PLANE CRASHES CARRYING DISASTER RESPONSE OFFICIALS …

A Nigerian plane carrying more than 30 disaster response officials crashed on Friday in the oil hub of Port Harcourt in what was supposed to be a mock rescue exercise, but there were only a few minor injuries.

 The air force plane, carrying staff from the National Emergency Management Agency and other members of the emergency services, skidded off the runway and into bushes after landing at the city’s international airport.

Rescue workers on the ground who had been ready to stage a mock exercise instead found themselves dealing with a real emergency, but all of the passengers and crew escaped, with only a few sustaining minor injuries.

“No life was lost but the aircraft was severely damaged,” police spokeswoman Rita Inoma-Abbey said on Saturday.

(For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://af.reuters.com/ )

(Reporting by Austin Ekeinde; Writing by Nick Tattersall)

YELE announces Emergency Airflift to HAITI from Miami, Florida …

Emergency Airlift 

Yéle Haiti has teamed up with Federal Express, AmeriCares, Airline Ambassadors, Nature’s Path and Clif Bars for an airlift of medical supplies, food and other emergency items that are urgently needed to assist earthquake victims in Haiti. A FedEx plane will go to Port-au-Prince from Miami next week, the exact date to be determined based on securing landing clearance.
 
The public is invited to drop off specific items that will be part of the airlift. Yéle volunteers will be on site to screen the donations and will accept only the following items:
 
-    nutrition bars (individual or in packages)
-    blankets and sheets (unopened in store wrapping)
-    non-battery radios and flashlights (windup or solar)
-    candles (loose or in packages)
 
While the blankets are for people sleeping outdoors and on the street, the sheets are for wrapping bodies of the dead. 
 
These items can be dropped off on Sunday, January 17th from 9:00am to 3:00pm at the following location:
 
Adrienne Arsht Center
1300 Biscayne Boulevard
Miami, FL 33132-1608

Friday, January 15, 2010 at 05:19PM

President Obama’s message on Haitian Earthquake disaster …

On Tuesday, a catastrophic earthquake struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed, but the death toll — already in the thousands — is climbing fast.

This is the worst earthquake to hit the area in more than 200 years. Entire communities have been ripped apart and as many as 3 million people have been directly affected, including tens of thousands of American citizens who are in Haiti…. See More

Our neighbors in Haiti are racing to confront the enormous devastation — and the OFA community can help. Click here for more information about essential relief efforts and ways you can help today: http://my.barackobama.com/Haiti

Footage is pouring in of homes collapsing, Haitians carrying injured family members, and hospitals being overrun in what was already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

I have directed my administration to respond with a swift, coordinated, and aggressive effort to save lives. Personnel from the United States and our partners in the international community are on the ground in damaged areas right now, working side by side with the Haitian people. They’re providing much-needed food, water, and sanitation supplies, saving lives and helping local communities start to rebuild.

Despite the fact that we are experiencing tough times here at home, I encourage those who can to reach out and help. It’s in times like these that we must show the kind of compassion and humanity that has defined the best of our national character for generations.

As this story continues to unfold, I hope you will continue to keep the people of Haiti in your thoughts and prayers, as well as the many Haitian-Americans who have done so much to enrich our country and who are worried about friends and loved ones in this time of need.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

HAITI: Tracing the missing and the dead …

Photo: UN Photo/Logan Abassi A survivor DAKAR, 14 January 2010 (IRIN) – Some 2,000 people have registered the names of missing relatives on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) family links website, set up on 13 January to help families trace loved ones after Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake that left tens of thousands dead and many more missing. People in Haiti and abroad can register on the site the names of relatives they are trying to contact, and responses will be posted as they come in. Local hospitals, schools and other institutions can also post names of people found alive, injured or dead, said ICRC spokesperson, Anna Schaff. Individuals have also set up websites to trace missing relatives and friends. Two ICRC tracing specialists were due to arrive in Haiti on 14 January to evaluate the situation and set up tracing systems. “We will go where the people are, be they in camps, nearby fields, schools or other locations,” Schaff told IRIN. The biggest concern is to identify and register children who have been separated from their families or orphaned, Matt Wingate, emergency coordinator with Save the Children, said. “Family tracing is the number-one protection priority for now. The clock starts ticking from day one … We don’t yet know the number of lives lost, but many of them will be parents … and many other children will be separated. The vulnerability of children in the immediate aftermath of this crisis is at an unprecedented scale for Haiti.” The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is setting up its emergency operation, while a Save the Children child protection team is en route to Haiti with family tracing kits, which include cameras, computers, communications equipment, and identification badges and bracelets. “Thousands [of children] will have lost all contact with their families … and are now struggling to survive in the rubble,” Save the Children said in a 14 January communiqué. “They are sleeping on their own, trying to cope with the trauma … and will have no idea where to go for help.” Child protection agencies, including Save the Children and UNICEF, will coordinate with the government, ICRC and other agencies to register children, trace and verify families and find appropriate foster care or alternative solutions where needed, Wingate said. The death toll from the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit the capital, Port-au-Prince, on 12 January has been estimated at between 45,000 and 50,000 by the Haitian Red Cross, news agencies reported. aj/np/oa

[ENDS] IRIN NEWS REPORT

Hollywood stars lead Haitian quake charity drive

Pitt and his partner actress Jolie pose at the premiere of “Inglourious …More

 

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were the first to reach out to Haiti by donating $1 million (612 million pounds) from their foundation to Doctors Without Borders, which has been tending to victims of the quake that demolished buildings in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday. Tens of thousands are feared dead.

