Centralia student directly impacted by earthquake

The recent earthquake in Haiti directly impacted Centralia student Nouhoum Sidibe, whose father works in Port-au-Prince as the assistant to the President of the United Nations. He has been working there for seven months.

“Someone said, ‘Nouhoum, did you know there was an earthquake in Haiti today?’ No, I did not know,” said Sidibe. “I tried to call my dad all night; he didn’t answer. I didn’t want to believe it.”

Sidibe and his family did not hear word on the whereabouts of Mahamadou Sidibe for 24 hours following the disaster.

“Yesterday he emailed me. No phones are working, but he is all right,” said Sidibe. “The police office, the school, all the important buildings are gone. 100 U.N. workers are dead.”

Others are still working, doing anything they can.

“They work outside; the (U.N.) office is broken down,” said Sidibe.

Sidibe said this is the second time he has heard about this type of event. The first was the earthquake in Algeria in 2004.

“100 to 200 people died. In Haiti now, there are 100,000 people dead,” said Sidibe.

No one has electricity due both to initial devastation and recurrent aftershocks.

“They won’t even go to their houses because they are afraid of the shaking,” said Sidibe.

Other countries are rushing to Haiti with aid.

“The United States is mounting an aggressive, comprehensive response to the tragedy, offering civilian and military disaster relief and humanitarian assistance,” said Nicola Goren, acting CEO for the Corporation for National and Community Service. “The Corporation is coordinating with the State Department, USAID, FEMA, and other agencies as the U.S. government develops a unified response.”

For those who want to help by volunteering their efforts, very few opportunities are available.

“At this time, volunteer opportunities are extremely limited to people with specific skills,” said Goren.

According to the State Department, the most efficient way to help is with donations.

Donations to those affected by the earthquake are accepted from state or education employees through deductions benefitting charities including the American Red Cross, UNICEF USA and MercyCorp.

Students can help by donating to these same charities and others like Crista-World Concern, World Vision and Catholic Relief Services. All of these organizations are nonprofit.

To learn if you are qualified to volunteer and to sign up, visit the Center for International Disaster Information’s registration page at http://www.cidi.org/reg_off.htm.

For more information on the crisis, visit the U.S. Department of State blog: http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site.

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