Haiti: Josh Shahryar's Humanitarian LiveBlog (18/19 January)

Josh Shahryar with the latest from the humanitarian effort in Haiti, alongside his LiveBlog of the most recent news:

0837 GMT

The people of Gaza held a fundraiser for the people of Haiti today. They are sending, money, medicine, blankets and other supplies. Hopefully, Israel will help in getting these supplies to Haiti. (The report is from Press TV in Iran.)

0800 GMT

As people in Haiti continue to hastily bury victims of the earthquake for fear of health risks, BBC reports on the myths and realities of the supposed health risk and the emotional trauma hasty burials will cause the family of the victims:

“There is this myth that bodies have to be disposed of incredibly quickly, which often leads to bodies being shoved into pits without any form of identification,” Sir Nicholas Young, British Red Cross chief executive and a trustee of the main fundraising group, the Disasters Emergency Committee, told the BBC. “[This makes it] impossible for the relatives to grieve. Impossible to know how many people died and impossible for people to identify their relatives. This is a terrible shame.

“The risk is absolutely minimal, unless there is disease in the population. This is a mistake and a waste of resources.” The charity has its own guidelines on cadaver management for disaster zones and signs up to 2009 advice from the Pan American branch of the World Health Organisations – Management of Dead Bodies After Disasters: A Field Manual for First Responders.

You can access the field manual on the Red Cross’ website by CLICK HERE.

0735 GMT

NEW UPDATE on this situation. Shaun King’s people are reportedly going to make a visit there tomorrow. (Thank you for the compassion!)

Foyer de Sion Orphanage in Port-au-Prince is running out of water and in desperate need of it, according to one twitterer who is in touch with them. If you know someone who can get water to their facilities, please get in touch with twitter user robinbauer. They had earlier received  some aid from the LDS church:

With gratitude we are glad to announce that food, water and medical supplies arrived from the LDS church and the children are receiving it. Praise God!.  Prayers precede miracles and we thank you for your prayers. Satisfied tummies tonight.

Thanks for everyone’s support. Still much to be done. In the meantime please help with our Haiti Relief Fund. http://www.foyerdesion.org/donations-GiftsOfHope.php We are finding ways to get that help to Guesno.

0650 GMT

Convoy of Hope has released a new report explaining Haitians immediate needs and what they have done so far:

Food supplies are running low in Haiti and show no signs of improving anytime soon. But even when food is available—as it is in limited amounts on some street corners from vendors—many families simply do not have the cash to pay for it. “My house is damaged, I need food, but I have no money to buy it,” says Ralph, a twenty-something-year-old who could be speaking for tens of thousands of hungry Haitians.

“The situation regarding food and water remains dire,” says Kevin Rose, Haiti director for Convoy of Hope. “The lack of fuel and security issues has made it very difficult to move food around the city. But through our network of partners we are getting food into some of the most desperate places.” Rose says the food being distributed to earthquake victims is inventory from Convoy of Hope’s warehouse that is used to feed 7,000 children each day who are a part of Convoy of Hope’s feeding initiative in Haiti.

“That supply will last 10 to 14 more days,” admits Rose. “So, we need to replenish the warehouse as fast as we can to ensure that we can keep feeding the children in our program while also continuing to provide food for those who are suffering from the earthquake.” Hundreds of desperate Haitians are in line waiting for food at Quisqueya Chapel—Convoy of Hope’s main distribution point in Port-au-Prince. Yesterday, the Convoy of Hope team distributed 100,000 meals here and at five other distribution points.

“Having partners like Haiti 1, the national Assemblies of God church and Mission of Hope has allowed us access to parts of the city we could have never gotten into,” says Paul Coroleuski, Convoy of Hope’s director of field services who is in Haiti. “Without our partners we would be like many other relief organizations who have food and supplies in country but are facing enormous logistical and security problems getting those items distributed.”

You can help Convoy of Hope help more Haitians by CLICKING HERE and donating.

