issue.
The three groups are:
1. Identification and registration of unaccompanied children. In the first phase those most vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and violence, including all those under 5 years of age, will be registered.
2. Interim care arrangements for unaccompanied children and 3. Development and integration of child protection strategy within the Shelter Cluster Strategy scenarios. The Shelter Cluster has developed a draft strategy presenting three shelter scenarios that will be applied in response to this disaster (support to spontaneous settlements; planned transitional sites for larger populations; host family arrangements). Based on these shelter scenarios, the CW Sub-Cluster will develop strategies to ensure mechanisms for child protection in all contexts.

The sub-cluster has now agreed upon and finalized a number of key tools, including Inter-agency agreed upon common Child Protection Rapid Assessment and urgent action reporting form on urgent child protection risks in particular areas. A who, what, where mapping tool to begin collecting information is being implemented to meet key gaps.

Key child protection issues and concerns have been integrated in the UNDAC Inter-Cluster Assessment that will be undertaken in all affected areas next week. Child protection staff from government and NGOs have also been identified to form part of the assessment teams that will undertake the assessment.

The Sub-Cluster, through the coordinator and MINUSTAH-Child Protection, is participating in the Shelter Cluster to ensure that child protection concerns are integrated in to both the development of Shelter Strategies, as well as site planning.

Media and Communication:

Key media activities undertaken and planned:

Today, for instance CNN, the Spanish, Canadian and Italian televisions are making reportages. Tomorrow, CNN international will make a live interview with Representative Guido Cornale.
List of spokespersons: Representative Guido Cornale, sr communication officer Kent Page and communication officer Roshan Kahdivi.

nancyk58 · 26-01-2010, 10:45 PM

Updates of the situation in Haiti on 26 January 2010

Danish TV2 Teletext / Text TV:
14-year old Guirlande survived 13 days in the rubble and was rescued today from the rubble of her home. "I prayed to the Lord". A family friend heard Guirlande. She had been hiding under her bed which protected her against the falling rubble. She had a bottle (or the like) of water within reach.

Two aftershocks in Haiti 2 weeks to the day after the devastating earthquake.
According to US Geological Surveys / USGS an earthquake measured at 4.4 at the open Richter scales shook Haiti at 6.16 local time. A Haitian had woken up at around 5 local time because of a minor earthquake. "It was not so bad - only shaking a little".

Danish TV2 News interviewed a man who originates from Haiti. He had lived in the USA for many years and participated in the Vietnam war. After all that he had experienced and seen during the war there, he felt that he could cope with anything. He had returned to his native Haiti to help the poor population and in particular orphans. When the earthquake struck, his nephew rescued a baby, while 5 young relatives were dead. Now the man houses 36 people up in the mountains.

ARD text: Haiti song will be performed by many artists including a complete Take That, i.e. inclusive of Robbie Williams. Other artists performing the song will be Mariah Carey, Susan Boyle, Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue, Leona Lewis plus James Blunt. The charity song is a cover version of the REM classic "Everybody hurts".

International donors conference to be held in March in New York in United Nations' headquarters. The USA will organize the conference. The long-term aid to Haiti is to be planned at the conference.
Jean-Max Bellerive, Haiti's Prime Minister estimates that 5 to 10 years of foreign aid will be needed to rebuild the country.
Participating in the meeting in Canada were representatives from Canada, the USA and Brazil (SVT Text - Swedish Teletext).

SVT Text - Swedish Teletext / Text-TV: Chaos when there is not sufficient food. According to the United Nations World Food Programme (WPF) the world's supplies of ready-prepared meals in Haiti are soon emptied out. The head of WFP, Josette Sheeran said that there was an urgent need for ready-prepared meals for Haiti. And it is important that those distributing aid in Haiti are escorted by military - if not, there will be an unruly crowd in connection with the distribution of food, and the weaker Haitians will not get any food.

nancyk58 · 27-01-2010, 04:23 PM

From UNICEF (received 26 January 2009):

Now two weeks have passed since Haiti was hit by the earthquake that triggered the biggest humanitarian disaster in modern times. Millions of people have lost their homes and are dependent on emergency aid from the outside world.

Despite difficulties, the relief efforts are well under way. UNICEF distributes among other things clean water, medicines and hospital equipment for which there is still a desperate need.

This week UNICEF begins to vaccinate 360,000 children under five years against diphtheria, polio, tetanus, rubella and measles. At this stage of the disaster it is critical to protect children against life-threatening diseases that spread quickly when many people live close together under extremely primitive conditions.

You can read more about the relief efforts in the latest situation report (posted here yesterday) and a brief summary of UNICEF's efforts in Haiti below. And on UNICEF Denmark's homepage you can continuously monitor developments in Haiti.

Thanks to all who already have supported the collection for Haiti's children. You can still make a contribution to www.unicef.dk / Haiti

Best regards
Steen M. Andersen
Secretary General, UNICEF Denmark

--------------------------------------------------

Short on UNICEF's relief efforts in Haiti:

Water and sanitation: UNICEF is in charge of UN's overall efforts to provide clean water and sanitation. Every day water is delivered to hospitals, orphanages and other institutions as well as distribution points/lines spread throughout Port-au-Prince.

Health: This week UNICEF begins to vaccinate 360,000 children under five years against diphtheria, polio, tetanus, rubella and measles to prevent epidemics of life-threatening diseases.

Nutrition: There are established nutrition centres to treat malnourished children in the makeshift (temporary) camps in the area around Jacmel. The first supplies of nutritious nut mixtures, vitamin A and powders to treat dehydration have already been distributed.

Protection of children: UNICEF is visiting orphanages and other institutions to help vulnerable children. UNICEF is working with the Red Cross and Save the Children to find and register lost children in order to trace their families and protect children against abuse, trafficking and illegal adoption.

Emergency Supplies: UNICEF World Warehouse in Copenhagen and the regional warehouses in Panama and Dubai will be continuously sending relief to the needy children and their families.

nancyk58 · 27-01-2010, 05:41 PM

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 24 + 25 JANUARY 2010

HAITI GOVERNMENT: 150K BODIES RECOVERED IN CAPITAL

(01/24/2010 | 11:23 PM - GMA News.TV)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The confirmed death toll from Haiti's devastating earthquake has topped 150,000 in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area alone, the communications minister said Sunday, with many more thousands dead around the country or still buried under the rubble.

Communications minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue told The Associated Press that the figure is based on a body count in the capital and outlying areas by CNE, a state company that has been collecting corpses and burying them in a mass grave north of Port-au-Prince. It does not include other affected cities such as Jacmel, where thousands are believed dead, nor does it account for bodies burned by relatives.

The United Nations said Saturday the government had confirmed 111,481 bodies; all told, authorities have estimated 200,000 dead from the magnitude-7.0 quake, according to Haitian government figures cited by the European Commission.

"Nobody knows how many bodies are buried in the rubble — 200,000, 300,000?" Lassegue said. "Who knows the overall death toll?"

Experts say chances are slim that more survivors will be found in that debris, although rescuers pulled a man buried for 11 days in the wreckage on Saturday.

Crews dug a tunnel through the rubble of a fruit and vegetable shop to reach Wismond Exantus, who is in his 20s. He was placed on a stretcher and given intravenous fluids as onlookers cheered, and later told the AP he survived by diving under a desk during the quake and later consuming some cola, beer and cookies in the cramped space.

"I was hungry, but every night I thought about the revelation that I would survive," Exantus said from his hospital bed.

Haiti's government has declared an end to searches for living people trapped under debris, and officials are shifting their focus to caring for the thousands of survivors living in squalid, makeshift camps.

U.N. relief workers said the shift is critical: While deliveries of food, medicine and water have ticked up after initial logjams, the need continues to be overwhelming and doctors fear outbreaks of disease in the camps.

In the notorious slum of Cite Soleil, the site of some looting and violence since the quake, U.S. and Brazilian soldiers handed out food and water Sunday morning to thousands of men, women and children who lined up at a health center.

The U.S. soldiers brought 2,000 food rations, 75,000 high-energy biscuits and 9,000 bottles of water, while the Brazilians had 8 tons of food in small bags of uncooked beans, salt, sugar and sardines, as well as 15,000 liters of water.

Lunie Marcelin, 57, said her entire family — including six grown children who live with her — survived the quake, but they had no money to buy food.

The handouts "will help us, but it is not enough," she said. "We need more."

In the United States, organizers of the all-star "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon said Saturday that the event raised $57 million — and counting. The two-hour telethon aired Friday night and was also streamed live online. Stars such as Brad Pitt, Beyonce, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and more used their presence to encourage donations for Haiti.

As many as 200,000 people have fled Port-au-Prince, a city of 2 million, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development. About 609,000 people are homeless in the capital's metro area, and the United Nations estimates that up to 1 million could leave Haiti's destroyed cities for rural areas already struggling with extreme poverty.

The U.S. Geological Survey said Sunday it has recorded 52 aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 or greater since the Jan. 12 quake. - AP

150,000 HAITI QUAKE VICTIMS BURIED, GOVERNMENT SAYS

(01/25/2010 | 07:17 AM - GMA News.TV)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The truckers filling Haiti's mass graves with bodies reported ever higher numbers: More than 150,000 quake victims have been buried by the government, an official said Sunday.

That doesn't count those still under the debris, carried off by relatives or killed in the outlying quake zone.

"Nobody knows how many bodies are buried in the rubble — 200,000? 300,000? Who knows the overall death toll?" said the official, Communications Minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue.

Dealing with the living, meanwhile, a global army of aid workers was getting more food into people's hands, but acknowledged falling short. "We wish we could do more, quicker," said U.N. World Food Program chief Josette Sheeran, visiting Port-au-Prince.

In the Cite Soleil slum, US soldiers and Brazilian U.N. peacekeeping troops distributed food. Lunie Marcelin, 57, said the handouts will help her and six grown children "but it is not enough. We need more."

The Haitian government was urging many of the estimated 600,000 homeless huddled in open areas of Port-au-Prince, a city of 2 million, to look for better shelter with relatives or others in the countryside. Some 200,000 were believed already to have done so, most taking advantage of free government transportation, and others formed a steady stream out of the city on Sunday.

International experts searched for sites to erect tent cities for quake refugees on the capital's outskirts, but such short-term solutions were still weeks away, said the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental agency.

"We also need tents. There is a shortage of tents," said Vincent Houver, the Geneva-based agency's chief of mission in Haiti. Their Port-au-Prince warehouse has 10,000 family-size tents, but some 100,000 are needed, he said. The organization has appealed for $30 million for that and other needs, and has received two-thirds of that so far.

In the aftermath of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake, the casualty estimates have been necessarily tentative. Lassegue told The Associated Press the government's figure of 150,000 buried, from the capital area alone, was reported by CNE, a state company collecting corpses and burying them north of Port-au-Prince.

That number would tend to confirm an overall estimate of 200,000 dead reported last week by the European Commission, citing Haitian government sources. The United Nations, meanwhile, was sticking Sunday with an earlier confirmed death toll of at least 111,481, based on recovered bodies.

The final casualty estimates, which the European Commission said also include some 250,000 injured, will clearly place the Jan. 12 earthquake among the deadliest natural catastrophes of recent times. That list includes: the 1970 Bangladesh cyclone, believed to have killed 300,000 people; the 1974 northeast China earthquake, which killed at least 242,000 people; and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, with 226,000 dead.

One who wouldn't die in Port-au-Prince was Wismond Exantus, who was extricated from the rubble Saturday. He spoke with the AP from his cot in a French field hospital on Sunday, saying the first thing he wanted to do was find a church to give thanks.

He spent the 11 days buried in the ruins of a hotel grocery store praying, reciting psalms and sleeping, he said. "I wasn't afraid because I knew they were searching and would come for me," he said.

With further such rescues highly unlikely so long after the quake, Haiti's government has declared an end to search operations for the living, shifting the focus more than ever to caring for the thousands surviving in squalid, makeshift camps.

The World Food Program had delivered about 2 million meals to the needy on Friday, up from 1.2 million on Thursday, Sheeran said. But she acknowledged that much more was needed.

"This is the most complex operation WFP has ever launched," she said.

The scene Sunday at Cite Soleil, the capital's largest and most notorious slum, showed the need.

Thousands of men, women and children lined up and waited peacefully for their turn as the American and Brazilian troops handed out AID — the Americans gave ready-to-eat meals, high-energy biscuits and bottled water, the Brazilians passed out small bags holding uncooked beans, salt, sugar and sardines, as well as water.

The need for medical care, especially surgery, postoperative care and drugs, still overwhelmed the help available, aid agencies reported. In the isolated southern port city of Jacmel alone, about 100 patients needed surgery as of Friday, the U.N. reported. Medical personnel were there, but not the necessary surgery supplies.

In Port-au-Prince, meanwhile, the aid group Doctors Without Borders said its inflatable hospital — six large inflatable tents flown in from France — was preparing for its first operations.

The world's nations have pledged some $1 billion in emergency aid to Haiti. Organizers of Friday night's "Hope for Haiti Now" international telethon reported the event raised $57 million, with more pledges from ordinary people still coming in. - AP

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MEETS FOR HAITI TALKS

(01/25/2010 | 09:43 AM - GMA News.TV)

MONTREAL — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Haiti's prime minister and foreign ministers from a host of nations meet in Montreal on Monday to try to improve relief efforts in the international community's first meeting since Haiti's devastating earthquake.

Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said Sunday that the conference will review the progress of aid delivery to Haiti since the Jan. 12 earthquake and lay the groundwork for a larger meeting that will focus on long-term reconstruction.

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive arrived in Canada ahead of the conference for a Sunday meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"The task ahead of you is unimaginable," Harper said to Bellerive before the two began private talks. "I say to you Jean-Max as a fellow prime minister, I just can't imagine."

Bellerive expressed his gratitude to Canada and said he came to discuss the support that will be needed.

"But we are fully conscious that the prime responsibility for our future lies in the hands of the Haitian government and the Haitian people," he added.

Harper and foreign ministers from more than a dozen countries, eight international bodies and six major non-governmental organizations will convene on Monday.

"It's not a donor or pledging conference," Cannon said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It's to make sure we have an action plan. We want to coordinate better in the short term and make sure we all know who is doing what and how."

Cannon said one goal is to "physically get the Haitian government back on its feet." The quake destroyed key government buildings, including the National Palace, hampering the work of what was already a weak and inefficient state.

"They don't have any offices," Cannon said. "I was chatting with Mrs. Clinton the other day. She mentioned that an American government building remained intact and said they were turning it over to the Haitian government so that they could at least set up temporary offices."

Cannon said the morning session will take stock of the aid efforts. He said ministers will hear from Bellerive, the United Nations and non-governmental agencies like the Red Cross.

Ministers will meet in the afternoon to work on the steps needed ahead of the larger reconstruction conference, where money will be pledged. Cannon said he expects the date and location of that conference to be announced Monday.

Governments have pledged nearly $1 billion in aid to Haiti, according to an Associated Press estimate, including $575 million from the European Union's 27 nations.

Monday's meeting comes as a global army of aid workers was delivering more food into people's hands in Haiti, but the efforts were still falling short. U.N. World Food Program chief Josette Sheeran, visiting Port-au-Prince, said Sunday said aid groups wished they could do more and do it more quickly.

One Haitian government official said more than 150,000 victims have been buried by the government and that nobody knows how many bodies are buried in the rubble.

Canada has deep ties to Haiti. More than 100,000 people of Haitian descent live in Canada, most of them in Montreal.

After the Montreal meeting, Bellerive will travel to Ottawa to meet with Canada's Haitian-born governor general Michaelle Jean.

