Yesterday, our own Ferentz Lafargue published a short essay about the earthquake in Haiti at Next American City. In the essay he lists a few suggestions on ways to help with relief efforts in Haiti:

If you are looking to help here are two things to consider:

(1) There are numerous organizations that are providing immediate relief in Haiti.  A short list includes Doctors Without Borders, Partners in Health, Mercy Corps and the Red Cross. Donate $10 to the Red Cross to be charged to your cell phone bill by texting “HAITI” to “90999.”

(2) Without discouraging anyone from making a donation to the above disaster relief organizations, I encourage everyone to also think about smaller organizations that are also working in Haiti and which might have suffered significant damages. It is critical that we also keep these organizations up and running so that they can not only help with disaster efforts, but also do the work that they have been doing for years. Two such organizations include: Lambi Fund and Yele Haiti. A third is Haiti Soleil, a organization on whose board I serve.

Similarly, Interaction, a global advocacy organization, has also drawn up a one page guide for individuals seeking to participate in relief efforts on the island.

A number of local organizations are currently planning events for this weekend.  We hope to have a digest of these events up for our regular Friday edition of NP.  Therefore, if you or someone you know is planning an event taking place this weekend, or early next week. please leave a note in the comment box, or send the information to us via email at nostrandpark at gmail.com and we will do our best to post your listing.

Finally, if you’re looking to read a brief article that places Tuesday’s quake in a broader historical context, check out this piece by Neil Roberts, a professor at Williams College in Massachusetts.

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