Haiti Aid

Digby has compiled an excellent set of links for anyone wanting to give aid to Haiti. The donations have been generous, and it's been good to see all the networks run coverage on this diaster, but the scope of devastation is staggering, and hard to take in. While I was driving home, I heard NPR reporter Jason Beaubien break up talking about it all.

The Red Cross' International Response Fund currently says that donations to date have allowed them to:

• Pledge $10 million to support humanitarian relief activities of the Haitian Red Cross;
• Deploy disaster response experts to Haiti to provide relief and recovery expertise;
• Send 5,000 family kits that include blankets, kitchen sets and water containers;
• Continue our global programs to prevent disease, reconnect families separated by crisis and promote respect for global humanitarian principles.

Best wishes to all.

Update: Good lord. Digby posted a link to some photos compiled by The Boston Globe. For the most graphic, you need to click a warning to see them.

I'm reminded of a NPR story years ago, after another natural disaster, on rescue dogs and their handlers. In some cases, they knew someone was trapped in a collapsed building, but it was too dangerous to go in, so although it was wrenching, they couldn't try to help. Also, as the hours and days progressed, it became rarer to find anyone alive. Some dogs are very sociable. Apparently, finding only dead bodies mades made the dogs depressed, or hurt their morale, or however one puts it for dogs. Because of this, their handlers would occasionally have a healthy person hide in a building so the dog could find him or her, to keep the dogs' spirits up.

Haiti could use all the aid and hope and spirit-raising they can get right now.