Jean, the representative of Queen Elizabeth II as Canada's head of state, broke down in tears during a press conference after the Jan. 12 earthquake. She said it's as if an atomic bomb had fallen on Port-au-Prince. - AP

nancyk58 · 27-01-2010, 07:40 PM

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 26 + 27 JANUARY 2010

John Travolta lands in Haiti piloting relief supplies

(01/26/2010 | 01:17 PM - GMA News.TV)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — John Travolta has landed his own jet in Haiti carrying relief supplies and a team including doctors and Scientology ministers. The 55-year-old actor flew the Boeing 707 from Florida on Monday carrying 4 tons of ready-to-eat military rations and medical supplies for earthquake victims. Among those accompanying Travolta is his wife, actress Kelly Preston. The Church of Scientology says the pair planned to return home after unloading their passengers and supplies. - AP

RP medical team to leave for Haiti Monday night

HAITIANS SEARCH FOR THEIR DEAD: `I NEED THE BODY'

(01/26/2010 | 07:22 AM - GMA News.TV)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – In what's left of one family's home, in what remains of one destroyed neighborhood, Jean-Rene Lochard has retrieved the bodies of his mother, brother, sister-in-law and nephew, and buried them beside the ruins, one by one and with a priest's blessing.

On Monday, he dug deeper, searching for his brother's 5-year-old son. Only when he finds the boy will he rest. "I need the body to bury him," he said. "It's important to bury the bodies."

With 150,000 bodies already in mass graves, international teams, grieving families, sympathetic neighbors and sometimes even strangers were pulling at the rubble with tools or bare hands in countless corners of this devastated city. Thirteen days after the killer earthquake, they were desperate to recover some of the thousands of Port-au-Prince's lost dead — to close each tragic circle, to lay loved ones in the earth to rest in peace.

For the living — the homeless spread across empty lots, parks and plazas in the hundreds of thousands — there was little rest as aid agencies struggled to fill their needs for food and water, and to get them tents to shelter their families against the burning tropical sun.

In front of the wrecked National Palace, people's desperation boiled over. Uruguayan U.N. peacekeepers had to fire pepper spray into the air to try to disperse thousands jostling for food.

The overwhelmed soldiers finally retreated, and young men rushed forward to grab the bags of pinto beans and rice, emblazoned with the US flag, pushing aside others — including one pregnant woman who collapsed and was trampled.

Thousands of people are huddled nearby in the Champs de Mars plaza, many with nothing more than a plastic sheet to protect them from sun and rain.

"We live like dogs," said Espiegle Amilcar, 34. "We're sleeping, eating and going to the bathroom in the same place."

The global agency supplying tents said it already had 10,000 stored in Haiti and at least 30,000 more would be arriving. But, said the International Organization for Migration, "the supply is unlikely to address the extensive shelter needs." The group estimates 100,000 family-sized tents are needed; the U.N. says up to 1 million people need shelter.

Meanwhile, the Haitian government and international groups are preparing a more substantial tent city on Port-au-Prince's outskirts, the first of more than a half-dozen sites that officials hope will shelter the displaced before the onset of spring rains and summer hurricanes.

In Montreal on Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and officials of more than two dozen other donor nations and international organizations met to assess the progress of the relief effort.

Haiti will need "more and more and more in order to complete the task of reconstruction," Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told them. He said his impoverished nation lost 60 percent of its gross domestic product in the quake, the economic activity centered on Port-au-Prince.

Returning from Haiti, international Red Cross spokesman Paul Conneally said in Geneva that a NEW Port-au-Prince must be planned. "It's going to require, minimum, a generation," he said, adding that the need for heavy equipment to tear down damaged buildings was growing.

That prospect was what was driving Jean-Rene Lochard to dig harder, with the help of neighbors and hired workers, to find his little nephew in the collapsed six-story home, an enormous pile of cracked concrete and twisted metal bars in Port-au-Prince's western district of Carrefour-Feuilles.

"The contractors are going to come and smash everything else, so we want to find him first," Lochard, 42, said as he sat amid the remains of a family's life — shoes, bits of clothing, a small red Elmo doll.

When the magnitude-7.0 quake struck on Jan. 12, Lochard recalled, "I was going crazy," because the house completely collapsed around him as he dashed outside. Eight of the 14 family members who lived there perished.

He and others quickly rescued an injured 17-year-old niece, and then, four days after the quake, a 5-year-old nephew, Samael. "He was in a state of shock, so traumatized he couldn't speak," said Jacques Lochard, 45, Jean-Rene's brother.

Then they started pulling out the bodies, first that of those children's father, police commander Carlo Lochard, then those of his other children, including 8-month-old Anaelle, owner of the little Elmo doll. Finally, the body of the family matriarch, Ismeda Edmond, 72, was found six days after the quake, in the entrance to the dining room.
She "was like the neighborhood godmother. Everyone in the neighborhood would come to see her," said family friend Jean-Louis Nold.

The bodies of three were buried in a city cemetery, but four others — the men's mother, brother, sister-in-law and nephew — were so badly decomposed that the morgue refused to receive them, and they were interred in the back garden, beneath a breadfruit tree, in rough requiems for a devoutly Roman Catholic family. "Every time we find a body, we call the priest," Jean-Rene Lochard said.

Now, on Monday, they searched unrelentingly for 5-year-old Jovany. In traditional Haitian families, a nephew is like a son. "We are a united family. That's why we live together in the same house," Jacques Lochard said. "Nobody can imagine what we are feeling."

In other pitiful scenes across Port-au-Prince, family survivors clambered over and clawed at rubble in hopes of finding their loved ones. Others simply sat hopelessly. And some still held out hope of finding people alive, two days after the last such "miracle" rescue.

"There's still hope. We think that people could still be alive," Mexican search team chief Hector Mendez said outside the ruins of the Montana Hotel, where some 40 Americans and many other foreigners were believed buried.

But he acknowledged, "There are many, many bodies."

- AP

US troops treat 35-year-old Haiti man pulled from rubble

(01/27/2010 | 06:47 PM - GMA News.TV)

Members of the US 82nd Airborne Division treated a 35-year-old man purportedly pulled from the rubble of a downtown Port-au-Prince building in earthquake-stricken Haiti, witnesses said on Tuesday.
According to Associated Press reporters on the scene, Rico Debrivell had a broken leg and other minor injuries. It was not immediately determined how long he had been under the rubble.
Debrivell is believed to have been pulled out of the debris by local residents and was later treated by the US medics who were working in the commercial center of downtown Port-au-Prince.
The area has been looted extensively since the January 12 magnitude-7 quake that devastated the Haitian capital.
– AP

BBC World: Man rescued in Haiti quake rubble - A man was pulled alive from the rubble 2 weeks after the earthquake. US troops rescued the man from the ruins of a building in centre of city and he was taken to hospital. He was trapped under the rubble for 12 days, the military said - and he was severely dehydrated.
The rescue came 14 days after the 7.0-magnitude quake which killed as many as 200,000 people on 12 January 2010.

German ZDFtext: 31-year-old man rescued alive from rubble after 12 days by US troops. He had a broken leg and minor face injuries. He was severely dehydrated. A total of 134 people have been rescued alive from the rubble - Saturday one man was rescued.

ARDtext: US troops have found and rescued a survivor from the rubble after 12 days in connection with clearing and cleaning up work.
The UN World Food Program makes an appeal for more aid. The people will need aid for a longer time than expected.
UNICEF together with the Haitian government plans a big vaccination campaign. 600,000 children are to be vaccinated against measles and tetanus.
In March there will be held a donors conference.

Danish TV2 TTV (Text TV):
Minister wants to move Port-au-Prince. The Canadian foreign minister Lawrence Cannon: A huge task of rebuilding and reconstructing Haiti is lying ahead. It is a question whether the rebuilding should take place where Port-au-Prince is situated
today. Because that area is threatened by new earth quakes.

nancyk58 · 28-01-2010, 05:14 PM

AVAAZ's APPEAL - CANCEL HAITI's DEBT! Received 28.1.10

It's shocking: even as aid flows in to Haiti's desperate communities, money is flowing out to pay off the country's crushing debt -- over $1 billion in unfair debt racked up years ago by unscrupulous lenders and governments.

The call for full cancelation of Haiti's debt is building steam across the world, and has won over some leaders -- but other rich lender countries are rumoured to be resisting. And time is short: G7 finance ministers could reach a final decision next week at their summit in Canada.

Let's raise a massive global call for justice, mercy and common sense for the people of Haiti in this hour of tragedy. Avaaz and partners will deliver the call for debt relief directly to the summit -- click below to sign the petition, and then pass this email to friends:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/haiti_cancel_the_debt_13/97.php

Even before the earthquake, Haiti was one of the world's poorest countries. After Haitian slaves rose up and won their independence in 1804, France demanded billions in reparations -- launching a spiral of poverty and unjust debt that has lasted two centuries.

In recent years, the tremendous worldwide campaign for debt relief has awoken the world's conscience. And in the last few days, under mounting public pressure, lenders have begun to say the right things about erasing Haiti's still-devastating debt burden.

But the devil is in the details. After the 2004 tsunami, the IMF announced relief from debt payments for stricken countries -- but the underlying debt went right on growing. Once public attention had faded, the debt payments were bigger than ever.

It's time to cancel Haiti's debt fully and without conditions, and ensure that earthquake aid is made with grants, not loans. A victory now will change lives in Haiti even after the world's attention has moved on. Join the call for debt relief, and pass this message to those who feel the same:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/haiti_cancel_the_debt_13/97.php

As we watch the images on our televisions and computers, it's hard not to be overwhelmed. And the history of rich countries' relations with Haiti is dark indeed.

But moments like this one can bring transformation. Across the world, people have donated to save lives in Haiti -- indeed, Avaaz members have given more than $1 million in the last ten days. But we also need to raise our voices as global citizens, to address the man-made tragedies that left our brothers and sisters in Haiti so vulnerable to natural crises.

There is not enough that we can do. But let's all do everything we can.

With hope,

Ben, Alice, Iain, Ricken, Sam, Milena, Paula, and the whole Avaaz team

ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Buenos Aires, and Geneva.

Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns.

Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace and Bebo pages! You can also follow Avaaz on Twitter!

link to Facebook: http://www.avaaz.org/en/haiti_cancel_the_debt_13/97.php

-- The Avaaz team

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AVAAZ APPEAL:

DROP HAITI'S DEBT

As Haitian families search for survivors and relief rolls in, Haiti is still staggering under $1 billion in old debts racked up by unscrupulous lenders and unelected governments of the past.

But in recent days, a worldwide outcry has grown to cancel Haiti's debt -- and while some key lenders are rumoured to be holding out, the IMF and some key governments have indicated that debt relief could be within reach.

More pressure is needed. The petition below will be delivered to the IMF and G7 finance ministers at their crucial meetings in coming days -- sign and spread the word:

Petition to Finance Ministers, IMF, World Bank, IADB, and bilateral creditors:

As Haiti rebuilds from this disaster, please work to secure the immediate cancellation of Haiti’s $1 billion debt and ensure that any emergency earthquake assistance is provided in the form of grants, not debt-incurring loans.

Sign the petition now!

274,673 have already signed the petition! Let's reach our new target of 300,000. This petition has been signed by citizens of more than 150 countries worldwide. The number of signatures includes 148,000 collected by Avaaz's partners at the ONE campaign.

SUPPORT AVAAZ ON HAITI AND BEYOND
The world has responded to the devastation of Haiti's earthquake with a huge outpouring of support. Avaaz is working with groups on the ground in Haiti to save lives, prepare for reconstruction -- and advocate for changes that will leave Haitians less vulnerable to future disasters.

But Avaaz's work on Haiti and other issues is only possible thanks to small contributions from citizens around the world. Avaaz accepts no money from governments or corporations. You can support Avaaz's work by making a donation with your credit card or making a donation from your paypal account & you can also donate by check, wire transfer, phone or mail.

nancyk58 · 28-01-2010, 09:14 PM

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 27 and 28 JANUARY 2010 and Haiti-related news on 27 and 28 January 2010, Part I of II

HAITI's CHILDREN ON THEIR OWN ON SHATTERED STREETS

(01/27/2010 | 10:56 AM - GMA News.TV)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI — The children with no names lay mute in a corner of the General Hospital grounds Tuesday, three among thousands of boys and girls set adrift in the wake of Haiti's earthquake.

"Hi Joe, how are you?" the American doctor tried, using a pet name the staff had given a boy of about 11. There was no response.

"Joe," ''Baby Sebastian" and the girl who didn't even have a nickname hadn't spoken or cried since they were brought in over the previous 48 hours — by neighbors, passers-by, no one knows who. "Sebastian," only a week old, was said to have been taken from the arms of his dead mother.

They're lucky: Haitian-born Dr. Winston Price and the staff were treating them for infections and other ailments. Hundreds of thousands of other hungry and thirsty children are scattered among Port-au-Prince's squatter camps of survivors, without protection against disease or child predators — often with nobody to care for them.

"There's an estimated 1 million unaccompanied or orphaned children or children who lost one parent," said Kate Conradt, a spokeswoman for the aid group Save the Children. "They are extremely vulnerable."

The UN children's agency, UNICEF, has established a special tent camp for girls and boys separated from their parents in the Jan. 12 quake, and who are in danger of falling prey to CHILD TRAFFICKERS and other abusers.

The Connecticut-based Save the Children has set up "Child Spaces" in 13 makeshift settlements. The Red Cross and other groups are working to reunite families and get children into orphanages.

The post-quake needs of Haiti's children have outrun available help. Some youngsters have been released from hospitals with no one to care for them — there just aren't enough beds.

"Health workers are being advised to monitor and send separated/unaccompanied children to child-friendly spaces," the UN humanitarian office said in its latest situation report.

The plight of the young is poignant even in a country where the UN estimates A THIRD of the 9 million population NEEDS INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE in the quake's aftermath. "We still have a huge distance to go," said John Holmes, the UN relief coordinator.

[B]That was evident in Port-au-Prince's streets, alleys and crumbled doorways, where handwritten messages begged for help. In the Juvenat neighborhood, a group of 50 families hung a white sheet from a doorway, with this plea scrawled in green: "We need food assistance, water and medicine."

It was evident, too, among the thousands pressing against Haitian police at a food-distribution site in the Cite Soleil slum. They swung sticks to beat back the crowd.

Brazilian troops in armored personnel carriers controlled a tightly packed line of earthquake survivors waiting for food in the broiling sun by firing pepper spray and training their guns on the jostling, rowdy crowd. The line stretched between the partially collapsed National Palace and entirely destroyed Supreme Court.

One soldier loaded a shotgun and returned their taunts by shouting back insults in Creole. Some were offended, others amused at hearing a Brazilian trooper insulting them in their own language.

"They treat us like animals, they beat us but we are hungry people," said Muller Bellegarde, 30.

Several left without getting food, fearful of the pepper spray, the soldiers, and thugs who were grabbing food from receivers.

Many said they appreciate the international response and under no circumstances want the Haitian government to handle aid deliveries, but suggested Haitian churches could provide more orderly and respectful venues for distributions, with Haitian communities organizing security.

"The help is good but the way they're doing it is bad. This is anarchy," Thomas Louis, 40, trying to get rice and oil for his two babies, aged 2 and six months. "This is not aid. This is a way to put people down."

Also on Tuesday, Haitians in a crowd of looters pulled a man from the rubble of a store that had been repeatedly scavenged, and called for help from U.S. soldiers, who treated him for a BROKEN LEG and SEVERE DEHYDRATION.

Rico Dibrivell, 35, claimed he had been trapped since the earthquake two weeks earlier, but the military provided no details about how he managed to survive.

More than 100 have been unearthed by rescue teams since the Jan. 12 quake, and many more by their neighbors, but most of those were in the immediate aftermath and authorities say it is unlikely for anyone to survive more than 72 hours without water.

On Saturday, an international team of rescuers unearthed a shop clerk who they believed had been buried since the earthquake.

