Tag: Haiti

Colts and Saints on the Field, Haitians off the Field

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garcon2Both Pierre Garcon and Jonathan Vilma squared off in Super Bowl XLIV with football on their minds and Haiti in their hearts.  After the earthquake devastated Haiti, killing tens of thousands of people, these two professional athletes took on the responsibility to help with the relief efforts.

Pierre Garcon carried the flag of Haiti around the field after the Indianapolis Colts defeated the New York Jets in the AFC Championship game.  Although, the Colts lost to the Saints two weeks later in the Super Bowl, he was happy Vilma could serve Haiti as a Super Bowl champion.

vilma2Jonathan Vilma, starting linebacker for the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, decided to design a T-shirt to benefit Haiti.  The T-shirt design is impeccable in correlation with the circumstances.  The top of the shirt reads, “Department of Domeland Defense,” with the bottom stating, “Here We Come to Get You.”

The Superdome is home to the New Orleans Saints; however, it served as home to the people who lost everything because of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the use of the phrase, “Here we come to get you,” serves as truth both on the field and in Haiti.

Both Vilma and Garcon head a major movement towards relief for Haiti.  The entire sports nation is coming together to raise money.  ESPN, the largest sports network on television, constantly runs ads for Red Cross saying “Donate ten dollars by texting Haiti to 90999.”

Athletes are major inspirational figures in society, and Jonathan Vilma and Pierre Garcon show us that it’s not always about winning or losing, but uniting together in support for a bigger cause.

Photos courtesy of Todd Robinson, Bonza Graphics and Michael Conroy, Associate Press

Disaster Strikes in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

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On Tuesday January 12th at 4:53 pm our neighboring country of Haiti experienced a catastrophic event that would change her forever. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit near the capital city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti leaving 230, 000 dead, 300,000 injured, and over a million homeless. Over 90% of the nations buildings were damaged or destroyed, including many government and public buildings, hospitals, and schools. Immediately when news broke of this disaster, American media began to cover the story in depth and as a result many Americans and American organizations have contributed a great deal to the relief effort. Some top contributors include:

Many celebrities and other prominent figures in US media have also contributed their time and efforts to Haiti relief.  President Barak Obama responded at once promising to use US funds and military to help with relief effort, and also employing former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton to hop on board by starting their own ClintonBushHaitiFund. At first most relief efforts were focused on rescuing Haitians still trapped in the debris, but when the Haitian government Continue reading “Disaster Strikes in Port-au-Prince, Haiti”

We Did What?

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I was reading the New York Times today when I came across an article that struck me.

As the story goes…

10 Baptist Americans took it upon themselves to smuggle Haitian “orphans” over the border. Sound absurd? I thought so too. I decided the “… ” was necesarry around the word “orphan” because our fellow Americans didn’t actually have any documentation stating that the status the children was, in fact, orphan.

“What surprises me is that these people would never do something like this in their own country. We must make clear they cannot do such things in ours.” -- Frantz Thermilus, Chief of the National Judicial Police
“What surprises me is that these people would never do something like this in their own country. We must make clear they cannot do such things in ours.” -- Frantz Thermilus, Chief of the National Judicial Police

What were we thinking? In recent times, I have found that Americans, with the help of our media, believe that what we do for suffering countries is always well-received and appreciated. We have found this to be a false assumption in regards to this Haiti hiccup.

These Americans are now held in Haitian prison because they thought they were “doing the right thing.” All things considered, Hooray! for the Haitian police. Despite their infamous corruption and the tragedy that has left Haiti in ruins, they have tried to maintain some national dignity and independence.

I understand the United States is trying to help the cause but let’s try and work with the Haitian government instead of around it. In the end, Haiti is a country of its own who has a government and people that may not like the way the United States does things. Let’s respect that.

Photograph courtesy of the New York Times

Haiti Earthquake: America Responds

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My blog will monitor Americans and Haitians response to the Haiti Earthquake and relief efforts in the US media. The goals of my blog will be to detect which responses have been the most effective, and trace areas of tension and collaboration among the United States and the republic of Haiti with regards to the relief effort. To answer these questions I will watch a news program and read an article once a week on the efforts America has in Haiti. I will also choose one other media outlet per week (such as a blog or YouTube video) that has a specific person’s reaction to the American earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. Finally I will interview members of my family (both American and Haitian) who live in Haiti on how they feel about American response towards earthquake relief.

Mission Haiti Underway

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Let’s talk about a recent event that has affected the lives of many….

Let’s talk about what happened in Haiti on January 12, 2010…

Woman being carried out of the rubble.
Woman being carried out of the rubble.

I find the earthquake disaster in Haiti a completely relevant and necessary topic to cover right now.

Now, I understand that the media is covering the Haiti Relief Effort like movie theatres cover popcorn with butter (that’s a whole lot) but I want to find different angles to explore this traumatic event and the relief efforts that have followed the disaster…

I want to focus on:

  • Public Opinion: What does the public think of our role in Haiti? Are we giving too little or too much? 
  • Media Framing : How does the media in the US frame our role in Haiti?
  • Human Interest Stories: How are people that are directly connected to Haiti reacting and coping with the tragedy? What have people at Furman and nearby been doing in response to Haiti’s cries for help? 

I want to explore the role the United States is playing both as a government but even more so as a people. What do Americans think of the role the US is playing  in Haiti? What do Haitians think of US relief efforts in Haiti? There is so much that the media has not covered (I know, hard to believe) and I want to explore those angles.