College Students Respond to Haiti Earthquake

Yesterday was the one week anniversary of the 7.0 earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince. Since the quake, GW students and college students across the country have expressed concern and become involved in the rescue efforts in a variety of ways, from text messaging to collecting donations.

A few days after the earthquake hit, President Steven Knapp sent a letter to the GW community offering support for Haiti and guidance for those who want to assist the relief effort. Although it has been confirmed that no GWU students or employees were in Haiti at the time, members of the GW community with family in the recovering country are encouraging students to become involved.

“I think that all students should care regardless of if you're Haitian or know Haitians,” says Malaika Benjamin, a sophomore at GWU. “As a human being you should want to give to the people by whatever means necessary. Anyone has the chance to make a difference, especially in this situation.”

Malaika lost three family members to the disastrous earthquake.

“After the earthquake it was virtually impossible to contact any of my family members in Haiti,” Benjamin says. “All I knew was what was shown on mediums such as CNN.”

Her father, a Professor of Surgery and Anesthesiology at Mount Sinai Medical School with subspecialities in Critical Care Medicine including anesthesiology and surgical critical care, was born and raised in Haiti, and is there now contributing his much-needed expertise.

“Now that my dad is in Haiti, my uneasiness has grown tenfold,” Benjamin says. “He was supposed to return Monday but Mount Sinai Hospital sent 4,000 pounds of supplies today on a bigger plane.”

Rescue and humanitarian efforts continued in Haiti this morning despite a 6.1 aftershock at 6:03 am near the nation’s capital. The tremor was the largest of more than 40 significant aftershocks that have followed the initial January 12^th quake. It was centered about 35 miles northwest of the capital, according to the US Geological Survey.

The extent of additional damage is not yet clear, but conditions across the country are quickly deteriorating as Haitians resort to violence and looting in desperate search of sustenance. Although the recovery effort so far has focused on rescuing trapped people, humanitarian workers and doctors in the country are calling for increased financial aid to the country for a different kind of mission: to keep the rescued individuals alive and cared for.

PHOTO CREDIT: AP Photo/Francois Mori. Earthquake survivor Hotteline Lozama, 26, smiles as she was pulled out from the rubble by French aid group Secouristes Sans Frontieres in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010. International working groups are racing against the clock across Haiti to find more victims still possibly buried alive in the rubbles.

Efforts to fundraise for the disaster have been particularly successful amongst college students. The aftermath of the quake witnessed an explosion of activity on social networking sites and through cell phone donations, both mediums that are popular with a younger generation.

Over 289,500 Facebook users have joined a common interest group called EARTHQUAKE HAITI that features posts with updates from NGOs as well as over 1200 discussion topics ranging from missing persons advice to orphan adoption calls.

Caroline Gerber, a sophomore at Northeastern University, is a member of a Haiti-related group on Facebook. She was devastated by the quake.

“When I turned on the news and learned about the earthquake in Haiti, my heart broke. I found out about the text message donations from my 6th grade Spanish Teacher's Facebook status and donated immediately. I think they are great way to get huge numbers of people to donate,” Gerber says. “I was stunned by how much money was raised, but it goes to show that if everyone gives a little, the aid money adds up quickly.”

According to a Reuters report, cell phone users in the United States have contributed more than $11 million to Haitian earthquake relief through text messages in what is being hailed as an unprecedented mobile response to a natural disaster. Jim Manis, chief executive officer of the foundation helping to manage cell phone donations, said it was receiving up to 10,000 text messages per second.

To raise additional financial support, parties and concerts across DC are donating proceeds from their ticket sales to the American Red Cross, Partners in Health Organization, and YéleHaiti, founded by Wyclef Jean, a Haitian-American rapper. This past Monday, Wale, Don Juan, Tabi Bonney, Phil Ade, XO, Kingpen Slim and K-Beta performed at the 9:30 club in a concert organized by DMV Helps Haiti. All ticket sales were donated to the Partners in Health Organization.

GWU has contributed to these efforts in a variety of ways. GW Medical Center’s International Medicine Program says the program is organizing a group of GW physicians to assist Project Medishare, an independent nonprofit organization that provides healthcare to Haitian people and which GW has worked with since 2004, in relief efforts.

On Jan. 22, GWorld users will be able to make donations toward Haiti’s relief effort with their GWorld cards at five locations on the University's campuses. Donations will be split evenly between two relief organizations: the American Red Cross and Project Medishare.

Donation locations and hours are:

•GWorld Office, Marvin Center, Fifth Floor 501, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
•Colonial Central, Marvin Center, Ground Floor, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
•Columbian Square, Marvin Center, First Floor, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 to 7 p.m.
•Mount Vernon Campus, Ames Dining Hall, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 to 7 p.m.
•Virginia Science and Technology Campus, Building 2 Lobby, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 to 7 p.m.