The MONUMENTAL SCALE OF THE HAITI DISASTER — perhaps 200,000 DEAD, a CAPITAL CITY ON ITS KNEES — has severely strained the world's ability to get relief supplies through Port-au-Prince's OVERLOADED AIRPORT and CRIPPLED SEAPORT.

Some 800 TO 1,000 AID FLIGHTS WERE STILL AWAITING PERMISSION TO LAND, a SEVEN-DAY BACKLOG, UN and European officials reported Tuesday. On top of that, "TRUCKS are NEEDED," UN spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said in Geneva — especially small trucks because "the streets are extremely congested." The UN's Holmes estimated that 2 MILLION PEOPLE NEED FOOD, but only 500,000 have received some so far.

The medical picture has improved, but remains critical. World Health Organization spokesman Paul Garwood said more medical staff is needed, especially rehabilitation specialists, to help with postoperative recovery of 200,000 people who have had amputations or other surgery.

Haitians and volunteers from dozens of countries, working around the clock, were still performing up to 100 amputations a day in some hospitals.

At the General Hospital, Price strode from tent to tent checking on the 81 children under his care. Staff interrupted the tall, balding pediatrician with a string of questions: "Do you know about this baby?" ''Where's the medication?" ''Where will we sleep tonight?"

Of the nameless, speechless trio, he was treating young Joe for an infection oozing from both eyes. The 7-pound (3-kilogram) Baby Sebastian, in a white diaper decorated with sheep, had diarrhea. The unnamed girl, about 10, lay listlessly and stared upward. She had an eye infection, but would soon be picked up by an orphanage, Price said.

With no clues to their past, Price could only wonder.

"Maybe some of these parents are not even looking because their house was destroyed and they might think the kid was inside," he said. "But maybe the kid was pulled out, so they are missing each other." Children left alone are everywhere. At one of the 13 Save the Children sites, about 25 children have no adult relatives taking care of them, Conradt said. She said the group has helped some 6,000 children since the quake.

The aid group's "Child Spaces" are cordoned-off areas where children can play under supervision," run around being children, giving them a chance to return to normalcy as much as they can."

Such areas also protect children against the potential for abduction by child traffickers, a chronic problem in pre-quake Haiti, where thousands were handed over to other families into lives of domestic servitude, said Deb Barry, an emergency protection adviser with Save the Children.

She said her organization was working to track down every rumor it hears about threats to stranded children, "but we haven't been able to verify those thus far."

In Geneva, a UNICEF spokeswoman, Veronique Taveau, said the organization had been told of children disappearing from hospitals. "It's difficult to establish the reality," she said, but added that UNICEF has strengthened security at hospitals and orphanages.

Save the Children, the Red Cross and other organizations, meanwhile, are trying to establish a joint database of information to try to reunite separated families.

Government spokeswoman Marie Laurence Jocelyn-Lassegue, the communications minister, said Tuesday that Haitian officials have temporarily halted new adoptions because of concerns about corruption and carelessness in the system.

"Some children we don't know if the parents are alive or not," Jocelyn-Lassegue said. — AP

US TROOPS TREAT 35-YEAR-OLD HAITI MAN PULLED FROM RUBBLE

(01/27/2010 | 06:47 PM - GMA News.TV)

Members of the US 82nd Airborne Division treated [COLOR="Yellow"]a 35-year-old man purportedly pulled from the rubble of a downtown Port-au-Prince building in earthquake-stricken Haiti,/COLOR] witnesses said on Tuesday.
According to Associated Press reporters on the scene, Rico Debrivell had a broken leg and other minor injuries.
It was not immediately determined how long he had been under the rubble.
Debrivell is believed to have been pulled out of the debris by local residents and was later treated by the US medics who were working in the commercial center of downtown Port-au-Prince.
The area has been looted extensively since the January 12 magnitude-7 quake that devastated the Haitian capital. – AP

JESSICA SIMPSON WORKING TO SEND SHOES TO HAITI

(01/27/2010 | 08:07 PM - GMA News.TV)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jessica Simpson is raising money to send shoes to earthquake victims in Haiti.
Simpson has teamed up with the Nashville-based organization Soles4Souls. The charity has pledged to work with other aid agencies to give out one million pairs of shoes. Simpson is urging people to "do everything that we can for the victims in Haiti. Just five dollars will buy two people a pair of shoes." The charity says Haitian survivors need shoes to protect against broken glass, twisted metal and raw sewage. People can donate at http://www.50Kshoes.com. - AP

QUINCY JONES WANTS 'WE ARE THE WORLD' HAITI REDO

(01/28/2010 | 10:47 AM - GMA News.TV)

LOS ANGELES — Quincy Jones is re-recording the charity song "We Are the World" and sending the proceeds to Haiti. The 76-year-old music legend says musicians are gathering Monday at a Los Angeles recording studio to redo the 25-year-old hit song.

Jones would not say who will perform on the track "because we've got to make sure we've got who we got," but that the revamped song will feature a new roster of all-star musicians.

The original 1985 hit, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, featured Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel and Tina Turner, among others.
Jones discussed the track and his other charitable endeavors at a private party Wednesday celebrating watchmaker Audemars Piguet's donation of $1 million to the Quincy Jones Foundation. - AP

Danish TV3 Text-TV (seen 28 January 2010):

Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Sandra Bullock have each donated 1 mio $ to Haiti.

Lady Gaga has just held a "Gaga for Haiti" day where the proceeds from the sale of tickets for her last concert in New York's Radio City Music Hall PLUS the proceeds from the sale of Lady Gaga merchandise all over the world on this "Gaga for Haiti" day went to Haiti. This resulted in the equivalent of 2.5 million Danish kroner for Haiti - according to [COLOR="Cyan"]Celebrity-gossip.net./COLOR]

nancyk58 · 28-01-2010, 10:25 PM

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI AND HAITI-RELATED NEWS ON 28 JANUARY 2010, PART II OF II

2 WEEKS AFTER HAITI QUAKE, FOOD AID FALLS SHORT

(01/28/2010 | 09:58 AM - GMA News.TV)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Whether locked up in warehouses or stolen by thugs from people's hands, food from the world's aid agencies still isn't getting to enough hungry Haitians, leaving the strongest and fittest with the most.

The newly homeless of the rubble-strewn Bizoton slum say they haven't gotten food, water or help with shelter in the two weeks since the earthquake.

"If it rains now, that's it," Wilson St. Ellis, 50, a father of eight, said Wednesday amid plastic sheets stretched here and there as flimsy shields against the elements.

Where donated RICE, BEANS or READY-TO-EAT MEALS are being distributed, crowds quickly become unruly, with young men pushing ahead and grabbing food bags from women and the weak. UN peacekeepers fire pepper spray and Haitian police swing sticks to restore control.

"These people are just hungry," UN spokesman Vincenzo Pugliese said of the thousands thronging food distribution points, where he said UN peacekeepers were reinforcing security.

Food remains scarce for many of the neediest survivors despite the efforts of the United Nations, the US military and dozens of international aid groups. Relief experts say the scale of this disaster and Haiti's poor infrastructure are presenting unprecedented challenges, but Haitian leaders complain coordination has been poor.

"Many mistakes have to be rectified in order to bring help to the people who need it," President Rene Preval complained to reporters.

In a bid to improve food distribution, representatives of the UN, the US, the Haitian government and private aid groups met Wednesday, and afterward Donald Reilly of Catholic Relief Services said they decided to divide Port-au-Prince into zones, designating a major aid agency to be responsible for delivering UN food to each sector.

Meanwhile, in a stunning development so long after the 7.0-magnitude tremor collapsed thousands of buildings in Port-au-Prince and beyond, French rescuers pulled a 17-year-old girl Wednesday from the rubble of a home near the destroyed St. Gerard University.

The last confirmed such rescue occurred Saturday, 11 days after the quake, when a man was extricated from the ruins of a hotel grocery store. A man pulled from rubble Tuesday said he had been trapped not on Jan. 12, the day of the quake, but during an aftershock. At least 135 people have been unearthed by rescue teams since the quake, which killed an estimated 200,000 people.

On food aid, the UN World Food Program (WFP), which says it has reached 450,000 people, urgently appealed to governments for more cash for Haiti supplies — $800 million to feed 2 million people through December, more than quadruple the $196 million already pledged.

The food agency says rising tensions and security incidents — "including people rushing distribution points for food" — have hampered deliveries. But since the massive relief effort's first days, other problems have also delayed aid — blocked and congested roads, shortages of trucks, a crippled seaport and an overloaded Port-au-Prince airport.

"The unblocking of the logistical bottlenecks is an absolute priority," the European Commission said Wednesday, describing a seven-day backlog of 1,000 relief flights seeking permission to land at the single-runway airport.

The senior US officer in Haiti said Haitian families simply cannot rely on any particular location for rations.

Food is "flooding" into the city, Lt. Gen. Ken Keen told reporters, "but it's being delivered pretty much in terms of where we can get to and where we can distribute it," not always in locations that are "sustained every day."

At some regular distribution points, such as near the Champs de Mars, the central plaza where thousands of homeless are living, daily food handouts have drawn crowds of frantic people. Desperation boiled over earlier this week and Uruguayan peacekeepers retreated as young men rushed forward to grab US-donated bags of beans and rice. A pregnant woman collapsed and was trampled.

Elsewhere as well, the strong have preyed on the weak, prying donated food from their arms.
"These things should be done is a systematic way, not a random way," said Dr. Eddy Delalue, who runs a Haitian relief group, Operation Hope. "It's survival of the fittest: The strongest guy gets it."

At one squatter settlement Julia Jean-Francois, 25, clutching a grocery bag filled with small packets of donated water, told of her encounter with food robbers.

"I lost all the rice, beans and oil that were distributed last week. A group of young men shoved me and grabbed the bags and ran away," said Jean-Francois, whose mother was killed in the quake.

An hour later, she said, one of the men returned and offered to sell her the same food for the equivalent of $18. She refused, relying instead on a communal kitchen she formed with homeless neighbors.

She said Haitian police patrolling nearby did nothing while people were robbed. "We complained, and they got into their truck and left," she said.

As she spoke Wednesday, a gang of youths pushed into a line of people waiting for water, shoving an elderly woman, who screamed and swung her bucket at their heads.

Port-au-Prince street vendors can be seen openly selling US-donated rice by the cupful from bags marked "not for resale." Fears of OFFICIAL CORRUPTION surrounding the food aid also are surfacing.

Paul Coroleuski of the US-based Convoy of Hope, which has distributed aid in Haiti for three years, said he has more than 100 tons of food in a Port-au-Prince warehouse ready to hand out, but it has been delayed for days by Haitian officials who say they will take over distribution.

Private agencies like his worry that Haitian officials "will do what they always have done, which is the government takes care of the government and the people are secondary," he said.

Haitian officials denied the government plans to take over food distribution from private agencies.
Coroleuski's frustration and distrust of the government is echoed in Port-au-Prince's streets.

"If they turn it over to the Haitian government, they would take it all for themselves," said Muller Bellegarde, 30, as he waited for food in the unrelenting tropical sun.

Haitians remember that when the government took charge of delivering international aid to the city of Gonaives after deadly hurricane floods in 2008, much of it ended up sold on the black market.

- AP

FRENCH TEAM MAKES NEW 'MIRACLE' RESCUE IN HAITI

(01/28/2010 | 04:55 PM - GMA News.TV)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A French search team that wouldn't go home pulled off another "miracle" rescue in Port-au-Prince, lifting a 17-year-old girl alive from beneath this cityscape of rubble. Above ground, hundreds of thousands of other survivors hoped for a breakthrough of another kind — in delivering badly needed food aid.

Key players in the Haiti earthquake relief effort, in what may have been a pivotal meeting, decided to better coordinate by dividing up the city among themselves for handing out food.

Food distribution thus far has often been marked by poor coordination, vast gaps in coverage, and desperate, unruly lines of needy people in which young men at times shoved aside the women and weak and took their food.

"These things should be done is a systematic way, not a random way," Dr. Eddy Delalue, who runs a Haitian relief group, Operation Hope, said Wednesday of the emergency food program. "It's survival of the fittest: The strongest guy gets it."

Wednesday's rescue of teenager Darlene Etienne from a collapsed home near St. Gerard University, 15 days after Haiti's great quake killed an estimated 200,000 people, was the first such recovery since Saturday, when French rescuers extricated a man from the ruins of a hotel grocery store. A man pulled Tuesday from the rubble of a downtown store said he had been trapped during an aftershock, not in the original Jan. 12 quake.

Authorities say it is rare for anyone to survive more than 72 hours without water, let alone more than two weeks. But young Etienne may have had some access to water from a bathroom of the wrecked house, and rescuers said she mumbled something about having a little Coca-Cola with her in the rubble.

Her family said Etienne had just begun studies at St. Gerard when the disaster struck, trapping dozens of students and staff in the rubble of school buildings, hostels and nearby homes. "We thought she was dead," said cousin Jocelyn A. St. Jules.

Then — a half-month after the earthquake — neighbors heard a voice weakly calling from the rubble of a private home down the road from the destroyed university. They called authorities, who brought in the French civil response team.

Rescuer Claude Fuilla walked along the dangerously crumbled roof, heard her voice and saw a little bit of dust-covered black hair in the rubble. Clearing away some debris, he reached the young woman and saw she was alive — barely. "I don't think she could have survived even a few more hours," Fuilla said.
Digging out a hole big enough to give her oxygen and water, they found she had a very weak pulse. Within 45 minutes they managed to remove her, covered in dust. A neighbor said he believed she was rescued from the house's shower room, where she might have had access to water.
She was extremely dehydrated and weak, with very low blood pressure. She was rushed to a French military field hospital and then the French military hospital ship Sirroco.
France's ambassador to Haiti, Didier le Bret, praised the "stubbornness" of the French rescue squad.
"They should not have been working anymore because, officially, the rescue phase is over," he said. "But they felt that some lives still are to be saved, so we did not say they should leave the country."
At least 135 people buried in rubble have been rescued by search teams since the quake, most in the immediate aftermath.
On food aid, the U.N. World Food Program, which says it has reached 450,000 people, urgently appealed to governments for more cash for Haiti supplies — $800 million to feed 2 million people through December, more than quadruple the $196 million already pledged.

Food remains scarce for many of the neediest survivors despite the efforts of the United Nations, the U.S. military and dozens of international aid groups. Relief experts said the scale of this disaster and Haiti's poor infrastructure are presenting unprecedented challenges, but Haitian leaders complain coordination has been poor.

The food agency said rising tensions and security incidents — "including people rushing distribution points for food" — have hampered deliveries.

At some regular distribution points, such as near the Champs de Mars, the central plaza where thousands of homeless are living, daily food handouts have drawn crowds of frantic people. Desperation boiled over earlier this week and Uruguayan peacekeepers retreated as young men rushed forward to grab US-donated bags of beans and rice. A pregnant woman collapsed and was trampled.

Since the relief effort's first days, however, other problems have also delayed aid — blocked and congested roads, shortages of trucks, a crippled seaport and an overloaded Port-au-Prince airport.

In a bid to improve food distribution, representatives of the UN, the US, the Haitian government and private aid groups met Wednesday to discuss coordination. Afterward, Donal Reilly of Catholic Relief Services said they decided to divide Port-au-Prince into zones, designating a major aid agency to be responsible for delivering food to each sector.

That may bring some hope to the newly homeless of the rubble-strewn Bizoton slum, who say they haven't gotten food, water or help with shelter in the two weeks since the earthquake.

"If it rains now, that's it," Wilson St. Ellis, 50, a father of eight, said Wednesday amid plastic sheets stretched here and there as flimsy shields against the elements. - AP

Danish Text-TV (for DR1 and DR2):
17-year-old girl rescued by French and Haitian rescuers after 15 days in the rubble. She was happy, shocked and about to cry when she was found and pulled out. She was severely dehydrated and had leg injuries. Tuesday a 31-year-old man was rescued after 12 days in the rubble - his house collapsed by one of the aftershocks.

