...remember 911....the feelings are back...or is it a "Story about Poverty"?

Posted by C.Worring

The feelings when 911 happened are back ----the quake in Haiti last week, is truly a reminder! So many innocent people gone, in a matter of minutes.  Similarities...yes.. it's a massacre!  Bodies everywhere, with no such system to identify all the bodies...  unexpected... definitely unexpected and lastly it happened in an overpopulated area where there are not just hundreds, but thousands of people!!!  Hear me out...thousands!!!!


As David Brooks, NY Times columnists, writes that this is a "Poverty Story".  We know about the 7.0 earthquake in San Francisco in 1989...and with this magnitude, only 63 people died!  In Haiti at the same magnitude...thousands died !!


So, is it okay to say that it had something to do with poor construction, and corrupt public services?  Poor infrastructure?  Or just plain ignorance that a quake this magnitude will not affect the country as it actually did...


I am not only a bit saddened but very worried!  I received a call from a friend who is a Haitian national that migrated to Montreal, today. Him and his wife just built a home in Haiti a year ago.  They both plan to move back because of the weather and the lower standard of living.  His family and friends are fine.  He told me that the hardest, is seeing the faces of the Haitians that are left alone in the streets, the young children left without parents, the elderly that can't get a bed to lay in to sleep....and it goes on.


He said, "Our home is fine, just a few cracks, but it is ok!"  So, doesn't this tell me that proper building materials ARE available!  I am not an architect nor a contractor, but I have renovated a home in the past...I know that there are substitutable materials to reduce costs for one...but a good contractor will tell you that it won't last! Or was it just luck that his home was not completely destroyed?


In the developing and developed countries, the slums and/or the poor are the ones that seem to suffer more! Affected... but safer are the upper class ..... But, what happened to the city of Port Au Prince??  Hotels, buildings, etc.. did not make it either? They are still finding bodies under the rubble, missing people, missionaries, tourists...etcc.  Should I continue to question the construction? 


So after the food, water, and the cleanup ...what next?  I assume it would be to rebuild Haiti right? 


David Brooks, also mentioned... "The first of those truths is that we don’t know how to use aid to reduce poverty. Over the past few decades, the world has spent trillions of dollars to generate growth in the developing world. The countries that have not received much aid, like China, have seen tremendous growth and tremendous poverty reductions. The countries that have received aid, like Haiti, have not."



So my friends, it is going to be a long battle in trying to aid this country.  As Lawrence E. Harrison explained in his book “The Central Liberal Truth,” Haiti, like most of the world’s poorest nations, suffers from a complex web of progress-resistant cultural influences. There is the influence of the voodoo religion, which spreads the message that life is capricious and planning futile. There are high levels of social mistrust. Responsibility is often not internalized.


The late political scientist Samuel P. Huntington mentioned that cultural change is hard, but cultures do change after major traumas. This earthquake is no doubt a trauma. The only question is whether the outside world continues without change.

An Increase in Non-Profit Organizations ...

Posted by C.Worring

There seems to be a substantial increase in  non-profit organizations world wide.   I got a hold of  a Non-Profit Organization List and it looks like a PDR!!!! (Physician's Desk Reference)

Is it a reflection that the economy is just not getting any better that we as Americans have lost our hope that the economy will take more time to recover?  Or is it because it is so easy to start one?

I spoke to my dear friend, an Accountant in Texas, to list for me what I would need to start a non-profit organization.  Since I am in California, not in Texas --below lists 12 things you need to do to start one in the state of California:

1. Create a program plan.
2. Determine whether the project is really needed.
3. Look for an existing organization to adopt your project.
4. Decide whether you really need to be a nonprofit.
5. Determine the type of 501(c)(3) your organization should be.
6. Decide whether or not you will be a membership organization.
7. Write articles of incorporation and bylaws and file them with the Secretary of State.
8. Conduct your first meeting.
9. Seek nonprofit status from the federal government.
10. After your federal exemption comes through, continue your application to the State.
11. Become familiar with the annual forms your organization must file.
12. Seek technical assistance and support.

It is not rocket science but...it is not that simple either.  So, then how do we know if it will work...do we do an analysis? Do a 2-3 year forecast by using some financial information from a similar non-profit?

What gives us the urge to start a non-profit organization...is it to just do it "because it will make a difference?" I've heard that it is also a "Calling" or for "Good Karma" and/or for the "Church"...  Here's a good one--I am a celebrity, and I need a tax deduction?

But don't get me wrong because I am sure it is at least one of the above...or some personal reason...or just mainly from the "heart."

Or is it really for profit...due to tax exemptions and such??  I wonder...???

At times like this, people are very concerned because they want to make sure their hard earned cash goes directly to the ones in need.  With our unemployment still rising, we literally count our pennies now...

