Making an Impact in Chile

After so many images of the devastation in Haiti, it may be hard to differentiate what just happened in Chile. Chile, after all, is far wealthier than Haiti, has a functioning government, and has suffered enough major quakes in its past to have a building code in place. The damage from an 8.8 will be massive but it could have been far worse without Chile national program of disaster preparedness.

Operation USA, 1-800-678-7255, or text 50555 "rebuild", is ready to assist those in need in Chile. Operation USA worked in Chile 25 years ago after a huge quake struck north of where last night's quake hit. The NGO is reaching out to partner agencies in a collaborative effort to better coordinate its efforts.

Hopefully, the public is not suffering from "compassion fatigue" after 6 weeks of 24/7 saturation coverage of Haiti and can both respond to relief agency appeals for money and creatively use this opportunity to discuss their own preparedness needs here in the US.

 

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Comments

[Jayjaybe]

06:02 PM on 02/27/2010

Haiti is a noble, moral, ethical cause as a target for human and economic compassion­. Chile is not a lesser counterpar­t. How many of us have noticed that our out-of-sea­son fruits and vegetables are grown in Chile? That means that not only will our groceries be affected, but also that lives and jobs in Chile are in dire straits. Since Chile is a more advanced economy than Haiti, it's building codes are more modern. But the sheer size of this EQ has produced damage that greatly resembles Haiti in many areas. Our interest and compassion should be extended to Chile, without diminishin­g our involvemen­t in Haiti. The USA knows how, and it has the know-how. Fortunatel­y, it's still summer in Chile.