BBC World / News:
Teenage girl pulled out of the rubble of her house 15 days after the disaster. She was happy and shocked despite being severely dehydrated and having a leg injury. One of her rescuers called it "A miracle that she was alive after such a long time".

German ZDF Text TV:
17-year-old girl rescued from the rubble of her house by French team late Wednesday evening. She was severely dehydrated and had a leg injury. Her house collapsed on the 12 January 2010 in connection with the devastating earthquake.

At least 170,000 dead after the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010 (new official figure).

1 million people estimated homeless.

Lack of tents and the food situation is at a critical level with insufficient food supplies.

Danish Text-TV (for DR1 and DR2):
ALSO HAITIAN ANIMALS NEED HELP.
Appeal from the Humane Society International not to forget that the Haitian animals are also quake victims, and long-term aid is needed for the animals as well - in particular vaccinations against contagious diseases among the animals. The animals are coping better with the situation than expected.

nancyk58 · 29-01-2010, 09:32 PM

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 29 JANUARY 2010

URBAN (Danish free paper) on 29 January 2010:
THE MIRACLE IN THE RUINS.
'Thanks', was all that the girl said as she was dug out of the rubble after 15 days.
There is still hope of finding survivors in the earthquake-ravaged island of Haiti. It is clear following the rescue of a 16-year-old girl from the rubble of a house in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
"I don't know how she has been able to fight for so long. It is a miracle", says the rescuer J.P. Malaganne to the news agency Reuters.
The girl was severely dehydrated when she was found and had apparently a leg injury according to French and Haitian rescuers. "She only said: "Thanks". She is very weak which indicates that she has been there for 15 days", says Samuel Bernes, spokesman of a French rescue team.
The severely dehydrated 16-year-old girl is now under treatment in a French hospital. "For the time being we have to calm her, anaesthetize her and stabilize her", says Michel Orcel who is the doctor treating her.

MetroXpress, Denmark on 29 January 2010:
75% OF PORT-au-PRINCE IS DESTROYED. HAITI. 75% of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, is in ruins after the earthquake on 12 January. This is estimated by UN's special envoy, Paul Farmer to the news agency AFP. At the same time President René Preval estimates that more than 170,000 people have died and a million people have been made homeless. On the other hand, sources tell Ritzau that the security in Haiti has increased considerably.

Danish DR1 TTV (Text TV):
HAITI IS RUNNING OUT OF MEDICINE. The hospitals in the earthquake-stricken country are full of thousands of wounded who have exhausted the doctors that are treating the needy. Several hospitals are running out of basic medicaments such as antibiotics and painkillers. The need for medicine is much bigger than the amount of medicine it is possible to get into the country so that it can be distributed. The United Nations also points out that Haitians hospitals are in need of medicine.

Danish TV2 TTV:
SEVERAL SCHOOLS TO REOPEN IN HAITI ON MONDAY in the areas of Haiti that are not ravaged by the devastating earthquake in Haiti 16 days ago. The Haitian Ministry of Education is to examine to what extent the earthquake ravaged public and private schools in Port-au-Prince and in other parts of the country.
200,000 people are estimated killed on 12 January 2010.

Swedish Television, Text-TV:
HAITI SCHOOLS TO OPEN AGAIN ON MONDAY in the areas that have not been affected by the the devastating earthquake - according to the Haitian Ministry of Education. The authorities and relief organizations are to make a quick assessment of the schools in Port-au-Prince and in other places in the hardest hit areas and in areas having received many internal refugees.
It is estimated that up to 200,000 people were killed by the earthquake on 12 January 2010. It is estimated that between 5,000 and 8,000 schools and 1.8 million children have been affected.

German ZDFtext:
INCREASING NUMBER OF RAPES IN HAITI. Several homeless women and girls who had taken refuge in tents have been raped. Haiti's Chief of Police accuses criminals having escaped from the prisons during the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010 of having committed these crimes.
The Dominican Republic will organize a new conference for reconstruction of Haiti.
At least 170,000 people were killed by the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010.

UNICEF COUNTS THE ORPHANS. Unicef has started its registration of orphans among minors wandering/roaming about the streets of Port-au-Prince. The minors are then placed in extra established emergency camps. The teams on site are confronted with difficult situations: Many childrens are victims of abuse, others are wounded, but have received no medical treatment. 60 adoptive children from Haiti have arrived at Frankfurt Airport.

HAITI: EVERYWHERE IN HAITI THERE IS A SHORTAGE OF MEDICAMENTS.
According to info given by aid workers, supplies of medicaments are only in third place after food and tents.
According to Haiti's Chief of Police, several homeless girls and women who had taken refuge in emergency camps / tents have been raped, and he accuses criminals who managed to escape from the prisons during the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010 of having committed these crimes.

BBC World, TTV:
RECONSTRUCTION WILL TAKE SEVERAL DECADES following the devastating earthquake 2 weeks ago. The acting head of the UN Mission in Haiti, Edmond Mulet told BBC that the logistics of the relief effort were a nightmare with Haiti's inadequate infrastructure destroyed and a shortage of vehicles. Mr Mulet said reconstruction was not starting at zero, but "below zero".
As many as 200,000 people died in the earth quake on 12 January 2010, while an estimated 1.5 million are now homeless.

23-01-2010, 10:47 PM	#91
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	Quote: Originally Posted by AnnaElisabeth;3918793 Wow, so many dead... It's horrible. It's like my whole town would be wiped out... Yes, it is really terrible. I am sure that the telethon "Hope for Haiti Now" has led to many more donations to HAITI. I read and posted the news item that UNICEF warned against foreign adoptions. But then in Telethon there was a mini-interview with a leader of an orphanage in Haiti. He said that there were so many new orphans that it would be nice if many of the surviving orphans went to foreign countries via adoptions so that there would be room for more children in the orphanages, because he had had to say no to 80 orphans - and that was BEFORE THE DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE ON 12 JANUARY 2010 THAT KILLED MAYBE 200,000 PEOPLE SO THAT EVEN MORE CHILDREN BECAME ORPHANS! __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

24-01-2010, 11:04 PM	#92
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	OXFAM APPEAL - CANCEL HAITI's DEBTS APPEAL FROM OXFAM: HELP HAITI TODAY AND TOMORROW CANCEL THE DEBT Our biggest concern right now is dealing with the immediate aftermath of the humanitarian disaster caused by the devastating earthquake. But in our concern to help those suffering, let’s not forget the long term. The world’s attention is focused on Haiti. Leaders are pledging to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people and help them to build a brighter future out of the rubble. The debts that Haiti owes will hamper efforts to rebuild the country and lock them in poverty for years to come. Leaders are meeting in Montreal on Monday to decide on the amount of aid that they will give. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that it will work to cancel the debt, and this now needs to happen. Email the head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn to demand that when leaders meet on Monday, they cancel Haiti’s debts immediately. WHY IS DEBT CANCELLATION SO IMPORTANT? Haiti still owes hundreds of millions of dollars in debt - a legacy of loans from global financial institutions and donor nations to unelected governments of years past. It is one of the poorest countries in the world and yet the IMF response to the earthquake was to offer a $100 million loan. This loan would increase Haiti’s debt burden at this time of crisis. EMAIL THE HEAD OF THE IMF Haiti currently owes over $891 million in debt. If these debts aren't cancelled, Haiti will be sending tens of millions to the IMF and other international bodies even as it struggles to rescue and rebuild. Email the head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn to demand that the IMF cancels Haiti’s debt immediately to make sure that earthquake relief doesn't create a new debt burden. Our biggest concern right now is dealing with the immediate aftermath of the humanitarian disaster caused by the devastating earthquake. But in our concern to help those suffering, let’s not forget the long term. The world’s attention is focused on Haiti. Leaders are pledging to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people and help them to build a brighter future out of the rubble. The debts that Haiti owes will hamper efforts to rebuild the country and lock them in poverty for years to come. Leaders are meeting in Montreal on Monday to decide on the amount of aid that they will give. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that it will work to cancel the debt, and this now needs to happen. EMAIL the head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn to demand that when leaders meet on Monday, they cancel Haiti’s debts immediately. After having sent this email: "To: publicaffairs@imf.org Subject: Cancel Haiti’s debt Dear Dominique Strauss-Kahn In the wake of the earthquake, we call on you to work to cancel Haiti's $890 million debt and ensure that earthquake aid comes as grants, not loans. Haiti's scarce funds must be used to help its people rebuild their lives. The international community and the IMF must take action to cancel Haiti’s debt immediately, as you have indicated. You have said that you are working on a way to turn the $100 million loan already announced into a grant and I very strongly urge you to do everything you can to make sure that this happens. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely Nancy Boysen " I received this from OXFAM: Thank you, Thanks for taking action. Although our biggest concern right now is dealing with the immediate aftermath of the terrible humanitarian disaster caused by the devastating earthquake, we need to still think about the future of Haiti. It’s vital that while the world’s attention is focused on Haiti we show our support to help the people of Haiti build a brighter future. http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved..._the_debt.html EMAIL the head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn to demand that when leaders meet on Monday, they cancel Haiti’s debts immediately. __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

25-01-2010, 12:17 AM	#93
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	Updates of the situation in Haiti on 24 January 2010 UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 24 JANUARY 2010 BBC World / News: Haiti capital toll "tops 150,000". The confirmed death toll from Haiti's devastating earthquake has risen above 150,000 in the Port-au-Prince area according to Haiti's Communications Minister who also told the news agency AP (Associated Press) that the death toll is based on bodies collected in and around Port-au-Prince by state firm CNE. Many more remain uncounted under the rubble in the capital and elsewhere including the towns of Jacmel and Leogane. The focus has shifted to aid. 1 million Haitians have now left Port-au-Prince, and 600,000 have been made homeless by the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010. Danish DR1 (Text-TV / Teletext): Norway doubles its aid to Haiti and transmits 200 million Norwegian Kroner to the relief work for the victims. The money is to be distributed between UN organizations and voluntary relief organizations. In particular relief / aid to women and children shall be given priority. The UN to employ local 220,000 Haitians. The UN is identifying 500 sites outside Port-au-Prince where camps are to be built for the homeless, people without shelter. 220,000 local Haitians are employed to help build emergency / makeshift houses. Mr Henrik Kastoft from the UN's Development Programme UNDP says: "It has turned out to be an efficient model employing local people. By employing one Haitian, we help 5". 130,000 Haitians have accepted the government's offer to be sent to the countryside. According to the United Nations 132 Haitians have been rescued from the rubble - this number of rescued after such a devastating earthquake is record high. TV2 Text-TV (TV2 gossip) on Text-TV: On Saturday evening the "Canada for Haiti" show starring among others Celine Dion, Nelly Furtado and James Cameron was broadcast live from Toronto. Thursday Leo DiCapricio donated 1 million $ to emergency relief work in Haiti. Saturday George Clooney donated 1 million $ to Haiti. At the beginning of the week the fund "Not on our watch" initiated by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle sent 1 million £ to Haiti. Port in Haiti is expected to open on Monday, 25 February 2010. The emergency relief goods can reach their destination quicklier when the port can take delivery of ship containers, as this will speed up the distribution of food, medicine and other supplies. Ulrik Jørgensen, press agent in Danish Red Cross, just returned from Haiti. He says that it will really make a big difference when the port opens. Currently only one landing slot can be used in the airport meaning that many aircrafts/planes have to wait or land in the Dominican Republic. ZDF text: Haiti stops adoptions of Haitian children to prevent child trafficking. New adoptions are forbidden or at least stopped after reports of increase in child traficking. Only adoptions already approved before the earthquake struck on 12 January 2010 are allowed. Due to child traficking the Haitian government intensified the border control. Record-high amount collected after the US Gala for Haiti: 58 million $ or 41 million Euro. This is a new record of donations in connection with a show like this. 130 Hollywood actors and musicians performed including Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and COLDPLAY. A young man (23 or 25 years old) saved after 11 days. A French team of firemen rescued the young man from the rubble of a collapsed shop at a hotel in Port-au-Prince. Wismond Exantus told the French news agency AFP that he took refuge under a table and was lucky enough to have coca cola and biscuits within reach - that saved his life. He was able to move a little, but not to free himself by digging. He had told the rescuers that there were 4-5 other people in there - alive. DR1 TTV (latest news): Italian criticism of Haiti relief efforts. Guido Bertolaso, the Italian Minister for Civil Security criticizes the international relief work and efforts for lacking leadership. "The USA should have been in charge of relief efforts in Haiti". He is in Haiti to coordinate relief efforts and describes "the terrible situation that could have been handled much better". He warns against the risk of unrest among the Haitian population. The worst hit towns have no food. For 12 days the inhabitants of Leogane 30 km away from Port-au-Prince have not received any emergency relief. On Sunday the first amphibious ships arrived with food for the town - the worst hit town being completely destroyed by the earthquake. Thomas Ubbesen, a reporter from Danish TV channel DR, was shocked when visiting Leogane. He thought that nothing could be worse than what he had seen in Port-au-Prince, but this was even worse. Not one single house was standing. The inhabitants were starving - many of them had nothing to eat and had not eaten anything since the earthquake struck on 12 January 2010. __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

25-01-2010, 06:15 PM	#94
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	All-star Haiti telethon raises $57 million, so far UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 25 JANUARY 2010 ALL-STAR HAITI TELETHON RAISES $57 MILLION, SO FAR (01/24/2010 \| 08:50 AM - GMA News.TV) NEW YORK – Organizers for the all-star "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon say the event raised $57 million — and counting. "The public has set a new standard of giving for a relief telethon with 'Hope for Haiti Now,' and the donations continue to come in," Lisa Paulsen, president and CEO of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, said in a statement released Saturday. The group is helping to oversee the funds gathered from the event. The two-hour telethon aired Friday night on the major networks and dozens of other channels, including MTV, Bravo, and PBS, and was also streamed live online. Stars like Brad Pitt, Beyonce, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and more used their presence to encourage donations for Haiti, following a Jan. 12 earthquake that killed an estimated 200,000 people. The total released Saturday includes money raised by phone, text and the Web. It does not include donations by corporations or via iTunes, where people are able to buy performances of the event for 99 cents each, or the entire album for $7.99. Those funds also go to Haiti relief. The "Hope for Haiti Now" CD is the biggest one-day pre-order in the site's history and the new song "Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)" by Jay-Z, Rihanna, Bono and the Edge, debuted during the telethon, is the No. 1 single on iTunes. People can donate via text, phone or through the "Hope for Haiti" Web site for the next six months. Among the organizations who will receive funds from the telethon include OXFAM America, UNICEF, and the Clinton-Bush Haiti Foundation. - AP __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

