I highly recommend that you bookmark this link. It is the on-going story of some Americans, ex-military and firefighters and medical personnel, who packed up a rucksack and went to Haiti.

“Normal” is a word I wouldn’t really use down here, but I suppose we are developing a little bit of a morning routine. We packed medical supplies, reviewed our possible missions for the day, mixed up oral rehydration salts, and headed out to the general hospital. (No soap opera jokes, please; we’ve told them all several times.) Our numbers and logistical requirements have grown to the point where we were traveling in two tap-taps and a rental Suzuki from the DR…

We looked carefully at the buildings as we drove along (occasionally being cheered on by locals shouting “We love you! Thank you!”)

Please read all the entries, and follow the link to donate. This is America at its best.

This is today’s update for fund raising numbers for the relief of the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The subtotal reflects the sum of American individual donations, corporate donations and donations from foundations.

The numbers in this table are from a PDF file prepared daily using available information from the Internet. It is not intended to be complete. That link is here.

Many companies are also matching employee contributions along with their donation.

The list is not intended to be complete. The amount raised through the text messaging process is not current. It shows the generosity of the American people.

This is today’s update for fund raising numbers for the relief of the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The subtotal reflects the sum of American individual donations, corporate donations and donations from foundations.

The numbers in this table are from a PDF file prepared daily using available information from the Internet. It is not intended to be complete. That link is here.

Many companies are also matching employee contributions along with their donation.

The list is not intended to be complete. The amount raised through the text messaging process is not current. It shows the generosity of the American people.

The print and broadcast media have swarmed into Haiti and now the news is filled with their perception of what isn’t getting done. I would like to address some of these in order to bring some perspective to the wails from the media.

IT IS A DISASTER
When there is a disaster, people are at risk and people die. That’s why it is called a disaster. We need to recognize that a great many people have died and many more are going to die despite our best efforts.

PEOPLE ARE HUNGRY
Most of the population of the Port-au-Prince area relied upon charitable aid from outside Haiti for part or all of their daily existence. Let’ engage our brains and look at some numbers.

Assume that a million people in the PaP area have no food. That means that they need at least one meal today, and tomorrow, and so on. If a plane brings in enough supplies for ten thousand meals, that means that 990,000 people go hungry today and 1 million go hungry tomorrow.

Supplies have to be produced. If all the disaster relief storehouses are emptied, more must be manufactured, shipped and purchased. That takes time. And, let’s not forget that millions of people elsewhere in the world also need those supplies and they were in line first.

In Haiti’s climate, people need about 2 quarts of water per day. 2 million quarts of water every single day. Just where do the bottles for that water magically appear from? The water tankers?

PEOPLE ARE TRAPPED
Most of the people who were buried alive by the earthquake will die. There is no way to rescue all of them. If, somehow, every search and rescue team in the world had arrived just after the quake, most of those trapped would still die. Urban search and rescue takes time. Every building must be examined and searched carefully and safely. There are tens of thousands of buildings in ruins in the quake zone. It is and was never humanly possible to search even a fraction of them before people that are trapped die from lack of water or their injuries.

PEOPLE ARE INJURED
For every injured person you need several aid workers. If 100,000 Haitians are injured in Port-au-Prince, you would need 300,000 plus aid workers just to treat their injuries. The workers need places to work, places to sleep, food and water and medical supplies – all of which are in very short supply. And all of that material is needed on top of the needs of the people in the city.

MEDIA
The media in general have little understanding of logistics. Their food comes from a supermarket or a restaurant. They sleep in hotels. They cannot grasp the concept that in a DISASTER all of the necessities people need to survive must come from outside the area. They cannot understand that food does not come from the supermarket but through a long supply chain that stretches back to a farm somewhere.

Port-au-Prince has one airport, all of Haiti has one airport that can handle the large freight carrying planes. It is a bottleneck that cannot be changed. Until the port is safe to use, all the supplies are coming through the airport.

With the arrival of the United States military, some other options open up. Only the United States has the ability to move supplies to beaches, small landing strips and open areas. That said, it only changes the bottleneck from a very large one to a large one. Most media have no grasp of the amount of material a ship can carry when compared to even the largest plane. Only a working seaport will begin to make a dent in the human need that we see in the news.

Until we have Star Trek’s transporters and food synthesizers, shipping and travel will take time and food must be grown, processed, packaged and shipped.

HOW TO HELP
The thousands of charities that work in Haiti or want to work in Haiti are all competing for your donations. Give to those you have given to in the past and trust. Give through their local branches. Ask if they need volunteers because if you can fill a slot locally, they might be able to free staff to assist in Haiti.

Pray for the people of Haiti, the aid workers and everyone who is working so hard to save those we can. And, pray also for those we cannot save.

The numbers in this table are from a PDF file prepared daily using available information from the Internet. It is not intended to be complete. That link is here.

The subtotal reflects the sum of American individual donations, corporate donations and donations from foundations. Many companies are also matching employee contributions along with their donation.

The list is not intended to be complete. The amount raised through the text messaging process is not current. It shows the generosity of the American people.