Musician, producer and activist Wyclef Jean has been a humanitarian working tirelessly to provide assistance to his struggling homeland of Haiti. In 2005, Jean created the Yele Haiti Foundation, a non-political organization that helps empower Haitians through education, nutrition and business development. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and has been in turmoil for years due to political struggle, poverty and the devastating effects of hurricanes.
Haiti was rocked by a 7.0 earthquake outside Port-Au-Prince which was followed by more than a dozen aftershocks. Many are missing and the death toll is expected to be staggering.
Jean made this statement about the tragedy in his homeland, and how you can help.
“Haiti today faced a natural disaster of unprecedented proportion, an earthquake unlike anything the country has ever experienced.
The magnitude 7.0 earthquake–and several very strong aftershocks–struck only 10 miles from Port-au-Prince.
I cannot stress enough what a human disaster this is, and idle hands will only make this tragedy worse. The over 2 million people in Port-au-Prince tonight face catastrophe alone.
We must act now.
President Obama has already said that the U.S. stands ‘ready to assist’ the Haitian people. The U.S. Military is the only group trained and prepared to offer that assistance immediately. They must do so as soon as possible. The international community must also rise to the occasion and help the Haitian people in every way possible.”
Many people have already reached out to see what they can do right now. We are asking those interested to please do one of two things: Either you can use your cell phone to text “Yele” to 501501, which will automatically donate $5 to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund (it will be charged to your cell phone bill), or you can visit www.Yele.org and click on DONATE.
Leave your condolences for the people of Haiti here.