25-01-2010, 08:25 PM	#95
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 25 JANUARY 2010 DR1 (text-TV/teletext): UN: "It may take weeks before everyone has received aid!" This statement was made by Henrik Kastoft who is head of communications in the organization UNDP (UN's Development Programme). He realizes that some areas in Haiti have not yet received any emergency relief and aid, and it may take some time before everyone has received aid, because the Haiti relief efforts are UN's largest task and biggest challenge ever. "Don't forget that we had to start from scratch here." The Haiti earth quake was registered on the Danish island of Bornholm according to the website videnskab.dk (videnskab = science). The sound was registered by one of the sensitive seismometers (seismographs) run by Danish researchers at GEUS, the National Geological Surveys for Denmark and Greenland. 50 aftershocks after the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010. TV2 TTV (Text-TV): Registration of life under Haiti's rubble. French rescuers have registered movements under a collapsed building by radar 12 days after the devastating earthquake in Haiti on 12 January 2010. They started digging in the hope of finding a survivor. More than 20 rescuers are participating in this mission. The movements might also have been caused by an animal. ZDF text: The EU has agreed upon sending 350 paramilitary police officers to Haiti. The European Union Police Mission is to ensure the distribution of relief goods. Today the foreign ministers within the EU agreed on this in Brussels. Currently up to six European states participate in the Police Mission. France and Italy will send 100 policemen, the Netherlands 50, whereas Spain, Portugal and Roumania are planning to participate in / contribute to the Police Mission. 1 million homeless. According to the United Nations' Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs / OCHA, the number of homeless could be as many as 1 million (between 800,000 and 1 million) who urgently need shelter, tents and building materials. Makeshift camps for the survivors must be established and maintained. Still more people are leaving the capital Port-au-Prince. According to the Haitian government more than 150,000 people were killed by the earthquake on 12 January 2010. ARD text: Planning of rebuilding / reconstruction. The EU foreign ministers decided to send about 300 police officers with a paramilitary training to Haiti to ensure more security. In Montreal in Canada representatives from 20 countries prepare a donors conference. At the beginning of the meeting Canada talked in favour of a substantial debt relief. Few pledges were made in this meeting. A sort of Marshall Plan is needed. One of the globally largest group of exiled Haitians live in Montreal. BBC WORLD: Haiti quake operation "lacks leadership". Guido Bertolaso, head of Italy's civil protection service talked about "lack of leadership in international aid operations" and criticised the US forces in Haiti saying that the troops had no training in running a civilian relief operation. It is believed that the quake on 12 January 2010 killed 200,000 people. Britons donated £46 million to Haiti fund. Britons donated that amount to the Haiti earthquake appeal fund after another £4 million was added over the week-end. 200,000 people were killed and 2 million made homeless by the quake on 12 January 2010. The UK's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) said relief agencies were working "round the clock" in Haiti. Meanwhile Development Secretary Douglas Alexander will meet religious groups to discuss how to provide long-term help for victims of the disaster. __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

26-01-2010, 12:47 AM	#96
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	HOPE for HAITI - albums and songs on iTunes From MTV.com: The "Hope for Haiti Now" album is the biggest one-day album pre-order in iTunes history and is currently the #1 iTunes album in 18 countries. The studio version of "Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)," the original track performed by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z and Rihanna during "Hope for Haiti Now," is currently the #1 song on iTunes in 12 countries. "Hope for Haiti Now" will continue accepting donations for six months via the following methods: » Online: www.hopeforhaitinow.org » Phone: 877-99-HAITI » Text: Text "GIVE" to 50555 »Mail: Hope For Haiti Now Fund, Entertainment Industry Foundation, 1201 West 5th Street, Suite T-700, Los Angeles, CA 90017 "Hope for Haiti Now" benefits Oxfam America, Partners in Health, the Red Cross, UNICEF, United Nations World Food Programme, Yele Haiti Foundation, and the newly formed Clinton Bush Haiti Foundation. Proceeds from "Hope for Haiti Now" will be split among each organization's individual funds for Haiti earthquake relief. With the exception of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, each partner organization was selected for its history of operation and collaboration within the nongovernmental organization (NGO) community in Haiti. __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

26-01-2010, 09:38 PM	#97
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	Haiti earthquake - UNICEF SITUATION REPORT 7 HAITI EARTHQUAKE UNICEF SITUATION REPORT No.7 , JANUARY 22 Situation overview The Interial Minister has presented the numbers of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the six regions that have been evaluated. In Nord: 2,500, Northwest: 29,500, Centre: 20,530, Antibonite: around 50,000, Grand Goave: more than 10,000 and Sud: more than 10,000 persons. Totally more than 120,000 IDPs. The problem of IDPs is very big and the influx continues. The result of the rapid needs assessments at Petit Goave confirms that there were no significant injuries or damages as a result of the aftershock on 20 January. Aid is getting through to more and more locations. WFP and partners have the target of distributing food to 120,000 persons today, where each individual gets a 5-day ratio. The US Army also started airdropping yesterday. Since the start of the response, WFP has provided around 3 million meals to more than 200,000 people. The Prime Minister has been expressing concern over the insufficiency of food and food items being distributed. It has also occurred that the same site received delivery twice. The Prime Minister urges the humanitarian agencies working in Haiti to further increase communication amongst them. He also pleaded that the humanitarian organizations should be working through the offices of the mayors in the region, in order to improve the cooperation. While making rapid assessments on orphanages etc, UNICEF Child Protection teams have localized more than 70 children, some of them babies that urgently need to go to the hospital because they are injured or ill in some other way. UNICEF is trying to find some partner that could take care of the transportation. Guido Bertolaso, the chief of the Italian Civil Protection, has arrived to Haiti together with a group of experts in emergency relief. Humanitarian needs There have been demonstrations in the streets because of the lack of food. From Jacmel it is reported that the coordination is very slow. For instance, there are too many doctors, due to the lack of coordination. There has been no protection meeting. The first meeting between MINUSTAH, UN and the Canadian Forces is being planned for tomorrow. There is a need for recreation kits for children in the sites. Progress in hygiene is slow in Jacmel. Only three latrine blocks have been built. UNICEF Response Since yesterday, WFP with the support from UNICEF has been distributing 1,076 rations for children under the age of five at eleven small sites in Jacmel. WFP has also distributed 18 000 rations to grownups today. The rations consist of rice, tea, oil and salt which makes it possible for people to cook themselves. The sites are organized by the Committee de Quartier and most of them are small ones. The Committee de Quartier also helps with cooking when necessary. The organization ACDI, VOCA and Save the Children want to start collaborating with UNICEF in the field of health, nutrition and protection. The collaboration is yet to be defined. Programme Commitments: Nutrition: A car with supplies (vitamine A, zink, ORS, plumpynut) left Port au Prince today for Jacmel. The distribution of the supplies to severely malnourished children between six months and five years started this afternoon. Representatives of the committee for nutrition yesterday visited orphanages to make an assessment of their needs of supplies. The distribution will be coordinated with the committee for Child Protection. Terre des Hommes have reported on IDPs. UNICEF has been in touch with Terres des Hommes to see how UNICEF can help with food distribution. UNICEF is working on contracts with ACF to operate in nutrition programs and concerns. Health: Today, UNICEF met with the director of immunization programme at the Ministry HAITI of Health in order to discuss vaccinations. Early next week there starts a new initiative for DTP and DT. Within three weeks, the Measle and Rubella Campaign will start. Port au Prince has the highest priority, thereafter other areas affected by the earthquake. The cold chain is a problem since the refrigerators are run on propane gas, which there is a lack of, but UNICEF will be able to provide propane gas in time for the vaccination campaign to start. PROGRAMME Child Protection Response UNICEF has supported the mobilization of cadres of IBERS mobile teams to undertake rapid child protection assessments on sites, as well as at orphanages/institutions in Port Au Prince affected by the earthquake. These assessments include identifying key needs and providing NFI the following day. Currently, these teams are reaching some 10 sites per day, and the activity is being scaled up to reach 20 per day by next week. This is by no means sufficient to meet the magnitude of need, when considering the number of institutions/orphanages that were in Port au Prince before the earthquake and which have been affected. Due to challenges with Information Management, it has also not yet been possible to process the data that has come in – a preliminary analysis of assessment findings thus far will be available on Monday. Through partners UNICEF Child Protection is reaching some 37,000 children through Child Protection Programming. These include a variety of programmatic themes, including psychosocial support, NFI support and referral for especially vulnerable children, non-formal education, adolescent programmes, services for child Gender Based Violence survivors and interim care arrangements for unaccompanied children, including family based care. Child Protection programmes are being implemented both in areas directly affected by the earthquake and in those areas to which affected populations are moving. Partners in these projects include Save the Children, Solidarite pour les femmes; Aide Medicale International, Viva Rio, and IBERS, the child protection arm of the Ministry of Social Welfare. In response to reports and risks of trafficking and illegal adoption of children from Haiti, UNICEF is supporting the Special Police Brigades for Child Protection to undertake monitoring of movement of children at the Port au Prince airport as well as along Border Areas. Priorities The immediate priority, both for the Child Protection Sub-Cluster and UNICEF response programme at the moment is ensuring the survival and protection of the most vulnerable unaccompanied children, including those in orphanages and institutions affected by the earthquake. The situation and needs of unaccompanied children is urgent and overwhelming at this stage. Through the urgent reporting form that has been developed by the child protection sub-cluster, there are more than 20 such reports coming in per day. Children are also being dispatched from hospitals either without being accompanied by adults or being in the company of adults that are not their relatives and there continues to be reports of organizations and groups attempting to fly children out of Haiti.Prevention of trafficking/illegal adoption as well as the registration of especially vulnerable unaccompanied children are key issues. Gaps and Challenges The lack of cars as well as human resources has impeded UNICEF’s ability to reach more sites per day. This is a key challenge to child protection activities, which require larger human and transportation resources. Education: Still, UNICEF is facing difficulties in filling the cluster of education because of lack of human resources. HIV/AIDS: Today there was an announcement through the radio that the organization AASON started a patient clinic for providing care for HIV-infected. People are being encouraged to go back to the clinic where they used to get treatment before the quake, but in case the clinics have been destroyed, the patients could get care in the AASON clinic. Clusters: Nutrition: The cluster coordinator Mija Ververes together with Hedwig Deconinck (USAID) will arrive to Haiti tomorrow. The strategy and the standards are being finalised engaging the government in a leading role. The key constraints are communication and coordination and the capacity for storage. The plan for general food distribution is not fully implemented yet. WASH: Maximal production of main two companies can not serve all the needs that are increasing every day, so solutions have been analyzed and found. DINEPA is negotiating with private water distributor about water trucking and treatment and the cluster will support in wells and boreholes assessments. The cluster needs to identify new sources to meet the demand, and also to define a strategy for hygiene kit distribution. Latrine constructions have started in three sites in Port-au-Prince and Petion-Ville. Child Protection: Currently there are 30 organizations participating in the sub-cluster. They have formed three working groups under the sub-cluster to look at specific issue. The three groups are: 1. Identification and registration of unaccompanied children. In the first phase those most vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and violence, including all those under 5 years of age, will be registered. 2. Interim care arrangements for unaccompanied children and 3. Development and integration of child protection strategy within the Shelter Cluster Strategy scenarios. The Shelter Cluster has developed a draft strategy presenting three shelter scenarios that will be applied in response to this disaster (support to spontaneous settlements; planned transitional sites for larger populations; host family arrangements). Based on these shelter scenarios, the CW Sub-Cluster will develop strategies to ensure mechanisms for child protection in all contexts. The sub-cluster has now agreed upon and finalized a number of key tools, including Inter-agency agreed upon common Child Protection Rapid Assessment and urgent action reporting form on urgent child protection risks in particular areas. A who, what, where mapping tool to begin collecting information is being implemented to meet key gaps. Key child protection issues and concerns have been integrated in the UNDAC Inter-Cluster Assessment that will be undertaken in all affected areas next week. Child protection staff from government and NGOs have also been identified to form part of the assessment teams that will undertake the assessment. The Sub-Cluster, through the coordinator and MINUSTAH-Child Protection, is participating in the Shelter Cluster to ensure that child protection concerns are integrated in to both the development of Shelter Strategies, as well as site planning. Media and Communication: Key media activities undertaken and planned: Today, for instance CNN, the Spanish, Canadian and Italian televisions are making reportages. Tomorrow, CNN international will make a live interview with Representative Guido Cornale. List of spokespersons: Representative Guido Cornale, sr communication officer Kent Page and communication officer Roshan Kahdivi. __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

26-01-2010, 10:45 PM	#98
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	Haiti earthquake - Chris' message Updates of the situation in Haiti on 26 January 2010 Danish TV2 Teletext / Text TV: 14-year old Guirlande survived 13 days in the rubble and was rescued today from the rubble of her home. "I prayed to the Lord". A family friend heard Guirlande. She had been hiding under her bed which protected her against the falling rubble. She had a bottle (or the like) of water within reach. Two aftershocks in Haiti 2 weeks to the day after the devastating earthquake. According to US Geological Surveys / USGS an earthquake measured at 4.4 at the open Richter scales shook Haiti at 6.16 local time. A Haitian had woken up at around 5 local time because of a minor earthquake. "It was not so bad - only shaking a little". Danish TV2 News interviewed a man who originates from Haiti. He had lived in the USA for many years and participated in the Vietnam war. After all that he had experienced and seen during the war there, he felt that he could cope with anything. He had returned to his native Haiti to help the poor population and in particular orphans. When the earthquake struck, his nephew rescued a baby, while 5 young relatives were dead. Now the man houses 36 people up in the mountains. ARD text: Haiti song will be performed by many artists including a complete Take That, i.e. inclusive of Robbie Williams. Other artists performing the song will be Mariah Carey, Susan Boyle, Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue, Leona Lewis plus James Blunt. The charity song is a cover version of the REM classic "Everybody hurts". International donors conference to be held in March in New York in United Nations' headquarters. The USA will organize the conference. The long-term aid to Haiti is to be planned at the conference. Jean-Max Bellerive, Haiti's Prime Minister estimates that 5 to 10 years of foreign aid will be needed to rebuild the country. Participating in the meeting in Canada were representatives from Canada, the USA and Brazil (SVT Text - Swedish Teletext). SVT Text - Swedish Teletext / Text-TV: Chaos when there is not sufficient food. According to the United Nations World Food Programme (WPF) the world's supplies of ready-prepared meals in Haiti are soon emptied out. The head of WFP, Josette Sheeran said that there was an urgent need for ready-prepared meals for Haiti. And it is important that those distributing aid in Haiti are escorted by military - if not, there will be an unruly crowd in connection with the distribution of food, and the weaker Haitians will not get any food. __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

27-01-2010, 04:23 PM	#99
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	Haiti earthquake - Chris' message From UNICEF (received 26 January 2009): Now two weeks have passed since Haiti was hit by the earthquake that triggered the biggest humanitarian disaster in modern times. Millions of people have lost their homes and are dependent on emergency aid from the outside world. Despite difficulties, the relief efforts are well under way. UNICEF distributes among other things clean water, medicines and hospital equipment for which there is still a desperate need. This week UNICEF begins to vaccinate 360,000 children under five years against diphtheria, polio, tetanus, rubella and measles. At this stage of the disaster it is critical to protect children against life-threatening diseases that spread quickly when many people live close together under extremely primitive conditions. You can read more about the relief efforts in the latest situation report (posted here yesterday) and a brief summary of UNICEF's efforts in Haiti below. And on UNICEF Denmark's homepage you can continuously monitor developments in Haiti. Thanks to all who already have supported the collection for Haiti's children. You can still make a contribution to www.unicef.dk / Haiti Best regards Steen M. Andersen Secretary General, UNICEF Denmark -------------------------------------------------- Short on UNICEF's relief efforts in Haiti: Water and sanitation: UNICEF is in charge of UN's overall efforts to provide clean water and sanitation. Every day water is delivered to hospitals, orphanages and other institutions as well as distribution points/lines spread throughout Port-au-Prince. Health: This week UNICEF begins to vaccinate 360,000 children under five years against diphtheria, polio, tetanus, rubella and measles to prevent epidemics of life-threatening diseases. Nutrition: There are established nutrition centres to treat malnourished children in the makeshift (temporary) camps in the area around Jacmel. The first supplies of nutritious nut mixtures, vitamin A and powders to treat dehydration have already been distributed. Protection of children: UNICEF is visiting orphanages and other institutions to help vulnerable children. UNICEF is working with the Red Cross and Save the Children to find and register lost children in order to trace their families and protect children against abuse, trafficking and illegal adoption. Emergency Supplies: UNICEF World Warehouse in Copenhagen and the regional warehouses in Panama and Dubai will be continuously sending relief to the needy children and their families. __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

