Irish reach out to Haitian earthquake victims

Callers into RTE radio shows this morning said that even though they were without water and after several weeks of crippling ice and snow, still they are better off than the victims of last night's devastating 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

More than 3 million people may have been affected by the quake.

By satellite phone, a young Irish woman, Susan Westwood, working at a Haitian orphanage about 50 kilometers from the capital, said that they were still experiencing tremors this morning. She reported that the immediate needs were for clean water and drive generators.

An Irish doctor, Simon Collins, who works for Medecins Sans Frontieres, explained to RTE's Drivetime Radio that MSF already has over 800 staff in Haiti, their presence going back to 1991. He said the MSF hospital in Port-au-Prince has suffered collapse of the first floor and emergency treatment is going on under cover of canvas protection. He said people are being treated for many types of "crush injuries."

This afternoon I received an email from the Irish-based group Concern, which works with refugees and in emergency situations throughout the world. They have asked for donations through their web site www.concernusa.org.