Obama updates Haitian relief efforts (Photo by: whitehouse.gov)

On Jan. 12, Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7 earthquake, the largest the country has experienced in over 200 years. The epicenter of the earthquake was within 10 miles of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince. The Red Cross has estimated that the quake will affect at least 3 million Haitians. Haiti has a total population of around 9 million and is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

In the days following the earthquake, Haiti has received aid from organizations all over the world.  International governments, including the United States, have been offering help of all kinds.  President Obama has promised Haitians they will have the “full support of the United States.”

Worldwide, millions of Internet users have been calling on one another to donate money to the relief fund.  Donations via text message alone have already raised over $10 million.

Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and other social media outlets are serving as real-time news sources as more information on the disaster emerges.  On Twitter, trending topics such as #Haiti and #HelpHaiti have remained at the top of the list since the quake. “Trending topics” are the most talked about pieces of information on Twitter at any given time. The Top 10 topics are displayed on every Twitter user’s homepage at all times, encouraging users to see what everyone else is talking about and contribute to the discussion.

Wyclef Jean, popular singer and Haitian, is using his Twitter account (@Wyclef) to update Twitter users about Yéle Haiti, which he created in 2005 to spread awareness about his home country. He is currently using the site as a vehicle to receive donations.

Even CNN is tracking happenings in Haiti through Twitter and other social media, writing stories about the latest in the devastated country based on eye-witness accounts posted on Twitter.

But an article on Mashable, purveyor of all things social media, reminds Internet users that social media can make us aware of what’s happening in disaster areas, but it can’t actually fix the problems. That’s up to the people.

For more of Jordan’s takes on national issues and politics, follow her on Twitter @ygenoutloud.

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As a child, I often heard stories about the Sumatra of his youth. Then, the province and its citizens were poverty-stricken, and my dad’s family was no exception. They struggled more than others because of his mother’s death when he was 9-years-old and his father’s inability to work due to age. These conditions left my dad and his siblings with the responsibility of working to support the family while completing their education. To earn money, my dad fished in Lake Maninjau, West Sumatra, and sold the catch of the day to local markets. His family planted nutmeg, coffee beans, and vegetables, which were also sold at the market. The money allowed my dad to buy items the family needed such as oil, sugar, and laundry soap.

It’s become a cliché to say that, in your youth, you walked miles to school in bad weather. But my dad did walk everywhere he went, including his middle school, which was 5 kilometers, about 3.1 miles, away. Despite the distances, he did not own a single pair of shoes. Eventually, my dad was able to buy a bicycle.  It remained his primary method of transportation for most of his adolescence.

Despite living in abject poverty, my dad held Padang dear to his heart. It meant home. It meant family. And its destruction and devastation during the last quake has made my parents immensely sad.

Officials report that at least 809 people were killed in the magnitude 7.6 quake. As of Oct. 12, 241 are listed as missing, and 1,250 are injured, many from the massive landslides that were triggered by the quake. More than 135,300 buildings, including Jam Gadang, a massive clock built by the Dutch when they colonized the country, were damaged or destroyed.

The archipelago of Indonesia was the home to President Obama for four years of his childhood. In response to the recent disaster, the president pledged $3 million in aid. The U.S. Air Force Humanitarian Assistance Rapid Response Team has been deployed to Indonesia to help the survivors, many of whom have been left homeless due to the extensive damage.

Even though my dad lives in Houston now, he hasn’t forgotten his roots. The Indonesian community in Houston, in collaboration with the Indonesian Scholarship & Relief Assistance of North America, is conducting fundraising activities for the earthquake victims. They hope this fundraising will help lessen the burden of people affected by the natural disaster. To learn more about their efforts, or contribute to their fundraising, you can visit their Web site at http://www.israna.org/.

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