27-01-2010, 05:41 PM	#100
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	Haiti earthquake - Chris' message UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 24 + 25 JANUARY 2010 HAITI GOVERNMENT: 150K BODIES RECOVERED IN CAPITAL (01/24/2010 \| 11:23 PM - GMA News.TV) PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The confirmed death toll from Haiti's devastating earthquake has topped 150,000 in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area alone, the communications minister said Sunday, with many more thousands dead around the country or still buried under the rubble. Communications minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue told The Associated Press that the figure is based on a body count in the capital and outlying areas by CNE, a state company that has been collecting corpses and burying them in a mass grave north of Port-au-Prince. It does not include other affected cities such as Jacmel, where thousands are believed dead, nor does it account for bodies burned by relatives. The United Nations said Saturday the government had confirmed 111,481 bodies; all told, authorities have estimated 200,000 dead from the magnitude-7.0 quake, according to Haitian government figures cited by the European Commission. "Nobody knows how many bodies are buried in the rubble — 200,000, 300,000?" Lassegue said. "Who knows the overall death toll?" Experts say chances are slim that more survivors will be found in that debris, although rescuers pulled a man buried for 11 days in the wreckage on Saturday. Crews dug a tunnel through the rubble of a fruit and vegetable shop to reach Wismond Exantus, who is in his 20s. He was placed on a stretcher and given intravenous fluids as onlookers cheered, and later told the AP he survived by diving under a desk during the quake and later consuming some cola, beer and cookies in the cramped space. "I was hungry, but every night I thought about the revelation that I would survive," Exantus said from his hospital bed. Haiti's government has declared an end to searches for living people trapped under debris, and officials are shifting their focus to caring for the thousands of survivors living in squalid, makeshift camps. U.N. relief workers said the shift is critical: While deliveries of food, medicine and water have ticked up after initial logjams, the need continues to be overwhelming and doctors fear outbreaks of disease in the camps. In the notorious slum of Cite Soleil, the site of some looting and violence since the quake, U.S. and Brazilian soldiers handed out food and water Sunday morning to thousands of men, women and children who lined up at a health center. The U.S. soldiers brought 2,000 food rations, 75,000 high-energy biscuits and 9,000 bottles of water, while the Brazilians had 8 tons of food in small bags of uncooked beans, salt, sugar and sardines, as well as 15,000 liters of water. Lunie Marcelin, 57, said her entire family — including six grown children who live with her — survived the quake, but they had no money to buy food. The handouts "will help us, but it is not enough," she said. "We need more." In the United States, organizers of the all-star "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon said Saturday that the event raised $57 million — and counting. The two-hour telethon aired Friday night and was also streamed live online. Stars such as Brad Pitt, Beyonce, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and more used their presence to encourage donations for Haiti. As many as 200,000 people have fled Port-au-Prince, a city of 2 million, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development. About 609,000 people are homeless in the capital's metro area, and the United Nations estimates that up to 1 million could leave Haiti's destroyed cities for rural areas already struggling with extreme poverty. The U.S. Geological Survey said Sunday it has recorded 52 aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 or greater since the Jan. 12 quake. - AP 150,000 HAITI QUAKE VICTIMS BURIED, GOVERNMENT SAYS (01/25/2010 \| 07:17 AM - GMA News.TV) PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The truckers filling Haiti's mass graves with bodies reported ever higher numbers: More than 150,000 quake victims have been buried by the government, an official said Sunday. That doesn't count those still under the debris, carried off by relatives or killed in the outlying quake zone. "Nobody knows how many bodies are buried in the rubble — 200,000? 300,000? Who knows the overall death toll?" said the official, Communications Minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue. Dealing with the living, meanwhile, a global army of aid workers was getting more food into people's hands, but acknowledged falling short. "We wish we could do more, quicker," said U.N. World Food Program chief Josette Sheeran, visiting Port-au-Prince. In the Cite Soleil slum, US soldiers and Brazilian U.N. peacekeeping troops distributed food. Lunie Marcelin, 57, said the handouts will help her and six grown children "but it is not enough. We need more." The Haitian government was urging many of the estimated 600,000 homeless huddled in open areas of Port-au-Prince, a city of 2 million, to look for better shelter with relatives or others in the countryside. Some 200,000 were believed already to have done so, most taking advantage of free government transportation, and others formed a steady stream out of the city on Sunday. International experts searched for sites to erect tent cities for quake refugees on the capital's outskirts, but such short-term solutions were still weeks away, said the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental agency. "We also need tents. There is a shortage of tents," said Vincent Houver, the Geneva-based agency's chief of mission in Haiti. Their Port-au-Prince warehouse has 10,000 family-size tents, but some 100,000 are needed, he said. The organization has appealed for $30 million for that and other needs, and has received two-thirds of that so far. In the aftermath of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake, the casualty estimates have been necessarily tentative. Lassegue told The Associated Press the government's figure of 150,000 buried, from the capital area alone, was reported by CNE, a state company collecting corpses and burying them north of Port-au-Prince. That number would tend to confirm an overall estimate of 200,000 dead reported last week by the European Commission, citing Haitian government sources. The United Nations, meanwhile, was sticking Sunday with an earlier confirmed death toll of at least 111,481, based on recovered bodies. The final casualty estimates, which the European Commission said also include some 250,000 injured, will clearly place the Jan. 12 earthquake among the deadliest natural catastrophes of recent times. That list includes: the 1970 Bangladesh cyclone, believed to have killed 300,000 people; the 1974 northeast China earthquake, which killed at least 242,000 people; and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, with 226,000 dead. One who wouldn't die in Port-au-Prince was Wismond Exantus, who was extricated from the rubble Saturday. He spoke with the AP from his cot in a French field hospital on Sunday, saying the first thing he wanted to do was find a church to give thanks. He spent the 11 days buried in the ruins of a hotel grocery store praying, reciting psalms and sleeping, he said. "I wasn't afraid because I knew they were searching and would come for me," he said. With further such rescues highly unlikely so long after the quake, Haiti's government has declared an end to search operations for the living, shifting the focus more than ever to caring for the thousands surviving in squalid, makeshift camps. The World Food Program had delivered about 2 million meals to the needy on Friday, up from 1.2 million on Thursday, Sheeran said. But she acknowledged that much more was needed. "This is the most complex operation WFP has ever launched," she said. The scene Sunday at Cite Soleil, the capital's largest and most notorious slum, showed the need. Thousands of men, women and children lined up and waited peacefully for their turn as the American and Brazilian troops handed out AID — the Americans gave ready-to-eat meals, high-energy biscuits and bottled water, the Brazilians passed out small bags holding uncooked beans, salt, sugar and sardines, as well as water. The need for medical care, especially surgery, postoperative care and drugs, still overwhelmed the help available, aid agencies reported. In the isolated southern port city of Jacmel alone, about 100 patients needed surgery as of Friday, the U.N. reported. Medical personnel were there, but not the necessary surgery supplies. In Port-au-Prince, meanwhile, the aid group Doctors Without Borders said its inflatable hospital — six large inflatable tents flown in from France — was preparing for its first operations. The world's nations have pledged some $1 billion in emergency aid to Haiti. Organizers of Friday night's "Hope for Haiti Now" international telethon reported the event raised $57 million, with more pledges from ordinary people still coming in. - AP INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MEETS FOR HAITI TALKS (01/25/2010 \| 09:43 AM - GMA News.TV) MONTREAL — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Haiti's prime minister and foreign ministers from a host of nations meet in Montreal on Monday to try to improve relief efforts in the international community's first meeting since Haiti's devastating earthquake. Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said Sunday that the conference will review the progress of aid delivery to Haiti since the Jan. 12 earthquake and lay the groundwork for a larger meeting that will focus on long-term reconstruction. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive arrived in Canada ahead of the conference for a Sunday meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. "The task ahead of you is unimaginable," Harper said to Bellerive before the two began private talks. "I say to you Jean-Max as a fellow prime minister, I just can't imagine." Bellerive expressed his gratitude to Canada and said he came to discuss the support that will be needed. "But we are fully conscious that the prime responsibility for our future lies in the hands of the Haitian government and the Haitian people," he added. Harper and foreign ministers from more than a dozen countries, eight international bodies and six major non-governmental organizations will convene on Monday. "It's not a donor or pledging conference," Cannon said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It's to make sure we have an action plan. We want to coordinate better in the short term and make sure we all know who is doing what and how." Cannon said one goal is to "physically get the Haitian government back on its feet." The quake destroyed key government buildings, including the National Palace, hampering the work of what was already a weak and inefficient state. "They don't have any offices," Cannon said. "I was chatting with Mrs. Clinton the other day. She mentioned that an American government building remained intact and said they were turning it over to the Haitian government so that they could at least set up temporary offices." Cannon said the morning session will take stock of the aid efforts. He said ministers will hear from Bellerive, the United Nations and non-governmental agencies like the Red Cross. Ministers will meet in the afternoon to work on the steps needed ahead of the larger reconstruction conference, where money will be pledged. Cannon said he expects the date and location of that conference to be announced Monday. Governments have pledged nearly $1 billion in aid to Haiti, according to an Associated Press estimate, including $575 million from the European Union's 27 nations. Monday's meeting comes as a global army of aid workers was delivering more food into people's hands in Haiti, but the efforts were still falling short. U.N. World Food Program chief Josette Sheeran, visiting Port-au-Prince, said Sunday said aid groups wished they could do more and do it more quickly. One Haitian government official said more than 150,000 victims have been buried by the government and that nobody knows how many bodies are buried in the rubble. Canada has deep ties to Haiti. More than 100,000 people of Haitian descent live in Canada, most of them in Montreal. After the Montreal meeting, Bellerive will travel to Ottawa to meet with Canada's Haitian-born governor general Michaelle Jean. Jean, the representative of Queen Elizabeth II as Canada's head of state, broke down in tears during a press conference after the Jan. 12 earthquake. She said it's as if an atomic bomb had fallen on Port-au-Prince. - AP __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

27-01-2010, 07:40 PM	#101
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	Haiti earthquake - Chris' message UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 26 + 27 JANUARY 2010 John Travolta lands in Haiti piloting relief supplies (01/26/2010 \| 01:17 PM - GMA News.TV) PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — John Travolta has landed his own jet in Haiti carrying relief supplies and a team including doctors and Scientology ministers. The 55-year-old actor flew the Boeing 707 from Florida on Monday carrying 4 tons of ready-to-eat military rations and medical supplies for earthquake victims. Among those accompanying Travolta is his wife, actress Kelly Preston. The Church of Scientology says the pair planned to return home after unloading their passengers and supplies. - AP RP medical team to leave for Haiti Monday night HAITIANS SEARCH FOR THEIR DEAD: `I NEED THE BODY' (01/26/2010 \| 07:22 AM - GMA News.TV) PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – In what's left of one family's home, in what remains of one destroyed neighborhood, Jean-Rene Lochard has retrieved the bodies of his mother, brother, sister-in-law and nephew, and buried them beside the ruins, one by one and with a priest's blessing. On Monday, he dug deeper, searching for his brother's 5-year-old son. Only when he finds the boy will he rest. "I need the body to bury him," he said. "It's important to bury the bodies." With 150,000 bodies already in mass graves, international teams, grieving families, sympathetic neighbors and sometimes even strangers were pulling at the rubble with tools or bare hands in countless corners of this devastated city. Thirteen days after the killer earthquake, they were desperate to recover some of the thousands of Port-au-Prince's lost dead — to close each tragic circle, to lay loved ones in the earth to rest in peace. For the living — the homeless spread across empty lots, parks and plazas in the hundreds of thousands — there was little rest as aid agencies struggled to fill their needs for food and water, and to get them tents to shelter their families against the burning tropical sun. In front of the wrecked National Palace, people's desperation boiled over. Uruguayan U.N. peacekeepers had to fire pepper spray into the air to try to disperse thousands jostling for food. The overwhelmed soldiers finally retreated, and young men rushed forward to grab the bags of pinto beans and rice, emblazoned with the US flag, pushing aside others — including one pregnant woman who collapsed and was trampled. Thousands of people are huddled nearby in the Champs de Mars plaza, many with nothing more than a plastic sheet to protect them from sun and rain. "We live like dogs," said Espiegle Amilcar, 34. "We're sleeping, eating and going to the bathroom in the same place." The global agency supplying tents said it already had 10,000 stored in Haiti and at least 30,000 more would be arriving. But, said the International Organization for Migration, "the supply is unlikely to address the extensive shelter needs." The group estimates 100,000 family-sized tents are needed; the U.N. says up to 1 million people need shelter. Meanwhile, the Haitian government and international groups are preparing a more substantial tent city on Port-au-Prince's outskirts, the first of more than a half-dozen sites that officials hope will shelter the displaced before the onset of spring rains and summer hurricanes. In Montreal on Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and officials of more than two dozen other donor nations and international organizations met to assess the progress of the relief effort. Haiti will need "more and more and more in order to complete the task of reconstruction," Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told them. He said his impoverished nation lost 60 percent of its gross domestic product in the quake, the economic activity centered on Port-au-Prince. Returning from Haiti, international Red Cross spokesman Paul Conneally said in Geneva that a NEW Port-au-Prince must be planned. "It's going to require, minimum, a generation," he said, adding that the need for heavy equipment to tear down damaged buildings was growing. That prospect was what was driving Jean-Rene Lochard to dig harder, with the help of neighbors and hired workers, to find his little nephew in the collapsed six-story home, an enormous pile of cracked concrete and twisted metal bars in Port-au-Prince's western district of Carrefour-Feuilles. "The contractors are going to come and smash everything else, so we want to find him first," Lochard, 42, said as he sat amid the remains of a family's life — shoes, bits of clothing, a small red Elmo doll. When the magnitude-7.0 quake struck on Jan. 12, Lochard recalled, "I was going crazy," because the house completely collapsed around him as he dashed outside. Eight of the 14 family members who lived there perished. He and others quickly rescued an injured 17-year-old niece, and then, four days after the quake, a 5-year-old nephew, Samael. "He was in a state of shock, so traumatized he couldn't speak," said Jacques Lochard, 45, Jean-Rene's brother. Then they started pulling out the bodies, first that of those children's father, police commander Carlo Lochard, then those of his other children, including 8-month-old Anaelle, owner of the little Elmo doll. Finally, the body of the family matriarch, Ismeda Edmond, 72, was found six days after the quake, in the entrance to the dining room. She "was like the neighborhood godmother. Everyone in the neighborhood would come to see her," said family friend Jean-Louis Nold. The bodies of three were buried in a city cemetery, but four others — the men's mother, brother, sister-in-law and nephew — were so badly decomposed that the morgue refused to receive them, and they were interred in the back garden, beneath a breadfruit tree, in rough requiems for a devoutly Roman Catholic family. "Every time we find a body, we call the priest," Jean-Rene Lochard said. Now, on Monday, they searched unrelentingly for 5-year-old Jovany. In traditional Haitian families, a nephew is like a son. "We are a united family. That's why we live together in the same house," Jacques Lochard said. "Nobody can imagine what we are feeling." In other pitiful scenes across Port-au-Prince, family survivors clambered over and clawed at rubble in hopes of finding their loved ones. Others simply sat hopelessly. And some still held out hope of finding people alive, two days after the last such "miracle" rescue. "There's still hope. We think that people could still be alive," Mexican search team chief Hector Mendez said outside the ruins of the Montana Hotel, where some 40 Americans and many other foreigners were believed buried. But he acknowledged, "There are many, many bodies." - AP US troops treat 35-year-old Haiti man pulled from rubble (01/27/2010 \| 06:47 PM - GMA News.TV) Members of the US 82nd Airborne Division treated a 35-year-old man purportedly pulled from the rubble of a downtown Port-au-Prince building in earthquake-stricken Haiti, witnesses said on Tuesday. According to Associated Press reporters on the scene, Rico Debrivell had a broken leg and other minor injuries. It was not immediately determined how long he had been under the rubble. Debrivell is believed to have been pulled out of the debris by local residents and was later treated by the US medics who were working in the commercial center of downtown Port-au-Prince. The area has been looted extensively since the January 12 magnitude-7 quake that devastated the Haitian capital. – AP BBC World: Man rescued in Haiti quake rubble - A man was pulled alive from the rubble 2 weeks after the earthquake. US troops rescued the man from the ruins of a building in centre of city and he was taken to hospital. He was trapped under the rubble for 12 days, the military said - and he was severely dehydrated. The rescue came 14 days after the 7.0-magnitude quake which killed as many as 200,000 people on 12 January 2010. German ZDFtext: 31-year-old man rescued alive from rubble after 12 days by US troops. He had a broken leg and minor face injuries. He was severely dehydrated. A total of 134 people have been rescued alive from the rubble - Saturday one man was rescued. ARDtext: US troops have found and rescued a survivor from the rubble after 12 days in connection with clearing and cleaning up work. The UN World Food Program makes an appeal for more aid. The people will need aid for a longer time than expected. UNICEF together with the Haitian government plans a big vaccination campaign. 600,000 children are to be vaccinated against measles and tetanus. In March there will be held a donors conference. Danish TV2 TTV (Text TV): Minister wants to move Port-au-Prince. The Canadian foreign minister Lawrence Cannon: A huge task of rebuilding and reconstructing Haiti is lying ahead. It is a question whether the rebuilding should take place where Port-au-Prince is situated today. Because that area is threatened by new earth quakes. __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

