Haiti

"In the last week, we have been deeply moved by the heartbreaking images of the devastation in Haiti: parents searching through rubble for sons and daughters; children, frightened and alone, looking for their mothers and fathers. At this moment, entire parts of Port-au-Prince are in ruins, as families seek shelter in makeshift camps. It is a horrific scene of shattered lives in a poor nation that has already suffered so much.

But above all, we act for a very simple reason: in times of tragedy, the United States of America steps forward and helps. That is who we are. That is what we do. For decades, America's leadership has been founded in part on the fact that we do not use our power to subjugate others, we use it to lift them up—whether it was rebuilding our former adversaries after World War II, dropping food and water to the people of Berlin, or helping the people of Bosnia and Kosovo rebuild their lives and their nations."
- President Barack Obama, Newsweek, Jan. 15th, 2010


Watch CBS News Videos Online

To get more information and to help:

The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/01/12/GA2010011203712.html?sid=ST2010011603460

The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/


Oxfam: http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/oxfam-teams-haiti-initiating-aid-delivery/5/35451

The Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/16/clinton-bush-haiti-fund


A good book to read about Haiti and a doctor, Dr. Paul Farmer who for years has been working in Haiti and set up clinics all around the country (Partners in Health) is called "Mountains Beyond Mountains."


The amount of devastation to human life and the basic necessities to support life is hard to comprehend. With so many dead and trapped -it is hard to even know what to do or how to help. I think it is in our nature to want to help our fellow man, to jump right in and go help. And while for most that is not possible, for some, it is. My hope is that we keep in our thoughts and prayers centered on those that are affected by this disaster and those that are helping in the relief effort. This is a human tragedy, not just a Haitian tragedy.