Haiti: WTF?

xp I realized soon after I posted that I had used an unnecessary comma. I said "white, Chiristian country" when what I meant was "white Christian country."

Nevertheless, the perception persists that all Haitians practice voodoo.

And anyway they're rally poor! Something must be wrong with them.

I read the archdiocese of Port-au-Price died in the quake.

xpost

Archbishop that is.

kenan, haiti IS a christian country.

Also -- big difference between a Catholic country and a Protestant one, at least from where Pat Robertson sits.

enough

The Port-au-Prince Cathedral was destroyed

Before
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Papcathedrale.jpg

After
http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/large/56934134.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1263432095&Signature=NXNNUpIb7f%2FdIwFwCLQhwok73t4%3D

holy

btw kenan, not to be pedantic, but many haitians actually DO practice some kind of syncretic version of christianity and voodoo. my bro spent a lot of time down there (and in benin, where voodoo is thought to have originated, as well as in queens, where many recent immigrants live) the boundaries are blurrier than you might think

beside the point, however

jesus :C xp

oh wow

http://10.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kw738qewt51qzpwi0o1_500.jpg

but many haitians actually DO practice some kind of syncretic version of christianity and voodoo.

The western version of Christianity is filled with paganism, too. So, of course. But that's not a line that most western Christians would draw, and in fact would balk at.

well yeah but bear in mind that western christianity was pagan long before it was introduced to haiti

true, true. We still observe Druid holidays, ffs.

But yes, very beside the point.

Those pics, god.

btw kenan, not to be pedantic, but many haitians actually DO practice some kind of syncretic version of christianity and voodoo. my bro spent a lot of time down there (and in benin, where voodoo is thought to have originated, as well as in queens, where many recent immigrants live) the boundaries are blurrier than you might think

beside the point, however

― everybody's into weirdness right now (gbx), Wednesday, January 13, 2010 8:12 PM (25 minutes ago)

and even if the don't themselves practice it, they may believe in it - as you probably know, gbx, lots of these people are loath to have bloodwork for this reason

I'd like to read something suggesting that the U.S. is sending loads and loads of help. Something approaching the scale of the problem.

And I'm reading that the European Union has pledged...4.4 million dollars?

4.4 million dollars?

This is fucking ridiculous.

The Pitt-Jolie foundation gave $1m.

I really hope there's some non-depressing reason for the EU's contrib being so pathetic (ie like the member states having separate budgets that limit them)

if you think that's bad wait til you hear about the grant from The Inter-American Development Bank.

$200,000!

wtf EU

Maybe the EU number is a very preliminary step. Like an immediate step followed by much more significant support coming very soon.

God, I hope so.

i earnestly hope that we see the same kind of global mobilization like we saw after the tsunami, but i'm pessimistic. no one gives a fuck about haiti.

― everybody's into weirdness right now (gbx), Wednesday, January 13, 2010 5:32 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I appreciate a lot of the work that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation does, but it would be nice if they'd rise to the occasion during times like these and just donate, I don't know...2 billion dollars.

OTM

The pictures of Haiti running on the Miami Herald website are heartbreaking.

Andrew Sullivan links to this article with advice about donating to aid organizations for Haiti.

from their website:

Global Health--
Diarrhea CHECK
Health Science & Technology
HIV/AIDS BIGTIME
Malaria maybe? probably dengue, tbh
Maternal, Newborn, & Child Health yup
Neglected Diseases uh-huh
Nutrition poorest country in the western hemisphere iirc
Pneumonia & Flu
Polio
Tobacco
Tuberculosis totally
Vaccines probably?

I don't know much about this stuff, but I would imagine there are limits to the amount of aid and assistance that can reach people in the early stages. Haiti must have a weak infrastructure to start with, and perhaps little infrastructure at all now. I have no idea if these limits would be reached or even approached, but it is something to consider. My understanding is that aid drops off pretty quickly after the initial period and medium and long-term rebuilding doesn't get properly financed, which is a total tragedy.

xpost

One of the points made is in that article Sullivan linked to is that you should donate money to places that already have offices established in Haiti, rather than those who will have to get in and get setup before they can begin to be useful. Red Cross already had an office in Haiti...right? I assume and hope they do, because I just threw them some cash.

out of NYT just now Germany said it would make available 1.5 million euros, or about $2.2 million, for emergency assistance. so maybe the EU doesn't donate as much as individual countries do

Red Cross has an office in Haiti and regional headquarters in Panama, I believe.

My understanding is that aid drops off pretty quickly after the initial period and medium and long-term rebuilding doesn't get properly financed, which is a total tragedy.

qft

also, guys: PARTNERS IN HEALTH

Paul Farmer's org, has been in Haiti for a long time. Moreover, NOT in Port-Au-Prince, so I gather they've avoided the devastation that has crippled MSF's in country operations

Sorry, but 2.2 million dollars from Germany is still pathetic. Germany has the FOURTH LARGEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD. GDP is a pretty lousy indicator, but their 2008 GDP was over 3.6 TRILLION dollars.

(Haiti's was almost 7 BILLION, btw)

i'm not defending them, just trying to figure out how the money flows

don't really know what that $2.2 M means though. they're giving that much cash but i'm assuming big countries are all sending military + doctors, food, hospital ships, and other stuff? i agree it looks bad.

yeah, me too xposst

I guess this rings really hollow to me, particularly today, because I listened to this arrogant fucker at work give a presentation at work about shitty mobile application he had developed for the low low cost of $100,000, despite the fact that it had been made clear months ago that the application he was developing was almost identical to an application that already existed and was available for free for iPhones. And no one gave a shit. $100,000, down the fucking drain, like it's nothing. And it IS nothing to the U.S., and Germany, and the E.U. 2.2 million dollars is 22 of these idiotic redundant mobile applications that no one will ever use.

^^^^^^^^^^

don't really know what that $2.2 M means though. they're giving that much cash but i'm assuming big countries are all sending military + doctors, food, hospital ships, and other stuff?

I hope you're right. I just keep checking the news waiting to hear about how everyone is swarming in to help, and...nothing.

Obama wants $22 billion so we can go kill more people in poor countries.

it's funny how the money never runs out for that

lol ;_;

"We have a long history that ties us together"

well played, Mr President.

yeah it's ridiculous...

iirc when the tsunami happened there was a gradual raising of stakes in terms of aid donations; america announced it was sending some ridiculously small amount, then japan far outstripped it with like $500m, and so america bumped its bid to fit in/not look like dicks. similarly i seem to recall that the british government's amount somehow correlated with public donations. so hopefully this is a tentative first step.

i hope so.

christ, it seems like all of the major landmarks just crumbled--the presidential house, the parliament, the cathedral. what's left? i can't recall a recent natural disaster when, aside from 1,000s of poor people in poor housing seeing their lives destroyed, you actually have many wealthy, well-positioned people suffering horribly--those in government, U.N. officials, etc.

i wonder whether even these major buildings were made with earthquakes in mind. although a 7.x earthquake striking just beneath a major city is likely to topple even the hardiest buildings.

Um, the local news has reported that help is on the way from the U.S.: A battleship left port in Virginia on Wednesday, headed to Haiti.

??

Local News in Flabbergasting Horrible News Shocka, I know. They also noted that experts say there is a 36 hour window to rescue people who may be trapped under rubble, and that 29 hours have passed. But don't worry the battleship is on the way.