0539 GMT

Pastor Jean Romain of Good Shepherd’s Love Orphanage located on 15 October Blvd, Tabarre Haiti Goureau in Delmas – Port-au-Prince has sent a call for help. There are children and other survivors there in immediate need of assistance and supplies. If you have a way of getting medical supplies, food and water to these people, please get in touch with Pastor Romain by calling 011-509-3462-0624 or 011-509-3874-5726 or emailing jeanromain56@yahoo.fr.

Please hurry, time is of the essence.

0529 GMT

Thanks to your generous donations, Mercy Corps was able to raise more money through Western Union for Haiti. They blog:

Over the holiday weekend, the Western Union Foundation gave us $50,000 to match donations to our Haiti Earthquake Fund. We finished the challenge on Martin Luther King Day. Thanks to everyone who gave through Twitter and helped us finish the match.

(Thank you, citizens of earth!)

0508 GMT

Hospice Saint Josesph also have a new update on their medical work in Haiti. Though they are not an organization as large as the Red Cross, CARE International or MSF, they are still doing what they can to help Haitians – because life matters. You can read there update by clicking here or visit their website by clicking here.

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Haiti: Josh Shahryar's News LiveBlog (18/19 January)

EA's Josh Shahryar with the latest from Haiti. See also his LiveBlog on humanitarian developments:

0827 GMT

More updates on Haitians trapped under the rubble even a week after the earthquake:

A source in Haiti posted this on their Facebook page:

Martine Peirre is still sending messages out! She is alive under the rubbles at Universite Caraibes at Delmas 29 with others send help

(Can someone help? Please?)

0810 GMT

As the earthquake ruins more families and shatters more lives, the people of Port-au-Prince are forced to leave their homes and try to get as far away from the disaster zone as possibel. The New York Times reports on this tragic development:

“My only hope is to return to my family’s arms.”

Ms. Verly joined thousands of others, as the exodus from the capital accelerated on Monday, by boat, bus, car and truck, in uncertain quest for shelter, fresh water and stability in the countryside. They sought to leave an anarchic city marked by acute shortages of basic goods and aid efforts hampered by bottlenecks and security fears.

“I don’t know if I’m coming back,” said Marcelaine Calixte, 20, a student whose house and college had collapsed, sitting on a crowded bus Monday afternoon headed to Les Cayes, a southern town.

Read the whole story by CLICKING HERE.

0726 GMT

The long-term damage to Haiti is going to be staggering and the country will require much more help, as this report from Reuters suggests:

Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez proposed to international donors on Monday the creation of a $2 billion-a-year fund to finance for five years Haiti’s recovery from a devastating earthquake.

“We’d be talking about a five-year program of some $10 billion,” Fernandez told representatives of foreign governments and international financial institutions at a preliminary donors’ conference in Dominican Republic, Haiti’s neighbor on the island of Hispaniola.

0708 GMT

TPM updates:

The FBI and the National Center for Disaster Fraud have created a hotline to report suspected Haitian earthquake relief fraud. The number is (866) 720-5721, and is staffed 24/7 by a live operator.

0606 GMT

After criticism from the French government and the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’accusations that the US military was ‘occupying’ Haiti and that the US military role was inappropriate, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates today attempted to quell these fears. The Associated Press reports:

Gates said he does not foresee an expanded policing role for the United States, however. The United States is chiefly involved in distributing relief and will support the United Nations in providing security, Gates said. “I haven’t heard of us playing a policing role at any point.”

There are currently 1,000 U.S. troops in Haiti while 3,000 are helping out with relief efforts from aboard their navy ships. 12,000 more US forces are expected to land in Haiti soon.

This all comes at a time when:

A joint statement Saturday from the Haitian president and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton referred to an expanded U.S. security role.

“President Preval, on behalf of the Government and people of Haiti, welcomes as essential the efforts in Haiti by the government and people of the United States to support the immediate recovery, stability and long-term rebuilding of Haiti and requests the United States to assist as needed in augmenting security in support of the government and people of Haiti and the United Nations, international partners and organizations on the ground,” the document reads.

0534 GMT

Haiti Year 0, Day 7

After the Red Cross created a page to help find survivors and Google, Inc. released a tool to help in the same cause, CNN has now also created a web page to assist in the location of lost loved ones in Haiti.

You can visit their page by CLICKING HERE.

