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)

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

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

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
]]> http://bridgeovertroubledwaters.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/haiti-tracing-the-missing-and-the-dead/feed/ 0 bridgeovertroubledwaters http://bridgeovertroubledwaters.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/hollywood-stars-lead-haitian-quake-charity-drive/ http://bridgeovertroubledwaters.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/hollywood-stars-lead-haitian-quake-charity-drive/#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 06:03:32 +0000 bridgeovertroubledwaters http://bridgeovertroubledwaters.wordpress.com/?p=89 ]]>

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.

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

Here is some news just in  from ITN that’s stirred up alot of angst in Ireland and further afield.

The growing concerns, as indicated in this article forces a social onus on businesses and charities in particular to avoid tax havens by committing to paying taxes in the country your company is registered in.  Apparently, by not doing this, poorer communities are losing millions annually that could be used for reinvestments and put to work towards enabling healthier ecomnomies around the world:

Rock band U2 has been accused of robbing the world’s poorest people by storing some of its wealth in a tax haven. On the eve of the launch of the group’s new album, No Line On The Horizon, protesters held a demonstration outside the Irish Department of Finance in Dublin.

U2 – frontman Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr – are depriving the Irish exchequer of much-needed revenue which could be spent on overseas aid, campaign group the Debt and Development Coalition Ireland (DDCI) claims.

The band moved the company U2 Ltd, set up to deal with royalty payments, to a finance house in Holland in 2006 after the Irish Government scrapped an artist income tax exemption scheme. The new limit was capped at 250,000 euros (£223,000).

Accounts for 2007 show U2 Ltd paid out more than 21 million euros (£19m) in wages.

Oxfam and Concern Worldwide are among 70 organisations involved in the coalition, which met Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan before protesters gathered.

DDCI’s Nessa Ni Chasaide said: “We wanted to raise our concern that while Bono has championed the cause of fighting poverty and injustice in the impoverished world, the fact is that his band has moved part of its business to a tax shelter in the Netherlands.”

She added: “Tax avoidance and tax evasion costs the impoverished world at least $160 million (£142.5m) every year. This is money urgently required to bring people out of poverty.

“U2 is just one part of the problem. This is a much wider and systemic problem in our global financial system. Every company and individual has the responsibility to pay the right amount of tax.”

Mr Lenihan said: “We have tax treaties with other countries that regulate where you pay tax. There is a problem with smaller countries that have to set up deliberate tax havens. We are raising that at EU level.”

Andy Storey from justice group Afri said tax is a fundamental question of global justice.

He said: “Lost taxes in impoverished countries far outweigh what they receive from rich countries in aid. There are trillions of dollars stashed in tax havens. If that money was taxed in the countries where it was earned, governments would have their own resources to improve the lives of their people.”

Do comment on this article and let us have your feedbac?

TIA!

In May 2007 Cyclone Nargis claimed the lives of more than 130,000 people in Myanmar, an area near the Indian Ocean formerly known as Burma.

Winds raged from ninety miles per hour, hitting one hundred and thirty at its peak.

Two years on weather forecasters say watching and carefully monitoring the lightning patterns within storms can help to predict the level of danger.

To date most of the residents are refugees.  They’re still trying to rebuild their homes having become victims to the devastation that Cyclone Nargis left behind.

At a time when the increase of natural disasters continues to wreak havoc this advancement in forecasting is welcomed news.  Such occurrences aligned with good weather warning systems in place will go some way towards saving lives in the future. 

Having overcome the trials and tribulations of losing a key sponsor due to the ever evolving credit crunch in December Mr. Thompson has recieved full backing from the film industry.  The show will now take place at the British Academy for Film and TV (BAFTA).

Charles Thompson, CEO of Screen Nation says: “I am very proud to finally be able to showcase in our sixth year, the extraordinary pool of outstanding talent that we have here in the UK. It is very important that we recognize their work as being seen globally with their achievements setting them as exemplary British role models for the film & TV community. Screen Nation celebrates the achievements of all the winners and nominees and joins with our partners and the industry in wishing them all the best of luck.’’

Charles is the Bridge Over Troubled Waters (BOTW)  Global Ambassador for Ghana and takes pride in his position to provide aide and sustainability where disasters have struck in this region, and will make a formal statement about his role and committment to the work of BOTW as part of the company launch on Valentines Day.

The awards will see major honours go to comic legend Whoopi Goldberg, veteran star Don Warrington (Strictly Come Dancing, Rising Damp), Desmond’s creator Trix Worrell, South Africa’s first entry to the 2009 Oscars, Jerusalema, Noel Clarke and the cast of Adulthood and Sharon Martin, top Hair & Makeup Designer for Oscar winners Blood Diamond & Last King of Scotland.

TV favourite Josie D’Arby will host this elite ceremony alongside award winning comedian Eddie Kadi to reveal this year’s winners in 12 exceptional categories. Joined by the industries finest from both British and international shores, Screen Nation will reward the outstanding frontrunners in their creative fields.

Screen Nation Awards remains the UK’s only international ceremony to recognize the achievements of black film & TV. This year’s show will see Screen Nation joining in partnership with the UK Film Council, Film London and the BBC to once more reward a unique mix of cinematic and small screen talent.

Limited tickets for this exclusive event can be purchased online at Screen Nation website www.screennation.co.uk.

Bridge Over Troubled Waters CEO, Lorraine Gabriel said:

“Everyone here is very proud of the progress Charles and his team have made.  It was always clear this was a temporary setback.”

Seen here with Charles Thompson:

 Miss Gabriel went on to say:

“The outcome of having the event at BAFTA speaks volumes.  We’re very proud of our Ambassador and very much looking forward to attending the awards.”

We wish Charles every success!

 Visit: www.bridgeovertroubledwaters.org.uk

NATURAL DISASTERS occurs

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Only major disasters make the news

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