So, what does it take to have a successful Non-Profit Organization?  If you ask me, I think it's pretty darn tough!  It is just like opening a business or having a business idea...it is never as easy as it looks...

Let's think about it?  Do you think our nation, or even the world would benefit with less non-profits?  I can see non-profit organizations all coming together to decrease administration costs...but will it work?

Well financial organizations, airlines, a lot of major corporations are merging!  I wouldn't be surprised if

Special Olympics and the March of Dimes merge.

Just a thought....a simple thought...but does it all make sense??

Let's take time to step back and reflect....

Posted by C.Worring

It's time to step back for a few minutes and reflect.
It's time to say a prayer.
It's time to give thanks.
It's time to accept and feel the pain.

The world once again came together to help Haiti.  It will be a long journey....but as we step back and think, we came together again as brothers and sisters.

In every corner I turn, every store, website I visit, every person I speak to...not one but all are asking to "pray and help Haiti".

We have shown to the world again, that we are all in this together!  As humans, we are naturally compassionate and giving. We love and we care.

Let's continue to spread the word..."Let's take care of each other!"

Who, What, Which Organizations to donate? As many as you can....

Posted by C.Worring

A number of organizations are already engaged in critical relief efforts, and I urge you to support as many of them as you can. One of them, Oxfam America, has an emergency response team of more than 200 people already on the ground. The need for clean water and critical public health services is massive and immediate -- and our donations can help save lives.

Make a donation to Oxfam's earthquake relief effort in Haiti:

http://acp.climateprotect.org/oxfam

Or, for a list of other organizations to donate to and ways to make a difference, seehttp://www.whitehouse.gov/haitiearthquake_embed.

There are moments when we, as human beings, must come together as a global community and as stewards of each others' health and welfare. It is that sense of interconnectedness that brought each of us to the climate movement, and it is moments like this that bring out the best in us -- as individuals, as a nation, and as a movement.

Earthquake...was expected..

Posted by C.Worring

A recent article published by the Miami Herald today mentioned that geologists knew an earthquake was due in the island of Haiti. Yes, --now the question:
 "What are they supposed to do and with what resources?"  Was it  a prediction that was left unnoticed or should I say, ignored??

" A 2008 paper predicted a quake registering up to 7.2, but “it could have been the next day, it could have been 10 years, it could have been 100,” an expert tells the Miami Herald. The quake that struck near Port-au-Prince was the largest since a 1751 temblor that hit the Dominican Republic."

"Geologists surmised that substantial unrelieved pressure had built up in the Enriquillo Fault Line. But even a more precise forecast wouldn't have solved the infrastructure issues hampering relief efforts. “This is the poorest country in the hemisphere,” a think tank director says. “What are they supposed to do and with what resources?” And there’s more to worry about: The Haiti event hasn’t relieved all the pressure, possibly making a quake in Jamaica or the Dominican Republic more likely."



It could increase the chances. The rupture in the fault line was only 50 miles long. The areas to the east and west that did not rupture are under greater loading, greater stress accumulation.- Dr. Paul Mann, University of Texas

Text...for Haiti!

Posted by C.Worring

The Start of the Struggle--from Associated Press

Posted by C.Worring

Aid Groups Struggle To Get Food, Water To Haitians

Red Cross Estimates 45,000-50,000 Killed In Quake

JONATHAN M. KATZ, Associated Press Writers

POSTED: Thursday, January 14, 2010

UPDATED: 10:17 am EST January 15, 2010

Frederic Dupoux/Getty Images Rescuers carry a 3-month-old baby found alive Jan. 14 following a powerful earthquake that left much of Haiti's capital city in ruins.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Aid workers hoping to distribute food, water and other supplies to a shattered Port-au-Prince are warning their efforts may need more security Friday as Haitians grow increasingly desperate and impatient for help. Hundreds of U.S. paratroopers arrived overnight to back up the relief effort.

Hard-pressed government workers, meanwhile, were burying thousands of bodies in mass graves. The Red Cross estimates 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed in Tuesday's cataclysmic earthquake.

More and more Friday, the focus fell on the daunting challenge of getting food and water to millions of survivors. United Nations peacekeepers patrolling the capital said people's anger is rising that aid hasn't been distributed quickly, and the Brazilian military warned aid convoys to add security to guard against looting.

"Unfortunately, they're slowly getting more angry and impatient," said David Wimhurst, spokesman for the Brazilian-commanded U.N. peacekeeping mission. "I fear, we're all aware that the situation is getting more tense as the poorest people who need so much are waiting for deliveries. I think tempers might be frayed."