28-01-2010, 05:14 PM	#102
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	Haiti earthquake - Chris' message / AVAAZ APPEAL: CANCEL HAITI's DEBT! AVAAZ's APPEAL - CANCEL HAITI's DEBT! Received 28.1.10 It's shocking: even as aid flows in to Haiti's desperate communities, money is flowing out to pay off the country's crushing debt -- over $1 billion in unfair debt racked up years ago by unscrupulous lenders and governments. The call for full cancelation of Haiti's debt is building steam across the world, and has won over some leaders -- but other rich lender countries are rumoured to be resisting. And time is short: G7 finance ministers could reach a final decision next week at their summit in Canada. Let's raise a massive global call for justice, mercy and common sense for the people of Haiti in this hour of tragedy. Avaaz and partners will deliver the call for debt relief directly to the summit -- click below to sign the petition, and then pass this email to friends: http://www.avaaz.org/en/haiti_cancel_the_debt_13/97.php Even before the earthquake, Haiti was one of the world's poorest countries. After Haitian slaves rose up and won their independence in 1804, France demanded billions in reparations -- launching a spiral of poverty and unjust debt that has lasted two centuries. In recent years, the tremendous worldwide campaign for debt relief has awoken the world's conscience. And in the last few days, under mounting public pressure, lenders have begun to say the right things about erasing Haiti's still-devastating debt burden. But the devil is in the details. After the 2004 tsunami, the IMF announced relief from debt payments for stricken countries -- but the underlying debt went right on growing. Once public attention had faded, the debt payments were bigger than ever. It's time to cancel Haiti's debt fully and without conditions, and ensure that earthquake aid is made with grants, not loans. A victory now will change lives in Haiti even after the world's attention has moved on. Join the call for debt relief, and pass this message to those who feel the same: http://www.avaaz.org/en/haiti_cancel_the_debt_13/97.php As we watch the images on our televisions and computers, it's hard not to be overwhelmed. And the history of rich countries' relations with Haiti is dark indeed. But moments like this one can bring transformation. Across the world, people have donated to save lives in Haiti -- indeed, Avaaz members have given more than $1 million in the last ten days. But we also need to raise our voices as global citizens, to address the man-made tragedies that left our brothers and sisters in Haiti so vulnerable to natural crises. There is not enough that we can do. But let's all do everything we can. With hope, Ben, Alice, Iain, Ricken, Sam, Milena, Paula, and the whole Avaaz team ABOUT AVAAZ Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Buenos Aires, and Geneva. Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace and Bebo pages! You can also follow Avaaz on Twitter! link to Facebook: http://www.avaaz.org/en/haiti_cancel_the_debt_13/97.php -- The Avaaz team ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ AVAAZ APPEAL: DROP HAITI'S DEBT As Haitian families search for survivors and relief rolls in, Haiti is still staggering under $1 billion in old debts racked up by unscrupulous lenders and unelected governments of the past. But in recent days, a worldwide outcry has grown to cancel Haiti's debt -- and while some key lenders are rumoured to be holding out, the IMF and some key governments have indicated that debt relief could be within reach. More pressure is needed. The petition below will be delivered to the IMF and G7 finance ministers at their crucial meetings in coming days -- sign and spread the word: Petition to Finance Ministers, IMF, World Bank, IADB, and bilateral creditors: As Haiti rebuilds from this disaster, please work to secure the immediate cancellation of Haiti’s $1 billion debt and ensure that any emergency earthquake assistance is provided in the form of grants, not debt-incurring loans. Sign the petition now! 274,673 have already signed the petition! Let's reach our new target of 300,000. This petition has been signed by citizens of more than 150 countries worldwide. The number of signatures includes 148,000 collected by Avaaz's partners at the ONE campaign. SUPPORT AVAAZ ON HAITI AND BEYOND The world has responded to the devastation of Haiti's earthquake with a huge outpouring of support. Avaaz is working with groups on the ground in Haiti to save lives, prepare for reconstruction -- and advocate for changes that will leave Haitians less vulnerable to future disasters. But Avaaz's work on Haiti and other issues is only possible thanks to small contributions from citizens around the world. Avaaz accepts no money from governments or corporations. You can support Avaaz's work by making a donation with your credit card or making a donation from your paypal account & you can also donate by check, wire transfer, phone or mail. __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

28-01-2010, 09:14 PM	#103
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	Haiti earthquake - Chris' message / articles about the situation in Haiti from 27 and 28 Jan. 2010 UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 27 and 28 JANUARY 2010 and Haiti-related news on 27 and 28 January 2010, Part I of II HAITI's CHILDREN ON THEIR OWN ON SHATTERED STREETS (01/27/2010 \| 10:56 AM - GMA News.TV) PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI — The children with no names lay mute in a corner of the General Hospital grounds Tuesday, three among thousands of boys and girls set adrift in the wake of Haiti's earthquake. "Hi Joe, how are you?" the American doctor tried, using a pet name the staff had given a boy of about 11. There was no response. "Joe," ''Baby Sebastian" and the girl who didn't even have a nickname hadn't spoken or cried since they were brought in over the previous 48 hours — by neighbors, passers-by, no one knows who. "Sebastian," only a week old, was said to have been taken from the arms of his dead mother. They're lucky: Haitian-born Dr. Winston Price and the staff were treating them for infections and other ailments. Hundreds of thousands of other hungry and thirsty children are scattered among Port-au-Prince's squatter camps of survivors, without protection against disease or child predators — often with nobody to care for them. "There's an estimated 1 million unaccompanied or orphaned children or children who lost one parent," said Kate Conradt, a spokeswoman for the aid group Save the Children. "They are extremely vulnerable." The UN children's agency, UNICEF, has established a special tent camp for girls and boys separated from their parents in the Jan. 12 quake, and who are in danger of falling prey to CHILD TRAFFICKERS and other abusers. The Connecticut-based Save the Children has set up "Child Spaces" in 13 makeshift settlements. The Red Cross and other groups are working to reunite families and get children into orphanages. The post-quake needs of Haiti's children have outrun available help. Some youngsters have been released from hospitals with no one to care for them — there just aren't enough beds. "Health workers are being advised to monitor and send separated/unaccompanied children to child-friendly spaces," the UN humanitarian office said in its latest situation report. The plight of the young is poignant even in a country where the UN estimates A THIRD of the 9 million population NEEDS INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE in the quake's aftermath. "We still have a huge distance to go," said John Holmes, the UN relief coordinator. [B]That was evident in Port-au-Prince's streets, alleys and crumbled doorways, where handwritten messages begged for help. In the Juvenat neighborhood, a group of 50 families hung a white sheet from a doorway, with this plea scrawled in green: "We need food assistance, water and medicine." It was evident, too, among the thousands pressing against Haitian police at a food-distribution site in the Cite Soleil slum. They swung sticks to beat back the crowd. Brazilian troops in armored personnel carriers controlled a tightly packed line of earthquake survivors waiting for food in the broiling sun by firing pepper spray and training their guns on the jostling, rowdy crowd. The line stretched between the partially collapsed National Palace and entirely destroyed Supreme Court. One soldier loaded a shotgun and returned their taunts by shouting back insults in Creole. Some were offended, others amused at hearing a Brazilian trooper insulting them in their own language. "They treat us like animals, they beat us but we are hungry people," said Muller Bellegarde, 30. Several left without getting food, fearful of the pepper spray, the soldiers, and thugs who were grabbing food from receivers. Many said they appreciate the international response and under no circumstances want the Haitian government to handle aid deliveries, but suggested Haitian churches could provide more orderly and respectful venues for distributions, with Haitian communities organizing security. "The help is good but the way they're doing it is bad. This is anarchy," Thomas Louis, 40, trying to get rice and oil for his two babies, aged 2 and six months. "This is not aid. This is a way to put people down." Also on Tuesday, Haitians in a crowd of looters pulled a man from the rubble of a store that had been repeatedly scavenged, and called for help from U.S. soldiers, who treated him for a BROKEN LEG and SEVERE DEHYDRATION. Rico Dibrivell, 35, claimed he had been trapped since the earthquake two weeks earlier, but the military provided no details about how he managed to survive. More than 100 have been unearthed by rescue teams since the Jan. 12 quake, and many more by their neighbors, but most of those were in the immediate aftermath and authorities say it is unlikely for anyone to survive more than 72 hours without water. On Saturday, an international team of rescuers unearthed a shop clerk who they believed had been buried since the earthquake. The MONUMENTAL SCALE OF THE HAITI DISASTER — perhaps 200,000 DEAD, a CAPITAL CITY ON ITS KNEES — has severely strained the world's ability to get relief supplies through Port-au-Prince's OVERLOADED AIRPORT and CRIPPLED SEAPORT. Some 800 TO 1,000 AID FLIGHTS WERE STILL AWAITING PERMISSION TO LAND, a SEVEN-DAY BACKLOG, UN and European officials reported Tuesday. On top of that, "TRUCKS are NEEDED," UN spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said in Geneva — especially small trucks because "the streets are extremely congested." The UN's Holmes estimated that 2 MILLION PEOPLE NEED FOOD, but only 500,000 have received some so far. The medical picture has improved, but remains critical. World Health Organization spokesman Paul Garwood said more medical staff is needed, especially rehabilitation specialists, to help with postoperative recovery of 200,000 people who have had amputations or other surgery. Haitians and volunteers from dozens of countries, working around the clock, were still performing up to 100 amputations a day in some hospitals. At the General Hospital, Price strode from tent to tent checking on the 81 children under his care. Staff interrupted the tall, balding pediatrician with a string of questions: "Do you know about this baby?" ''Where's the medication?" ''Where will we sleep tonight?" Of the nameless, speechless trio, he was treating young Joe for an infection oozing from both eyes. The 7-pound (3-kilogram) Baby Sebastian, in a white diaper decorated with sheep, had diarrhea. The unnamed girl, about 10, lay listlessly and stared upward. She had an eye infection, but would soon be picked up by an orphanage, Price said. With no clues to their past, Price could only wonder. "Maybe some of these parents are not even looking because their house was destroyed and they might think the kid was inside," he said. "But maybe the kid was pulled out, so they are missing each other." Children left alone are everywhere. At one of the 13 Save the Children sites, about 25 children have no adult relatives taking care of them, Conradt said. She said the group has helped some 6,000 children since the quake. The aid group's "Child Spaces" are cordoned-off areas where children can play under supervision," run around being children, giving them a chance to return to normalcy as much as they can." Such areas also protect children against the potential for abduction by child traffickers, a chronic problem in pre-quake Haiti, where thousands were handed over to other families into lives of domestic servitude, said Deb Barry, an emergency protection adviser with Save the Children. She said her organization was working to track down every rumor it hears about threats to stranded children, "but we haven't been able to verify those thus far." In Geneva, a UNICEF spokeswoman, Veronique Taveau, said the organization had been told of children disappearing from hospitals. "It's difficult to establish the reality," she said, but added that UNICEF has strengthened security at hospitals and orphanages. Save the Children, the Red Cross and other organizations, meanwhile, are trying to establish a joint database of information to try to reunite separated families. Government spokeswoman Marie Laurence Jocelyn-Lassegue, the communications minister, said Tuesday that Haitian officials have temporarily halted new adoptions because of concerns about corruption and carelessness in the system. "Some children we don't know if the parents are alive or not," Jocelyn-Lassegue said. — AP US TROOPS TREAT 35-YEAR-OLD HAITI MAN PULLED FROM RUBBLE (01/27/2010 \| 06:47 PM - GMA News.TV) Members of the US 82nd Airborne Division treated [COLOR="Yellow"]a 35-year-old man purportedly pulled from the rubble of a downtown Port-au-Prince building in earthquake-stricken Haiti,/COLOR] witnesses said on Tuesday. According to Associated Press reporters on the scene, Rico Debrivell had a broken leg and other minor injuries. It was not immediately determined how long he had been under the rubble. Debrivell is believed to have been pulled out of the debris by local residents and was later treated by the US medics who were working in the commercial center of downtown Port-au-Prince. The area has been looted extensively since the January 12 magnitude-7 quake that devastated the Haitian capital. – AP JESSICA SIMPSON WORKING TO SEND SHOES TO HAITI (01/27/2010 \| 08:07 PM - GMA News.TV) NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jessica Simpson is raising money to send shoes to earthquake victims in Haiti. Simpson has teamed up with the Nashville-based organization Soles4Souls. The charity has pledged to work with other aid agencies to give out one million pairs of shoes. Simpson is urging people to "do everything that we can for the victims in Haiti. Just five dollars will buy two people a pair of shoes." The charity says Haitian survivors need shoes to protect against broken glass, twisted metal and raw sewage. People can donate at http://www.50Kshoes.com. - AP QUINCY JONES WANTS 'WE ARE THE WORLD' HAITI REDO (01/28/2010 \| 10:47 AM - GMA News.TV) LOS ANGELES — Quincy Jones is re-recording the charity song "We Are the World" and sending the proceeds to Haiti. The 76-year-old music legend says musicians are gathering Monday at a Los Angeles recording studio to redo the 25-year-old hit song. Jones would not say who will perform on the track "because we've got to make sure we've got who we got," but that the revamped song will feature a new roster of all-star musicians. The original 1985 hit, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, featured Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel and Tina Turner, among others. Jones discussed the track and his other charitable endeavors at a private party Wednesday celebrating watchmaker Audemars Piguet's donation of $1 million to the Quincy Jones Foundation. - AP Danish TV3 Text-TV (seen 28 January 2010): Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Sandra Bullock have each donated 1 mio $ to Haiti. Lady Gaga has just held a "Gaga for Haiti" day where the proceeds from the sale of tickets for her last concert in New York's Radio City Music Hall PLUS the proceeds from the sale of Lady Gaga merchandise all over the world on this "Gaga for Haiti" day went to Haiti. This resulted in the equivalent of 2.5 million Danish kroner for Haiti - according to [COLOR="Cyan"]Celebrity-gossip.net./COLOR] __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

