The earthquake that has just struck Haiti is a natural disaster of massive proportions, and it’s very difficult for us to wrap our heads around it. The current estimated death toll is 30,000 to 100,000 - which is a huge number. According to Tales From the Hood

And even at the low end of that estimate, it is still a big number. Typhoon’s Morakot, Ketsana and Parma, plus a tsunami in the Samoa Island Group, plus both of last Fall’s earthquakes in Indonesia, combined did not reach a death toll of 30,000.

According to MSF, there are no working hospitals in the country; the National Palace and other major government buildings have collapsed; many of the U.N. offices have been damaged and U.N. officials killed. My prayers go out to all those affected by this disaster. I cannot even really fathom the magnitude of pain these people must be going through.

What has impressed me is the extent this disaster has reverberated through social media channels. Through Twitter and blogging, people shared their sentiments about the disaster. Citizen journalism was at its best, with Haitians reaching out to provide news updates via Twitter despite chaos, confusion and damage to regular communication channels. People across the globe have, amazingly, been able to follow the developments practically in real-time. Earlier today Daniel Morel created a Twitter account, @photomorel, and posted a series of shocking high-quality photos depicting what exactly was happening in Haiti. @marvinady has also posted photos of the devastation; these were some of the first photos of the devastation. Hashtags #Haiti and #Haitihelp are being used to keep tabs on Haiti updates.

Social networking sites have provided something incredibly important that the New York Times or BBC simply cannot provide: a human connection. By following someone on Twitter and seeing their pictures, we feel closely connected to them. Social media, by connecting people, has allowed for an outpouring of empathy that simply isn’t possible through the mainstream media. We’re getting information as it happens from those suffering or witnessing this destruction. It’s not some abstract natural disaster - it’s happening to real people. People we can identify and follow on Twitter and via blogging. This intensely human connection is social media’s most powerful tool.

Social networks have also proved invaluable in gathering much-needed donations for relief efforts. Wyclef Jean took Twitter by storm and mobilized followers to donate to his Yele Haiti Foundation even before most NGOs started their relief efforts. Today afternoon, Yele was the #1 trending topic on Twitter, followed closely by the Red Cross at #2. Non-profits have creatively utilized social networks to make donating as easy as possible. The Red Cross and the IRC have both created ways for supporters to quickly donate $5 or $10 by texting to a certain number; these messages have been Retweeted, spreading like wildfire through the social web. These text message campaigns have been very successful, raising millions in the past couple of days (some are a scam, but these two are not — so do make sure you check out who you’re texting to).

This was truly a social media response, and I’m proud to see my fellow citizens working together to disseminate important news and ramp up donations. This is social media at it’s best: people collaborating and reaching out to do something good.

Immediate disaster relief is vital, but we can’t forget that the hardest work is yet to come. This earthquake will have a devastating longer-term effect on Haiti. Already a poor country, Haiti will suffer immensely from the aftermath: failed and broken infrastructure. It will be difficult to pick up the pieces and rebuild the country again. While I’m glad to see the impact of social media, I only hope the momentum lasts enough to provide continued support for future rebuilding efforts. So keep Haiti in mind even after a few weeks when the situation may not be all over your Twitter of Facebook feeds!

Here’s a quick roundup of some excellent posts to keep up with news on Haiti/figure out where to donate:

• Change.org War & Peace: Haiti Rescuers are Racing Against Time
• UN Dispatch: Haiti’s Coming Public Health Challenges &  Haiti Earthquake: The Day After Part II
• Helpful tips on what to do about Haiti and who to donate to, from an experienced aid worker
• Some background thoughts from Marginal Revolution: Why is Haiti so Poor?
• Aidwatch has a nice post on navigating the complex terrain of disaster relief
• Good Intentions are Not Enough: good post on wisely choosing NGOs to donate to
• Make sure you check out Haiti.Ushahidi.com for crowd-sourcing disaster map, news, info

My personal recommendation for donations is Partners in Health:

Happy Friday, everyone! I am most certainly very happy this Friday because I have handed in all my final papers, finished 3 fellowship applications, and am officially DONE with Fall Quarter 2009. Yep, I’m one step closer to graduation (and hopefully one step closer to getting an awesome fellowship/job and not one step closer to living in a cardboard box…)!