Actress Alyssa Milano, a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, on Thursday used her blog on The Huffington Post to challenge U.S. corporations to match her donation. She said the funds would go to buy medical supplies, tarpaulins, food and water kits for Haiti.

“I cried and then I did the only thing I could do … I wrote a check to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF for $50,000,” she wrote.

Haiti-born hip-hop musician Wyclef Jean launched a texting campaign, calling on fans to donate $5 to his Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund charged to their cell phone bills by texting “Yele” to 501501.

Jean has already raised more than $1 million for the disaster relief effort and is in Haiti “giving aid and assessing the situation,” according to his www.yele.org website.

Actor George Clooney will host a telethon on MTV next week to raise funds for victims of Tuesday’s earthquake, the music network said on Thursday. 

The event will be broadcast on all MTV Network channels on January 22. Clooney is expected to be joined by as yet unnamed pop music and movie stars.

Grammy-winning Latina pop singer Shakira asked her fans for donations to help rebuild Haiti to be channelled through UNICEF and Wyclef Jean’s foundation.

Coldplay musician Chris Martin called for donations through Oxfam, whose global ambassador, actress Scarlett Johansson, also appealed for contributions for Haiti. 

Oprah Winfrey got involved on Wednesday by asking viewers of her popular show to donate to the Red Cross.

Actor Ben Stiller, who has been raising money for a school in Ceverine in Haiti through Save the Children, also made an appeal on CNN’s “Larry King Live” for $10 donations charged to phone bills by texting “Haiti” to 90999.

First lady Michelle Obama made a public appeal for this texting campaign, which had raised $5.9 million dollars for the red Cross by late Thursday.

 Cycling legend Lance Armstrong’s LiveStrong Foundation pledged $250,000 to help Haiti’s recovery, according to its website. The money will go to Doctors Without Borders and Partners in Health founded by Harvard professor Paul Farmer.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle, editing by Bill Trott)

 Reuters News report.

HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE Appeal!

You must have been hiding under a rock, existing in hibernation, snowed in without telecommunications or having an extended Christmas break and choosing not to access the news if you haven’t heard about tragic disaster that has, it seems, practically demolished Haiti’s ‘Port-Au-Prince’ area.

The place is literally in ruins, with the lives of hundreds of thousands reportedly gone. The hospital, schools, government buildings, the local police station, the majority of businesses, and shops have all been severely damaged, and in a number of instances services are running at a minimum! This includes electricity supplies, fuel and ALL essentials.

At times such as this there are a number of things one can do. You can walk around with your head in the clouds effectrively ignoring a major crisis and cry for help, or you can be part of the solution and help to make a difference in some way shape or form.

Bridge Over Troubled Waters is a Social Enterprise established in 2008 by men and women, passionate about providing support in a world of ever increasing natural disasters, in way that’s trackable and obliterates scepticism around donating to charities and causes.

We come from a range of backgrounds, nationalities and professions.  We’re progressively based around the world through the establishment and help of ‘global ambassadors’ who provide direct support and access to an incident, and work to establish core areas, facilities, individuals and the like in need of essential assistance in their home town, or area close to home.  We make every effort to ensure donors can see where your money, or items have gone, and how funds in particular will be, or have been used to impact change, provide well-being and sustainability.

Endorsed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), we have joined forces with the integrated news network IRIN to bring you reports of such occurences and let you know where your help is needed. We make every effort to work directly with lead organisations in a speciific area or zone, and pleased to be in a position to support the efforts of singer, songwriter, musician and human rights activistL: WYCLEF JEAN through the work of his charity YELE.org!

It’s really simple! Send a TEXT to:

YELE 501501 to DONATE $5

 

At Bridge Over Troubled Waters we raise funds through a number of mediums crucially those involving the staging of events, while  encouraging individuals and businesses to raise funds for a particular cause under the ‘BOTW BANNER’. 

We then donate the collated amount to a relevant organisation or a range of services.  Alternatively, let us know how much you’ve raised, and once you provide proof of the donation we’ll add it to the total.

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY!  ROMANCE WITH A TWIST!!

We will be holding a Fundraising event for the HAITIAN APPEAL on VALENTINES DAY. Click for details …

If you are having an event in the coming weeks, please contact us to arrange donations with details of your event, by email to: ceo@bridgeovertroubledwaters.org.uk

If you would like to arrange an event please contact: sccretary@bridgeovertroubledwaters.org.uk with relevant information about your activity. 

Do also reply to the blog and let us know when you’ve made a donation.

Thank you for your support!

Lorraine Gabriel

CEO

If you would like to contact me directly please send an email to: ceo@bridgeovertroubledwaters.org.uk or ring +44 (0) 7941143412