28-01-2010, 10:25 PM	#104
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	Haiti earthquake - Chris' message / Haiti news on 28 January 2010 UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI AND HAITI-RELATED NEWS ON 28 JANUARY 2010, PART II OF II 2 WEEKS AFTER HAITI QUAKE, FOOD AID FALLS SHORT (01/28/2010 \| 09:58 AM - GMA News.TV) PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Whether locked up in warehouses or stolen by thugs from people's hands, food from the world's aid agencies still isn't getting to enough hungry Haitians, leaving the strongest and fittest with the most. The newly homeless of the rubble-strewn Bizoton slum say they haven't gotten food, water or help with shelter in the two weeks since the earthquake. "If it rains now, that's it," Wilson St. Ellis, 50, a father of eight, said Wednesday amid plastic sheets stretched here and there as flimsy shields against the elements. Where donated RICE, BEANS or READY-TO-EAT MEALS are being distributed, crowds quickly become unruly, with young men pushing ahead and grabbing food bags from women and the weak. UN peacekeepers fire pepper spray and Haitian police swing sticks to restore control. "These people are just hungry," UN spokesman Vincenzo Pugliese said of the thousands thronging food distribution points, where he said UN peacekeepers were reinforcing security. Food remains scarce for many of the neediest survivors despite the efforts of the United Nations, the US military and dozens of international aid groups. Relief experts say the scale of this disaster and Haiti's poor infrastructure are presenting unprecedented challenges, but Haitian leaders complain coordination has been poor. "Many mistakes have to be rectified in order to bring help to the people who need it," President Rene Preval complained to reporters. In a bid to improve food distribution, representatives of the UN, the US, the Haitian government and private aid groups met Wednesday, and afterward Donald Reilly of Catholic Relief Services said they decided to divide Port-au-Prince into zones, designating a major aid agency to be responsible for delivering UN food to each sector. Meanwhile, in a stunning development so long after the 7.0-magnitude tremor collapsed thousands of buildings in Port-au-Prince and beyond, French rescuers pulled a 17-year-old girl Wednesday from the rubble of a home near the destroyed St. Gerard University. The last confirmed such rescue occurred Saturday, 11 days after the quake, when a man was extricated from the ruins of a hotel grocery store. A man pulled from rubble Tuesday said he had been trapped not on Jan. 12, the day of the quake, but during an aftershock. At least 135 people have been unearthed by rescue teams since the quake, which killed an estimated 200,000 people. On food aid, the UN World Food Program (WFP), which says it has reached 450,000 people, urgently appealed to governments for more cash for Haiti supplies — $800 million to feed 2 million people through December, more than quadruple the $196 million already pledged. The food agency says rising tensions and security incidents — "including people rushing distribution points for food" — have hampered deliveries. But since the massive relief effort's first days, other problems have also delayed aid — blocked and congested roads, shortages of trucks, a crippled seaport and an overloaded Port-au-Prince airport. "The unblocking of the logistical bottlenecks is an absolute priority," the European Commission said Wednesday, describing a seven-day backlog of 1,000 relief flights seeking permission to land at the single-runway airport. The senior US officer in Haiti said Haitian families simply cannot rely on any particular location for rations. Food is "flooding" into the city, Lt. Gen. Ken Keen told reporters, "but it's being delivered pretty much in terms of where we can get to and where we can distribute it," not always in locations that are "sustained every day." At some regular distribution points, such as near the Champs de Mars, the central plaza where thousands of homeless are living, daily food handouts have drawn crowds of frantic people. Desperation boiled over earlier this week and Uruguayan peacekeepers retreated as young men rushed forward to grab US-donated bags of beans and rice. A pregnant woman collapsed and was trampled. Elsewhere as well, the strong have preyed on the weak, prying donated food from their arms. "These things should be done is a systematic way, not a random way," said Dr. Eddy Delalue, who runs a Haitian relief group, Operation Hope. "It's survival of the fittest: The strongest guy gets it." At one squatter settlement Julia Jean-Francois, 25, clutching a grocery bag filled with small packets of donated water, told of her encounter with food robbers. "I lost all the rice, beans and oil that were distributed last week. A group of young men shoved me and grabbed the bags and ran away," said Jean-Francois, whose mother was killed in the quake. An hour later, she said, one of the men returned and offered to sell her the same food for the equivalent of $18. She refused, relying instead on a communal kitchen she formed with homeless neighbors. She said Haitian police patrolling nearby did nothing while people were robbed. "We complained, and they got into their truck and left," she said. As she spoke Wednesday, a gang of youths pushed into a line of people waiting for water, shoving an elderly woman, who screamed and swung her bucket at their heads. Port-au-Prince street vendors can be seen openly selling US-donated rice by the cupful from bags marked "not for resale." Fears of OFFICIAL CORRUPTION surrounding the food aid also are surfacing. Paul Coroleuski of the US-based Convoy of Hope, which has distributed aid in Haiti for three years, said he has more than 100 tons of food in a Port-au-Prince warehouse ready to hand out, but it has been delayed for days by Haitian officials who say they will take over distribution. Private agencies like his worry that Haitian officials "will do what they always have done, which is the government takes care of the government and the people are secondary," he said. Haitian officials denied the government plans to take over food distribution from private agencies. Coroleuski's frustration and distrust of the government is echoed in Port-au-Prince's streets. "If they turn it over to the Haitian government, they would take it all for themselves," said Muller Bellegarde, 30, as he waited for food in the unrelenting tropical sun. Haitians remember that when the government took charge of delivering international aid to the city of Gonaives after deadly hurricane floods in 2008, much of it ended up sold on the black market. - AP FRENCH TEAM MAKES NEW 'MIRACLE' RESCUE IN HAITI (01/28/2010 \| 04:55 PM - GMA News.TV) PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A French search team that wouldn't go home pulled off another "miracle" rescue in Port-au-Prince, lifting a 17-year-old girl alive from beneath this cityscape of rubble. Above ground, hundreds of thousands of other survivors hoped for a breakthrough of another kind — in delivering badly needed food aid. Key players in the Haiti earthquake relief effort, in what may have been a pivotal meeting, decided to better coordinate by dividing up the city among themselves for handing out food. Food distribution thus far has often been marked by poor coordination, vast gaps in coverage, and desperate, unruly lines of needy people in which young men at times shoved aside the women and weak and took their food. "These things should be done is a systematic way, not a random way," Dr. Eddy Delalue, who runs a Haitian relief group, Operation Hope, said Wednesday of the emergency food program. "It's survival of the fittest: The strongest guy gets it." Wednesday's rescue of teenager Darlene Etienne from a collapsed home near St. Gerard University, 15 days after Haiti's great quake killed an estimated 200,000 people, was the first such recovery since Saturday, when French rescuers extricated a man from the ruins of a hotel grocery store. A man pulled Tuesday from the rubble of a downtown store said he had been trapped during an aftershock, not in the original Jan. 12 quake. Authorities say it is rare for anyone to survive more than 72 hours without water, let alone more than two weeks. But young Etienne may have had some access to water from a bathroom of the wrecked house, and rescuers said she mumbled something about having a little Coca-Cola with her in the rubble. Her family said Etienne had just begun studies at St. Gerard when the disaster struck, trapping dozens of students and staff in the rubble of school buildings, hostels and nearby homes. "We thought she was dead," said cousin Jocelyn A. St. Jules. Then — a half-month after the earthquake — neighbors heard a voice weakly calling from the rubble of a private home down the road from the destroyed university. They called authorities, who brought in the French civil response team. Rescuer Claude Fuilla walked along the dangerously crumbled roof, heard her voice and saw a little bit of dust-covered black hair in the rubble. Clearing away some debris, he reached the young woman and saw she was alive — barely. "I don't think she could have survived even a few more hours," Fuilla said. Digging out a hole big enough to give her oxygen and water, they found she had a very weak pulse. Within 45 minutes they managed to remove her, covered in dust. A neighbor said he believed she was rescued from the house's shower room, where she might have had access to water. She was extremely dehydrated and weak, with very low blood pressure. She was rushed to a French military field hospital and then the French military hospital ship Sirroco. France's ambassador to Haiti, Didier le Bret, praised the "stubbornness" of the French rescue squad. "They should not have been working anymore because, officially, the rescue phase is over," he said. "But they felt that some lives still are to be saved, so we did not say they should leave the country." At least 135 people buried in rubble have been rescued by search teams since the quake, most in the immediate aftermath. On food aid, the U.N. World Food Program, which says it has reached 450,000 people, urgently appealed to governments for more cash for Haiti supplies — $800 million to feed 2 million people through December, more than quadruple the $196 million already pledged. Food remains scarce for many of the neediest survivors despite the efforts of the United Nations, the U.S. military and dozens of international aid groups. Relief experts said the scale of this disaster and Haiti's poor infrastructure are presenting unprecedented challenges, but Haitian leaders complain coordination has been poor. The food agency said rising tensions and security incidents — "including people rushing distribution points for food" — have hampered deliveries. At some regular distribution points, such as near the Champs de Mars, the central plaza where thousands of homeless are living, daily food handouts have drawn crowds of frantic people. Desperation boiled over earlier this week and Uruguayan peacekeepers retreated as young men rushed forward to grab US-donated bags of beans and rice. A pregnant woman collapsed and was trampled. Since the relief effort's first days, however, other problems have also delayed aid — blocked and congested roads, shortages of trucks, a crippled seaport and an overloaded Port-au-Prince airport. In a bid to improve food distribution, representatives of the UN, the US, the Haitian government and private aid groups met Wednesday to discuss coordination. Afterward, Donal Reilly of Catholic Relief Services said they decided to divide Port-au-Prince into zones, designating a major aid agency to be responsible for delivering food to each sector. That may bring some hope to the newly homeless of the rubble-strewn Bizoton slum, who say they haven't gotten food, water or help with shelter in the two weeks since the earthquake. "If it rains now, that's it," Wilson St. Ellis, 50, a father of eight, said Wednesday amid plastic sheets stretched here and there as flimsy shields against the elements. - AP Danish Text-TV (for DR1 and DR2): 17-year-old girl rescued by French and Haitian rescuers after 15 days in the rubble. She was happy, shocked and about to cry when she was found and pulled out. She was severely dehydrated and had leg injuries. Tuesday a 31-year-old man was rescued after 12 days in the rubble - his house collapsed by one of the aftershocks. BBC World / News: Teenage girl pulled out of the rubble of her house 15 days after the disaster. She was happy and shocked despite being severely dehydrated and having a leg injury. One of her rescuers called it "A miracle that she was alive after such a long time". German ZDF Text TV: 17-year-old girl rescued from the rubble of her house by French team late Wednesday evening. She was severely dehydrated and had a leg injury. Her house collapsed on the 12 January 2010 in connection with the devastating earthquake. At least 170,000 dead after the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010 (new official figure). 1 million people estimated homeless. Lack of tents and the food situation is at a critical level with insufficient food supplies. Danish Text-TV (for DR1 and DR2): ALSO HAITIAN ANIMALS NEED HELP. Appeal from the Humane Society International not to forget that the Haitian animals are also quake victims, and long-term aid is needed for the animals as well - in particular vaccinations against contagious diseases among the animals. The animals are coping better with the situation than expected. __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!

29-01-2010, 09:32 PM	#105
nancyk58 Coldplayer Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 31,266 My Mood: Location: Near Copenhagen Gender: Country: Chat posts: 0 Thanks given: 845 Thanked 181 Times in 131 Posts	UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 29 JANUARY 2010 URBAN (Danish free paper) on 29 January 2010: THE MIRACLE IN THE RUINS. 'Thanks', was all that the girl said as she was dug out of the rubble after 15 days. There is still hope of finding survivors in the earthquake-ravaged island of Haiti. It is clear following the rescue of a 16-year-old girl from the rubble of a house in the capital, Port-au-Prince. "I don't know how she has been able to fight for so long. It is a miracle", says the rescuer J.P. Malaganne to the news agency Reuters. The girl was severely dehydrated when she was found and had apparently a leg injury according to French and Haitian rescuers. "She only said: "Thanks". She is very weak which indicates that she has been there for 15 days", says Samuel Bernes, spokesman of a French rescue team. The severely dehydrated 16-year-old girl is now under treatment in a French hospital. "For the time being we have to calm her, anaesthetize her and stabilize her", says Michel Orcel who is the doctor treating her. MetroXpress, Denmark on 29 January 2010: 75% OF PORT-au-PRINCE IS DESTROYED. HAITI. 75% of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, is in ruins after the earthquake on 12 January. This is estimated by UN's special envoy, Paul Farmer to the news agency AFP. At the same time President René Preval estimates that more than 170,000 people have died and a million people have been made homeless. On the other hand, sources tell Ritzau that the security in Haiti has increased considerably. Danish DR1 TTV (Text TV): HAITI IS RUNNING OUT OF MEDICINE. The hospitals in the earthquake-stricken country are full of thousands of wounded who have exhausted the doctors that are treating the needy. Several hospitals are running out of basic medicaments such as antibiotics and painkillers. The need for medicine is much bigger than the amount of medicine it is possible to get into the country so that it can be distributed. The United Nations also points out that Haitians hospitals are in need of medicine. Danish TV2 TTV: SEVERAL SCHOOLS TO REOPEN IN HAITI ON MONDAY in the areas of Haiti that are not ravaged by the devastating earthquake in Haiti 16 days ago. The Haitian Ministry of Education is to examine to what extent the earthquake ravaged public and private schools in Port-au-Prince and in other parts of the country. 200,000 people are estimated killed on 12 January 2010. Swedish Television, Text-TV: HAITI SCHOOLS TO OPEN AGAIN ON MONDAY in the areas that have not been affected by the the devastating earthquake - according to the Haitian Ministry of Education. The authorities and relief organizations are to make a quick assessment of the schools in Port-au-Prince and in other places in the hardest hit areas and in areas having received many internal refugees. It is estimated that up to 200,000 people were killed by the earthquake on 12 January 2010. It is estimated that between 5,000 and 8,000 schools and 1.8 million children have been affected. German ZDFtext: INCREASING NUMBER OF RAPES IN HAITI. Several homeless women and girls who had taken refuge in tents have been raped. Haiti's Chief of Police accuses criminals having escaped from the prisons during the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010 of having committed these crimes. The Dominican Republic will organize a new conference for reconstruction of Haiti. At least 170,000 people were killed by the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010. UNICEF COUNTS THE ORPHANS. Unicef has started its registration of orphans among minors wandering/roaming about the streets of Port-au-Prince. The minors are then placed in extra established emergency camps. The teams on site are confronted with difficult situations: Many childrens are victims of abuse, others are wounded, but have received no medical treatment. 60 adoptive children from Haiti have arrived at Frankfurt Airport. HAITI: EVERYWHERE IN HAITI THERE IS A SHORTAGE OF MEDICAMENTS. According to info given by aid workers, supplies of medicaments are only in third place after food and tents. According to Haiti's Chief of Police, several homeless girls and women who had taken refuge in emergency camps / tents have been raped, and he accuses criminals who managed to escape from the prisons during the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010 of having committed these crimes. BBC World, TTV: RECONSTRUCTION WILL TAKE SEVERAL DECADES following the devastating earthquake 2 weeks ago. The acting head of the UN Mission in Haiti, Edmond Mulet told BBC that the logistics of the relief effort were a nightmare with Haiti's inadequate infrastructure destroyed and a shortage of vehicles. Mr Mulet said reconstruction was not starting at zero, but "below zero". As many as 200,000 people died in the earth quake on 12 January 2010, while an estimated 1.5 million are now homeless. __________________ Roskilde 5 July 2009 Herning 16 August 2009 *HELP CHILE* AND HAITI by making DONATIONS to ONE OF THESE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS:** BritishRedCross's CHILE Earthquake Appeal: http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 www.oxfam.org.uk - www.redcross.org - www.unicef.org - www.icrc.org or Disasters Emergency Committee receiving donations made on phone 0370 60 60 900 + through website www.dec.org.uk. Go to www.oxfamamerica.org, or text OXFAM to 25383 to make a one-time $10 donation to Oxfam’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund. Donations possible via text, phone or the "Hope for Haiti" Web site until July 2010 VIVA LA VIDA / VIVA COLDPLAYING.COM MAKE PEACE - NOT WAR !!