Sunitha Krishnan

She is an absolutely amazing, amazing woman. I know this is the week of TED Talks on my blog, but I swear this one is worth it — it’s probably one of the best TED Talks I’ve ever seen. Sunitha Krishnan has started a really wonderful organization called Prajwala which rescues girls from the commercial sex trade in India. Her talk is beautiful, swelling with passion, and absolutely heartbreaking. She herself has gone through a lot and has been beaten up 14 times because of her work - but she is incredibly courageous and singlemindedly pursues her goal of bringing women and children out of the sex trade and into society as thriving, independent and happy individuals. Her main point? That we, as society are her biggest barrier. While we nod our heads and say, oh, it’s so great that you’re helping to end human trafficking, we ourselves don’t accept these girls into our lives, or treat them as full human beings. Society’s discrimination is sad and sadly, it’s a prevalent part of life in many countries. Watch this talk, and by the end you will be angry and fired up and ready to get out there and DO something about it.

The first thing to do is, as she says, to change ourselves. She’s not asking us to be MLK or Gandhi. All she’s asking is for us to change our own conceptions and perceptions. Eradicate any forms of discrimination, whether it is against sex slaves/prostitutes, LGBT people, or people of different races, ethnicities, religions, or socioeconomic classes. Changing ourselves in this way is the first step towards societal transformation.

This week’s links..

And of course, here are some of my favorite links from this week.

• Estimating the cost-effectiveness of the microfinance sector compared to the health sector, by the ever-critical GiveWell
• Susan Rice at the Holocaust Museum elaborates on the US-Sudan Policy
• My awesome Twitter friend @MsAmaka writes on her great new blog (you should subscribe!) about a new Amnesty report regarding shocking levels of police brutality in Nigeria
• Sexual terror in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe - new reports show that Zimbabwe’s 2008 elections featured systematic rape
• These are some steps forward at least, Uganda drops death sentence and life imprisonment from anti-gay bill and also bans FGM
  
• Text of Obama’s Nobel Lecture in Oslo, where he invokes “just war”
• A wonderful post by Nick Kristof about how to get readers to care by learning some lessons from psychology
• Aid Watch on the murky finances of Project Red
• Excellent, excellent post by Texas in Africa about the missing link between conflict and minerals in Congo, and how the argument is too often oversimplified (hint, by The Enough Project)
• I loved this graphic by Mint telling us who cares and who donates in the U.S.

Okay, I think that’s enough for now. I’ll be at home relaxing (aka filling out applications and working on my thesis - not very relaxing) and will have more time to write. I’m excited because I’ll be putting up some more opinion posts up rather than these short pieces. Have a wonderful and warm weekend!

Hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving!

From now on, I’m going to keep Feature Fridays shorter and add on a list of my favorite links from the past week or so I constantly run across so many fascinating articles and blog posts to share that I felt I should start sharing them over here, too! Here goes…Enjoy!

Feature Friday: Asylum Access

I recently heard of Asylum Access, and love their innovative approach. When most refugees flee, they usually go to neighboring countries throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America first - not immediately the U.S. or U.K. Asylum Access fosters the development of refugee rights projects & puts trained legal advocates around the world to connect with refugees who are seeking asylum. The organization also advocates for other human rights for refugees, like the right to work, send kids to school, and gain access to healthcare through international and national level policymaking and advocacy. They also educate refugees on their rights, educate local communities to understand the rights of refugees, and educate those in the U.S. to encourage action on behalf of refugees. Learn more about this great organization here!

Links for this week

• GiveWell blog questions whether Acumen Fund’s “patient capital” model is actually effective or not.
• “There Will Be Blood” – why focusing narrowly on Darfur while ignoring the secessionist South could spell big trouble for all of Sudan.
• In 2010, Desis are taking over Congress! Check out the 6 Indian American candidates who are running.
• Female circumcision/cutting - is it Islamic? A fascinating discussion.
• Check out Philanthropedia — a new way of ranking non-profits, based on experts’ recommendations and testimonials.
• Nick Kristof provides a balanced take on the aid debate, taking a middle ground between Easterly/Moyo and Sachs camps.
• Interesting interview with Louise Arbour, who is now the head of International Crisis Group; “From Justice to Prevention.”
• Are there too many non-profits is the wrong question to ask.
• Be sure to check out Ryan Stephens’ December Top 10 Gen Y bloggers ballot, and vote for your favorites.
• I LOVED reading some of the winning articles in the 2009 Guardian International Development journalism competition. It was an amazing way to bring attention to issues that are rarely touched upon in the Western media. Some of my favorite articles were — Tanzania tries to expel its refugees; street children in Cambodia; discrimination against Dalits in Bangladesh; post-war life for LRA child soldiers who are returning home; Bangladesh’s “Info Lady” phenomenon. Check them out!

