Pray for Haiti

Here are some "fast facts" about the 'quakeI found by Googling:

Fast facts – Haiti Earthquake

• USGS: USGS called it the strongest earthquake since 1770 in what is now Haiti

• The quake struck on January 12, 2010 at 4:53 p.m.

• The 7.0 magnitude quake's epicenter hit just 10 miles west of Porte-au-Prince and its 2 million inhabitants

• 3 million people in need of emergency aid after major earthquake

• The major quake sent 33 aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 4.2 to 5.9

• The Red Cross dispatched a relief team from Geneva and the UN's World Food Program is flying in two planes with emergency food aid.

• The Inter-American Development Bank said it was immediately approving a $200,000 grant for emergency aid.

• Some 9,000 peacekeepers have been in Haiti since 2004, including 1,266 Brazilians.

• Haiti has no real construction standards.

• November 2008: Following the collapse of a school in Petionville, the mayor of Port-au-Prince estimated about 60% of buildings were shoddily built and unsafe in normal circumstances.

And some facts about the ppl in general:

Fast facts - Haiti

• Discovered by Columbus in 1492.

• Haiti won its independence from France on January 1, 1804.

• Population of nearly 10 million people.

• Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

• 80% of the population in Haiti is living under the poverty line.

• Most Haitians live on less than $2 a day.

• More than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs.

• Haiti is slightly smaller than Maryland.

• The Haiti telecommunications infrastructure is among the least developed in Latin America and the Caribbean.

• Haiti has 14 airports; 4 have paved runways.

• Haiti’s capital is Porte-au-Prince, a coastal city with about 2 million inhabitants.

• After decades of dictatorship, former Roman Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide became Haiti's first freely elected leader in 1990.

• Aristide was ousted by a military coup in 1991 but reinstated with U.S. backing.

• Aristide was forced out of the country and into exile in 2004 by a rebellion of gangs and former soldiers.

• Democratic rule was restored in 2006.

• Haiti has been led by President Rene Preval since May 2006 when the country returned to constitutional rule.

• Haiti is one of the original members of the United Nations and several of its specialized and related agencies, as well as a member of the Organization of American States (OAS).

• In July 2004, $1.085 billion was pledged through 2006 at the World Bank Donors' Conference. Donors included the U.S., Canada, the EU, France, Sweden, Spain, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Greece, Norway, Mexico, and Ireland

Wow....we need to really pray for these poor ppl!! I know that there are many organizations you can make donations through, too. Perhaps I'll be able to find some trustable ones for y'all. I know of at least one, but I can't remember what it's called right now! Darn....y'all ever do that? I mean, goodness, I'm not that old!! ;D

OK, well, until later...TTFN!

~E