The second thing that jumps out at me is why was I watching Anderson Cooper (and Dr. Sanjay Gupta; yes, I was watching CNN) go pretty much anywhere he wants, and yet all I hear about is how no aid can get through, the infrastructure isn't up to it, ships/planes are only now arriving regularly and yet, they still can't get the supplies from the airport. What is going on? It's extremely frustrating to watch.
I have never been a part of a rescue effort - not for Katrina, or the tsunami in 2004, or anything. So it's hard to criticize. But again, it's been very frustrating to watch. From what I've read of rescue effort protocol it's a fine line between helping, and causing more chaos through unplanned and sporadic relief efforts (gangs, corruption, people hording food/water/supplies). But I've got to believe there could be better efforts to drop supplies, and equipment, to much needed areas. I mean, if absolutely necessary, can't we first drop soldiers? It just seems crazy that these supplies are stuck on a runway and can't get out to the people. I guess things are finally starting to move and the airport has been reopened, but from what I've seen looting is getting worse, as is violence. Here is a video of Anderson Cooper actually helping a boy get to safety. The job of journalism is to report, and not get in the way, but I personally think it's great what he does here. It's a bit graphic so watch if you're comfortable: http://bit.ly/6ZMDSy
Another thing I find amazing is how social media (Twitter, Facebook) and text messaging have absolutely proven what they're capable of, in terms of spreading awareness, a message, or in this case, a plea to help. A huge issue is obviously how fast that money can get to Haiti and actually help, but as I write this a quick search says nearly 2/3 of the approximate $112M in American Red Cross donations were made online, with nearly 15-20% of that through their text campaign (Text 90999 to donate $10). http://bit.ly/6z7ZHh
The American Red Cross has raised the most money, with nearly $112 million in donations as of Monday evening, the organization said.10 years ago this would not have been possible. The scale on which technology has progressed in the last decade has been incredible. Seems like things are only going to go even quicker from here. It's hard to believe that at the turn of the millenium I did not own a cell phone.The U.S. Fund for UNICEF had raised $22.5 million as of Tuesday, a UNICEF spokeswoman said.
Catholic Relief Services had received $16.5 million in gifts and pledges as of Monday, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, rounding out the top three in the survey.
Other charities surveyed by the Chronicle of Philanthropy including Oxfam America, World Vision U.S. and Save the Children USA had all received more than $7 million as of Tuesday.
Ricky Gervais recently commented that he found Twitter to be for teenagers, and he couldn't understand why adults (particularly stars) would use it. I guess in that context I can see what he's talking about (though I still enjoy it. To me it's the best part of Facebook - status updates). He also commented on it as a networking tool. http://bit.ly/hOqQ
I don't agree with him. Twitter has proven very powerful. Whether or not it's used for 'good' remains to be seen, but it's clear there is a power there.
We'll see if money keeps flowing to Haiti. I imagine it'll slow down as the emotion of the earthquake starts to fade a little bit. There are many benefit shows being planned for Haiti, and I'm sure each will be a tremendous success, but nothing will prove as efficient at raising money as a simple text message. As impersonal as that sounds, it's the reality of the world we now live in.
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