Tag: relief effort

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”

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.