The World Answers Appeals to Provide Haiti and Chile With Relief
By Nikhil Krishnan
As the world already knows, earthquakes in two countries in the first three months of the new decade shook the world and many humanitarian organizations. The first being in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on January 12, 2010, was on a 7.0 Richter scale magnitude. The other was near the city of Concepcion in Chile on February 27, 2010 with a Richter scale magnitude of 8.8. Just a few weeks after the earthquake in Chile, three more earthquakes struck Chile on March 11, 2010 with one of the earthquakes measured at 7.2 Richter scale. The situation in these two countries is completely different, the death toll continues to rise, and challenges for humanitarian groups and organization continue to increase.
Although Chile suffered an earthquake with a greater magnitude, the status in Chile has been a lot better compared to the status in Haiti. The Chilean government is extremely organized under the leadership of President Michelle Bachelet and is taking measures to ameliorate the situation. On the other hand, the Haitian government is extremely corrupted and has turned its back towards the country. Moreover, Chile was somewhat prepared for this calamity since it has been frequently struck by earthquakes in the past, but Haiti’s Port au Prince had its last earthquake in 1751. In Haiti, the damage is concentrated in the area of Port au Prince as opposed to Chile, where the damage is very widespread.
Therefore, humanitarian challenges have been very difficult to meet with. “The challenges we are facing are typical of an earthquake. You’ve got a lot of homeless people that are living outside of their homes. They may have lost their homes or they’ve been compromised. Power has been cut off, water and sanitation have often been cut off, and of course now they are dependent on aid organizations and the government for food, water, and sanitation and those kinds of things. So, as we know, this was one of the biggest earthquakes of the last 50 years, and it did quite a bit of damage,” stated Richard Sterns, president of World Vision at a PBS news interview.
As a result of the earthquake, the U.N. Missions Building in Haiti collapsed and most members including its head, Hedi Annabi, have passed away. The good news was that U.N. Development Program (UNDP) and the World Food Program (WFP) buildings in Haiti have survived and have been able to serve with the aid of about 11, 000 blue helmet soldiers and officers of the Mission des Nations Unies la stabilization en Haiti (MINUSTAH). Since, many nations have responded to appeals for relief in Haiti and Chile. The U.S. government has in fact raised about $ 48 million for donation. Many nations have sent military and naval personel to the two countries for creating and operating rescue bases. In addition, the International Committee of the Red Crosses has been providing medical aids to the hospitals in Haiti and Chile.
By Nikhil Krishnan
As the world already knows, earthquakes in two countries in the first three months of the new decade shook the world and many humanitarian organizations. The first being in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on January 12, 2010, was on a 7.0 Richter scale magnitude. The other was near the city of Concepcion in Chile on February 27, 2010 with a Richter scale magnitude of 8.8. Just a few weeks after the earthquake in Chile, three more earthquakes struck Chile on March 11, 2010 with one of the earthquakes measured at 7.2 Richter scale. The situation in these two countries is completely different, the death toll continues to rise, and challenges for humanitarian groups and organization continue to increase.
Although Chile suffered an earthquake with a greater magnitude, the status in Chile has been a lot better compared to the status in Haiti. The Chilean government is extremely organized under the leadership of President Michelle Bachelet and is taking measures to ameliorate the situation. On the other hand, the Haitian government is extremely corrupted and has turned its back towards the country. Moreover, Chile was somewhat prepared for this calamity since it has been frequently struck by earthquakes in the past, but Haiti’s Port au Prince had its last earthquake in 1751. In Haiti, the damage is concentrated in the area of Port au Prince as opposed to Chile, where the damage is very widespread.
Therefore, humanitarian challenges have been very difficult to meet with. “The challenges we are facing are typical of an earthquake. You’ve got a lot of homeless people that are living outside of their homes. They may have lost their homes or they’ve been compromised. Power has been cut off, water and sanitation have often been cut off, and of course now they are dependent on aid organizations and the government for food, water, and sanitation and those kinds of things. So, as we know, this was one of the biggest earthquakes of the last 50 years, and it did quite a bit of damage,” stated Richard Sterns, president of World Vision at a PBS news interview.
As a result of the earthquake, the U.N. Missions Building in Haiti collapsed and most members including its head, Hedi Annabi, have passed away. The good news was that U.N. Development Program (UNDP) and the World Food Program (WFP) buildings in Haiti have survived and have been able to serve with the aid of about 11, 000 blue helmet soldiers and officers of the Mission des Nations Unies la stabilization en Haiti (MINUSTAH). Since, many nations have responded to appeals for relief in Haiti and Chile. The U.S. government has in fact raised about $ 48 million for donation. Many nations have sent military and naval personel to the two countries for creating and operating rescue bases. In addition, the International Committee of the Red Crosses has been providing medical aids to the hospitals in Haiti and Chile.
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