I'm sure everyone has heard by now about the 7.0 earthquake that recently hit Haiti. I'm not going to rehash all the details because you can get them from much better sources, though at this point it looks like thousands and thousands have already died, but I want to offer some opportunities to respond and hope that they might move a few people to help that might not have considered it before.
The CIA world factbook has Haiti down as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere "...with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty." It's per capita Gross Domestic Product in 2008 was about $1,300. To contrast, the per capita GDP for the United States in 2008 was about $47,500, and as of 2008 about 13% of Americans live below the poverty line.
I'm no economist but that seems like quite the disparity. My hope is just that we as a mass don't let another disaster in the world dissolve into our collective unconscious simply because it's not disrupting our own personal lives. I'm including myself here, as well. I hope that we can be creative in our response, and stubborn in our refusal to move onto the next flippant news story as soon as we've had our fill with this one.
Below are a few of the organizations sending supplies, aid, and workers to help in the relief efforts. I'm sure they can use anything we can afford.
Donate: World Vision
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