I first heard about Hagar International over a year ago while reading the book “Not for Sale,” about human trafficking. Human trafficking is a tough issue to combat, especially since the solutions aren’t exactly clear, and require investment in long-term assistance and systemic change. But Hagar International has a really innovative and effective model, and is doing great work to attack the roots of human trafficking.

Hagar International is committed to individualized and long-term assistance for its beneficiaries, and they use the social enterprise model as a tool for social rehabilitation and economic empowerment. Hagar works with women and children from devastating backgrounds of violence, abuse and trafficking and supports them in their recovery, rehabilitation, job readiness and ultimately community reintegration.

Hagar International first began working in Cambodia, where about 80% of their beneficiaries have been successfully reintegrated into society. Hagar first provides shelter, accommodation, trauma recovery, therapy, education, literacy classes, and skills-training for women who need it, and then slowly helps them reintegrate into society. And what makes Hagar most unique is their development of social businesses; Hagar has begun several self-sustaining businesses which provide funds for the organization and meaningful employment for women who come from difficult backgrounds. For instance, in Cambodia Hagar runs Hagar Catering and Hydrologic - which provide jobs, the opportunity to learn new skills, and the chance to reintegrate into society for many of the women from Hagar’s programs.

I’d encourage you to visit their website to learn more about the innovative ways they are making a difference and combating human trafficking.

Picture Credit: Hagar Cambodia

Today I’d like to highlight a wonderful organization, HEAL Africa, which provides holistic care to people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As some of you may know, the DRC has been called the “worst humanitarian disaster since WWII” since about 5 million people have died since 1998. Despite the unstability of the country and the ongoing conflict, not as much international attention is given to the situation as is to Darfur. Yet, many have heard of the mass violence, especially sexual violence, which is widespread in the DRC as a result of the conflict.

HEAL Africa tackles the challenges of working in rural and resource-poor regions of eastern DRC head on, and more than that is taking an effective and unique approach. Here are some of their programs, all of which are very innovative:

• Gender-based violence: The program trains village women as counselors, who become the first stage in the process of healing and refer victims of sexual violence for treatment. There are now over 300 counselors in North Kivo and Maniema provinces. 28 safe houses for women have also been constructed to provide a safe environment for women, including those traveling to access medical care. The program also provides women with the opportunity to learn new skills like literacy and crafts, and can receive small business training.
• Health care: HEAL Africa has a well known teaching hospital in Goma which provides quality care. Community-based healthcare initiatives are also being pioneered, through which health professionals travel to rural areas to provide medical support and supplies. This is one of the few hospitals conducting research in the war-torn area.
• Micro-grants: Thousands of micro-grants have been provided for vulnerable people who live on less than a dollar a day. This is accompanied by financial training, savings collectives, small business training, and community accountability to maximize the impact of the grant.
• HIV/AIDS: This program educates people about HIV/AIDS through education seminars throughout churches in the province. They have a children’s AIDS program which provides children with ARV drugs along with a nutritional supplement to ensure that the children are not malnourished. They also provide home care for those severely ill.
• Gender and Justice: HEAL Africa also works through the law to try to ensure a more fair judicial system to support female empowerment. They work with the American Bar Association to reinforce the justice system, and then work to bring together community members and leaders in a coalition to support gender equity. They also teach gender equity in the classroom, and work to change the attitudes of men (which I argued was so important in my last post.)
• Children Like Us: HEAL Africa actually sends specialized staff into communities to search for disabled children who may need assistance. Then, these children are provided with support and/or surgery, and their families provided income generation grants.

As you can see, their range of programs and services are incredible - not only varied but also each innovative and effective in its own right! I am honestly amazed by how much a grassroots organization is able to accomplish. Beyond just the innovative programs, HEAL Africa takes such a holistic approach to its work and ensures that all the needs of the community: medical, social, and spiritual, are met. This in itself is innovative and proving that such an approach (opposed to specialization) works is significant. Moreover, the organization is setting the foundation for long-term impact rather than short-term fixes. They hire local staff who have an intimate knowledge of the region, and engage in leadership training.

HEAL Africa is doing amazing work to transform communities in eastern Congo even while conflict is ongoing. I encourage you to visit their website (which is also beautifully done) and learn more about them. I only wish more organizations took this approach since it seems to be highly effective.

Image credit: HEAL Africa