Blogs

We were given the wonderful opportunity of sharing some of our experiences and perspectives on the role of media in disasters at the Media for Social Responsibility course by Ithaca College with live remote participation of students from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Korea, Liberia and USA. I spoke from the Ecole Supériore of Infotronique d'Haïti after riding my bicycle 55km.

After the Tsunami, the survivors were living in make shift shelters in schools across the city. After a few months, the government built temporary homes for the displaced and the first few people who moved in May 2011. The survivors were given the following amenities to get them started in their homes: (Some get it pretty late, and not all the items are present during move in)

1) Air Conditioning
2) Television
3) Refrigeratior
4) Washing Machine
5) Microwave
6) Rice Cooker

Kadonowaki elementary school

On Mar 11, 2011, an earthquake off Fukushima Prefecture triggered a tsunami that hit Ishinomaki.

There are 362 students and 19 teachers and academic staff dead or missing in Miyagi Prefecture alone.

Dr Suda is a survivor of the Tsunami. At the age of 70 years old, he is still a dentist and is determined to re-open his dental clinic. Dr Suda did re-open his clinic 2 months after the Tsunami, and his determination did spark off other stores in the area to do so. Come listen to his experience in the past 1 year, post Tsunami.

I'm currently planning a project to bring art from the artists living in the affected areas in Japan to different parts of the world like NYC, Boston, Singapore, Taiwan and Mexico to help them sell their art and create awareness for the Relief 2.0 movement. One of the goals of this Art Festival is to change mindsets from donation based to one of conscious buying, which would give dignity to survivors who work and earn their own money and benefiting the economy in the disaster areas. I believe that this will accelerate the recovery process.

As part of our efforts to connect youth and kids around the world and to create awareness among them about the actual issues that affect us at a local and global level, Relief 2.0 is having two video conversations via Skype with 6th grade students at César Chavez Preparatory School (better known as Chavez Prep) in Washington, DC.

Japanese kids from Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan sing for the children and youth of Haiti on a special video prepared for and presented at TEDxYouth@PortauPrince, November 20, 2011. Travailler ensemble!

Haitian kids participating on TEDxYouth@PortauPrince send a message of hope to the kids and the people of Japan: Ganbatte Japan!

Billions of dollars were pledged and a significant percentage of that has been spent in Haiti's disaster recovery related processes. But how much of that has made it to the people? With even the most conservative estimates, the money actually destined for Haiti should be enough to provide for at least 6 months or a year of income for the entire population in Haiti. A population that could be actively involved in the reconstruction of Port-au-Prince and restoration of the National economy instead of being systematically sidelined and excluded from the recovery process.