Tragedy in Haiti Continues to Hit Close to Home

By: Amanda Cazacu

Posted: 3/2/10

Although it has been over a month since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, people all over the world are constantly reminded of the tragedy that occurred on Jan. 12. Britney Gengel, a sophomore at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., and three other students and two faculty members had been miss-ing since the tragedy. The remains of all six were found recently, while eight other members were evacuated from the country back to Fla. The group was in Haiti on a humanitarian mission.

As the country remains in turmoil, relief efforts are still going on, but are they enough? As the rainy season quickly approaches the shelter-less country, "It is feared that rain will turn camps into quagmires, trigger mudslides and spread disease. We need latrines, we need field tents, we need plastic sheets so that people can cover themselves," stated the United Nation's top official in Haiti, Edmond Mulet. "I don't think we are going to be able to shelter all these people in time."

In an effort to provide the people in Haiti with clean water and food, Oxfam has provided assistance to about 100,000 people and continues to scale up operations, planning to reach at least 500,000 people by the end of July.

According to Voice of America News's Web site, "Pledges from Europe and other nations are making Haiti's recovery the biggest global relief effort since the 2004
Asian tsunami."

So, what is NSU doing to help out? The university has made an effort to help out since the disaster reached home. Clubs and organizations have donated proceeds to Haiti by hosting events and on Feb. 15, the Health Professions Division's College of Osteopathic Medicine's Rural Medicine Club presented a check for $1,000 to George Hanbury, Ph. D., NSU president and chief operating officer, for use in the Haitian relief effort and some of the members plan to go to Haiti in the near future.

To help out, donate to Food for the Poor by visiting www.foodforthepoor.org, calling (800) 487-1158 or by bringing donated items to the Food for the Poor headquarters office, located at 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, FL 33073. The charity will accept canned fish, canned meat, canned milk, canned baby formula and bottled water. Monetary donations will go toward purchasing food and supplies, as well as shipping costs.

There are many organ-izations ready to accept any help possible, just a quick search online can help find a multitude of resources.