0448 GMT

More reports coming in from Haiti give many hope of finding more survivors trapped under the rubble in the Caribbean Supermarket in Port-au-Prince. According to Twitter userfiresideint, Haitians trapped beneath the walls of the market have been able to survive this long because they had access to some food and water that was entombed with them under the concrete and metal.

(Hopefully, more rescue workers will get there in time to help these people.)

0431 GMT

A reliable Twitter source firesideint tweets about the situation in Haiti, personal feelings and comments on news, (eye-opening):

(I’m posting the tweets as is, starting from the earliest to the latest)

- Just got back from Darbonne (epicenter). Passed about 12 UN relief vehicles LOADED with rice & supplies as we were leaving. YES!

- Aid is finally being delivered in mass quantity.

- Changed my underwear today. The first time in 5 days. Someone had given my other ones away. Thanks, Kent, for bringing new ones!

- I had a COMPLETE meltdown today. My first one. Very cathartic. Talked to my kids on phone. I popped.

- Found out that part of the delay is the reception of expired food & meds. @ airport, they have to sort through donated items first.

- Do not believe the hype. Things are relatively stable here. I’ve been in the thick of it. But I don’t have sponsors to please, do I?

- An earthquake moves adoptions along (http://bit.ly/8TeeIr). How bad do you have to be at your job to get bested by an earthquake?

- I am not sending out my family because we are scared of Haitians. Then why? We don’t need to be using up their precious resources.

- All we need is Love… and Transparency.

- Begging stopped when the earthquake hit. A few kids begged from me today. It’s nice to see things getting back to normal.

- The other night I got stuck downtown and asked a Haitian family for a ride. They declined but then gave me money to hire one. I was humbled.

- “Some are saying” often means there is no source. Any journalist worth his weight can hand over a direct source. Be critical.

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Haiti: Josh Shahryar's News LiveBlog (17-18 January)

Haiti: Josh Shahryar's Humanitarian LiveBlog (17-18 January)

Latest updates....

0335 GMT

CBS has an extremely informative video on the condition inside Haiti today. Please beware, the images are gut-wrenchingly depressing. Do not watch it if you have already seen enough. Best option is to fast forward the first 2/3s of the video.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

0326 GMT

TimesOnline reports on medical challenges on the ground in Haiti and immigration hassles for Haitian children who are being evacuated to the US:



US immigration officials had been refusing to allow children into the country until next weekend. However, as Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, arrived to assure Haitians that America stood ready to help “in any way we can”, doctors managed to persuade the US authorities to allow in Jean, a four-month-old Haitian girl for treatment. The orphaned child has cut through immigration rules used to bar entry to the US for Haitians even in extreme circumstances.

The charity Medishare had been considering defying US immigration by putting Jean physically in the giant hands of Alonzo Mourning, a basketball star, who has given millions to the charity and spent three days last week clearing rubbish in its tented clinic in Port-au-Prince. However, by Saturday night only 23 Haitians had been admitted to US hospitals.

Click Here to read the full entry. (The story is pretty disturbing, so caution is advised.)

Earliest updates....

2124 GMT

As search and rescue operations continued, amidst hope, there is a grim reality – the loss of life is staggering. ABC reports:

International search-and-rescue teams have pulled more than 70 people from the rubble of Haiti’s earthquake — a record for urban search-and-rescue missions following such a disaster, the U.N. claimed.

But though limited food, water and medical supplies finally are reaching victims in desperate need, Haiti’s prime minister said at least 70,000 dead bodies have been collected. And some unofficial estimates of the death toll have ranged between 150,000 and 200,000.

According to the U.N., 40 international teams containing nearly 1,800 rescue workers and more than 160 dogs, will not stop until the job is done.

2042 GMT

FOX News confirmed today that at least 16 American citizens have lost their lives in Haiti’s devastating earthquake:

Sixteen Americans are confirmed dead in the wake of Tuesday’s devastating earthquake in Haiti, the US state department said Sunday.The victims include 15 private American citizens and one US government employee, the department said.The US Embassy in Haiti, meanwhile, has reported that at least 70 Americans remain unaccounted for.

