Earthquake

I was videochatting with my mom on Tuesday around 5 pm when I felt the chair that I was sitting in start to move. I suddenly felt very dizzy and thought I must have been going crazy, but the sensation continued for about 2 minutes. I didn't think anything of it until I went back inside and students from my program informed me that there had been an earthquake. Fortunately, Santo Domingo did not experience any physical damage from the shock, and some of my friends said they didn't even feel anything at all. Haiti is about 8 hours away from Santo Domingo, however, and by now everyone has heard about the earthquake's effect on Port-au-Prince.

It is so sad to think of all the lives lost. Several Haitians in my classes at Bonó still have not heard from their families, and many are leaving for Haiti to search for their loved ones themselves. I cannot even imagine. On Thursday, classes at Bonó ended early in order to have a university-wide meeting regarding the situation in Haiti and what students can do to help. Jesuit Refugee Services has taken over the entire bottom floor of Bonó to organize a drive for food, water, and medicines. I spent Thursday afternoon helping pack boxes to send to Port-au-Prince. It was incredible to see my classmates and teachers who are normally so easygoing working as quickly as possible, passing giant containers of bottled water, rice, and antibiotics down long lines of people to board buses that then drove straight to Haiti.

I am writing this post to let you all know that I am okay and also to ask that you donate to earthquake relief. Disasters like this typically stay on front page headlines for an average of 6 days before being forgotten, but I have met so many people down here who are directly affected by the earthquake that it's going to be impossible to forget about it. Here are some links for relief if you haven't already donated:

Partners in Health (Starting with donations of $10)
http://www.facebook.com/l/2e4ae;https://pih.org

Clinton Foundation (Starting with donations of $25)http://www.facebook.com/l/2e4ae;https://re.clintonfoundation.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=3869

Georgetown Center for Social Justice http://socialjustice.georgetown.edu/86785.html for direct donations to Save the Children, Jesuit Refugee Services and the Partners in Health.