The U.N. World Food Program reported Friday that its warehouses in the Haitian capital had been looted since the devastating quake. It didn't know how much of its pre-quake stockpile of 15,000 tons of food aid remained.

A spokeswoman for the Rome-based agency, Emilia Casella, noted that regular food stores in the city also had been emptied by looters. Casella said the WFP was preparing shipments of enough ready-to-eat meals to feed 2 million Haitians for a month.

More than 300 troops of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division arrived at the Port au Prince airport overnight and others have arrived in nearby waters on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, Lt. Gen. Ken Keen told ABC's "Good Morning America."

"We have much more support on the way. Our priority is getting relief out to the needy people," he said.

About 5,500 U.S. soldiers and Marines are expected to be in Haiti by Monday. Their efforts will include providing security, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Hundreds of bodies were stacked outside the city morgue, and limbs of the dead protruded from the rubble of crushed schools and homes. A few workers were able to free people who had been trapped under the rubble for days, including a New Jersey woman, Sarla Chand, freed by French firefighters on Thursday from the collapsed Montana Hotel. But others attended to the grim task of using bulldozers to transport loads of bodies.

Haitian President Rene Preval told The Miami Herald that over a 20-hour period government crews had removed 7,000 corpses from the streets and morgues and buried them in mass graves.

For the long-suffering people of Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, shock was giving way to despair.

"We need food. The people are suffering. My neighbors and friends are suffering," said Sylvain Angerlotte, 22. "We don't have money. We don't have nothing to eat. We need pure water."

From Europe, Asia and the Americas, more than 20 governments, the U.N. and private aid groups were sending planeloads of high-energy biscuits and other food, tons of water, tents, blankets, water-purification gear, heavy equipment for removing debris, helicopters and other transport. Hundreds of search-and-rescue, medical and other specialists also headed to Haiti.

The WFP began organizing distribution centers for food and water Thursday, said Kim Bolduc, acting chief of the large U.N. mission in this desperately poor country. She said that "the risk of having social unrest very soon" made it important to move quickly.

Governments and government agencies have pledged about $400 million worth of aid, including $100 million from the United States.

But into the third day following the 7.0-magnitude quake, the global helping hand was slowed by a damaged seaport and an airport that turned away civilian aid planes for eight hours Thursday because of a lack of space and fuel.

Aid workers have been blocked by debris on inadequate roads and by survivors gathered in the open out of fear of aftershocks and re-entering unstable buildings.

"The physical destruction is so great that physically getting from point A to B with the supplies is not an easy task," Casella, the WFP spokeswoman in Geneva, said at a news conference.

Across the sprawling, hilly city, people milled about in open areas, hopeful for help, sometimes setting up camps amid piles of salvaged goods, including food scavenged from the rubble.

Small groups could be seen burying dead by roadsides. Other dust-covered bodies were being dragged down streets, toward hospitals where relatives hoped to leave them. Countless dead remained unburied, some in piles. Outside one pharmacy, the body of a woman was covered by a sheet, a small bundle atop her, a tiny foot poking from its covering.

Aid worker Fevil Dubien said some people were almost fighting over the water he distributed from a truck in a northern Port-au-Prince neighborhood.

Elsewhere, about 50 Haitians yearning for food and water rushed toward two employees wearing "Food For The Poor" T-shirts as they entered the international agency's damaged building.

"We heard a commotion at the door, knocking at it, trying to get in," said project manager Liony Batista. "'What's going on? Are you giving us some food?' We said, 'Uh-oh.' You never know when people are going over the edge."

Batista said he and others tried to calm the crowd, which eventually dispersed after being told food hadn't yet arrived.

"We're not trying to run away from what we do," Batista said, adding that coordinating aid has been a challenge. "People looked desperate, people looked hungry, people looked lost."

Engineers from the U.N. mission have begun clearing some main roads, and law-and-order duties have fallen completely to the mission's 3,000 international troops and police.

Wimhurst, the mission spokesman, said Haitian police "are not visible at all," no doubt because many had to deal with lost homes and family members. The first U.S. military units to arrive took on a coordinating role at the airport.

Batista, the Food For The Poor project manager, went back to the Dominican Republic late Thursday and awaited the arrival of 100 shipping containers loaded with rice, canned goods and building supplies.

"I don't think that a word has been invented for what is happening in Haiti," he said. "It is total disaster."

___

Associated Press contributors to this story: Mike Melia, Jennifer Kay and Gregory Bull in Port-au-Prince; Alexander G. Higgins in Geneva; Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations; Tales Azzoni in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Danica Coto and David McFadden in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Adam Geller in New York; Matthew Lee and Pauline Jelinek in Washington.

(This version CORRECTS that WFP based in Rome.)

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Orphans of Haiti....they need us..