2037 GMT

Even after almost five days, people are still being pulled out from under the rubble in Haiti. The latest survivor is Isabel Azou, 58, who was pulled out by Delray Beach fire department and the Rapid Latino America Search and Rescue Team.

Sadly, her three children are still trapped under the rubble and presumed to have died in the tragedy. (I do not want to post the picture here because it is far too graphic and hope is what we all need at this hour.)

2036 GMT

Even after almost five days, people are still being pulled out from under the rubble in Haiti. The latest survivor is Isabel Azou, 58, who was pulled out by Delray Beach fire department and the Rapid Latino America Search and Rescue Team.

Sadly, her three children are still trapped under the rubble and presumed to have died in the tragedy. (I do not want to post the picture here because it is far too graphic and hope is what we all need at this hour.)

Haiti: Josh Shahryar's Humanitarian LiveBlog (16-17 January)

0700 GMT

There is now a Facebook group for people trying to find news about their loved ones in the aftermath of the tragedy in Haiti. You can join this group if you have a Facebook account by visiting their page here. If the link does not work, please search for “Haiti Earthquake” on Facebook and you will be directed to it.

0512 GMT

Haiti Medical has released a list of working hospitals in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other cities in Haiti.

Haiti: Josh Shahryar's News LiveBlog (16-17 January)

Port-au-Prince:

• Hopital de l’ Universite d’Etat d’Haiti
  Rue Monseigneur Guilloux
  Port-au-Prince, HAITI
  Phone: 509-222-1221  or  509-223-4254



• Centre Obstetrico Gynecologique Isaie Jeanty-Leon Audain
  Chancerelles,
  Port-au-Prince, HAITI
  Phone: 509-222-2757


• Hopital du Canape-Vert
  Rte du Canape-Vert
  Port-au-Prince, HAITI
  Phone: 509-245-1053 or 509-245-0205

For a full list, click here.

0424 GMT

AmeriCares reports:

AmeriCares disaster relief experts are on the ground in Port-au-Prince working around the clock preparing for the arrival of AmeriCares first emergency airlift into Haiti. Our aid workers are coordinating the distribution of $5 million worth of lifesaving medical aid to help Haitian survivors of the catastrophic earthquake. AmeriCares has pledged $15 million in aid over the days, weeks and months ahead and a second airlift is planned in the coming days. Help Support AmeriCares >>

0406 GMT

NBA’s Only Haitian-Born Player Samuel Dalembert Donates $100, 000 in Support of Relief Efforts

Click here to read full story.

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Haiti: Josh Shahryar's News LiveBlog (16-17 January)

0632 GMT

More cries for help at Hotel Montana now. Twitter users from Haiti are repeatedly calling for rescuers to divert more attention to this establishment. According to them, they have been in touch with some people who are still trapped under the rubble.

Help needed!

0622 GMT

Desperate cries for help from the Caribbean Supermarket in the Haitian capital through cell phones. Many people on Twitter and on alternative media continue to try and get rescuers attention to this part of town where many people might still be trapped and alive.

Haiti: Josh Shahryar’s Humanitarian LiveBlog (16-17 January)

One twitterer reports:

msymharris

DO NOT LEAVE CARRIBEAN SUPERMARKET people stuck under rubble! they texting Aldopho Prato by freezers, CARRIBEAN MARKET



0551 GMT

The BBC reports:

Senegal’s president says he will offer free land and “repatriation” to people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. “The president is offering voluntary repatriation to any Haitian that wants to return to their origin,” said Mr Wade’s spokesman, Mamadou Bemba Ndiaye.

The spokesman emphasised that if a region was given, it would be in a fertile part of the country rather than in its parched deserts, the Associated Press news agency reported.

(Let’s try and help Haitians in Haiti – I think.)

0534 GMT

More reports of gunshots being heard in Port-au-Prince:

Twitter user fredodupoux reports:

exchanging gun shots can still be heard and most of the people are sleeping outside.

0518 GMT

The Sacramento Bee has released new aerial images of the Haitian capital. Here are some of them:







12:00 PM (Haitian Time)

A video from yesterday and last night on CNN. (The images are VERY VERY disturbing. Please DO NOT watch and DO NOT pass it along without a VERY stern warning.)

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