Haiti Update: Expect Number of Orphans to Increase


14/1/2010 - International children's and orphans' charities working in Haiti have warned that the number of orphans will likely rise as a result of the deaths caused by Tuesday's earthquake.
It is with a sombre sort of certainty that humanitarian workers expect the number of orphaned children in Haiti to increase as a consequence of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the country on Tuesday, doing especial damage to Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital.

It is feared that the death toll from the quake could surpass 100 000. Thus far, the Red Cross estimates that about 50 000 have been confirmed dead. The deaths of parents can lead to the collapse of families, forcing elder children or grandmothers to become the heads of households. Such households will, in turn, become some of the most impoverished, finding it difficult to achieve self-sufficiency. Moreover, many children have been separated from their parents; they are, at present, just as vulnerable as children whose parents have died.

The most recent available data shows that the number of orphans in Haiti is already sitting at 380 000, according to statistics collected by UNICEF. Generally, orphans face more severe difficulties in accessing health services and may be less able to attend school without the adequate care and protection from the child slavery and servitude that often become the fate for children without parental care in Haiti.

Consider that of the 10 million residents of Haiti, over 50% are under the age of 18, many of them living in families with insufficient incomes. The needs are great, spurring many Canadian and international charities to run homes for children without parental care in Haiti.

Why Half A Smile...

I was sitting in my living room in Chicago, one cold winter night... I read an excerpt that really made me think ....

Thich Nhat Hanh a Vietnamese peace activist's teaching is that through mindfulness, we can learn to live in the present moment instead of in the past and in the future. We as people should " dwell in the present moment", according to Nhat Hanh, is the only way to develop peace, both in one's self and the world...

Our expression then shows..."half a smile"--

'Half smiling' mindfulness exercises by Thich Nhat Hahn


Half-smile when you first wake up in the morning

Hang a branch, any other sign, or even the word "smile" on the ceiling or wall so that you see it right away when you open your eyes. This sign will serve as your reminder. Use these seconds before you get out of bed to take hold of your breath. Inhale and exhale three breaths gently while maintaining the half smile. Follow your breaths.

Half-smile during your free moments

Anywhere you find yourself sitting or standing, half-smile. Look at a child, a leaf, a painting on the wall, anything which is relatively still, and smile. Inhale and exhale quietly three times. Maintain the half smile and consider the spot of your attention as your own true nature.

Half-smile while listening to music

Listen to a piece of music for two or three minutes. Pay attention to the words, music, rhythm, and sentiments. Smile while watching your inhalations and exhalations.

Half-smile when irritated

When you realize you're irritated, half-smile at once. Inhale and exhale quietly, maintaining the half smile for three breaths.

The Most Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh (Thây), our spiritual teacher, founded the Unified Buddhist Church (Eglise Bouddhique Unifieé) in France in 1969, during the Vietnam war. Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, a poet, a scholar, and a peace activist. His life long efforts to generate peace and reconciliation moved Martin Luther King, Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. He founded the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon and the School for Youths of Social Services in Vietnam. When not travelling the world to teach “The Art of Mindful Living”, he teaches, writes, and gardens in Plum Village, France, a Buddhist monastery for monks and nuns and a mindfulness practice center for lay people.

The Unified Buddhist Church established Sweet Potatoes Community in 1975, Plum Village in 1982, the Dharma Cloud Temple and the Dharma Nectar Temple in 1988, and the Adornment of Loving Kindness Temple in 1995. Thich Nhat Hanh’s sangha (community of practice) in France is usually referred to as the Plum Village Sangha.

Help for Haiti...do we really know this country??

It has been one tough week for the country of Haiti. Hurricanes, floods, turmoil and recently a 7.0 earthquake...

Not only has it been a total nightmare but total devastation!

The red cross, and plenty more are making their donations to help this country ....is it enough? Will they make it early enough or will it be too late...?? It's tough...so tough especially now...

I spent many days in Haiti in the early 1990's from my previous job. The Haitians are the most kind hearted people I know. They are unique and the food is just exquisite....I can still recall the best.."pistache" I've had is from Port Au Prince.

"Haiti's regional, historical, and ethnolinguistic position is unique for several reasons. It was the first independent nation in Latin America, the first post-colonial independent black-led nation in the world, and the only nation whose independence was gained as part of a successfulslave rebellion. Despite having common cultural links with its Hispano-Caribbean neighbors, Haiti is the only predominantly Francophoneindependent nation in the Americas. It is one of only two independent nations in the Western Hemisphere (along with Canada) that designatesFrench as an official language; the other French-speaking areas are all overseas départements, or collectivités, of France."

It is so evident that countries all over the world gather to make sure help is on it's way for Haiti...it does feel like it is another Tsunami.