Day 5: Of Brothers & Earthquakes

I have to admit that when the first earthquake hit I felt nothing. I was in the bathroom getting ready to take a shower.  Then my brother almost breaks down my door, screaming, yelling at me to put some clothes on and get out NOW!!. I didn’t understand what was going on. He kept on walking and screaming and telling me to hurry. When he finally stopped and told me that the earth shook not once but twice and that I should get downstairs, I laughed.

I put on some clothes and slowly walked out of my room, as my brother kept repeating “we need to get downstairs now, don’t use the elevator, but you need to go outside” and if any of you has ever met my brother you know he was probably voted “most likely to exaggerate anything” so I of course ignored him and proceeded to walk towards the edge of the balcony and mock everyone outside.

Still laughing I returned a call to my mother and as we gossiped and mocked  my brother’s hysteria, she gets a call and hangs up and I turn on the radio; everything stops being funny.

A seven point three earthquake with its center ten miles outside of Port-au-Prince had hit, two more aftershocks of five point nine and five point five would follow less than an hour later. The joke was one me. For once my brother had the right idea.

Now the entire Island plus Cuba and Bahamas were on Local Tsunami Alert; and the people of Haiti are once again in the midst of a major tragedy that won’t help their already poverty stricken land. It’s so sad that this country gets hit so many times. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy nothing happened to my fellow Dominicans but I can’t help but feel sad for the people of Haiti.

Hopefully in this time of need for our neighbors, this country will forget their constant irrational hatred (at least in my mind) towards the Haitian people and come together so that we can help them in this time of need.  I hope that even though things are dire in own country everyone can look into their pantry’s and closets and pick out a few things that you might be able to part with. At this point the people of Haiti need anything we can spare, so please look into yourselves so that you can part with those extra things they might need.

Hopefully all the aid that will arrive will reach the hands that truly need them and not end up lost on the black market being sold to the same people who were meant to receive them for free. Let’s pray that the constant political corruption that is so constant in our world takes a back seat in these trying times and that everyone can find it in their hearts to help a country so poor that needs help all year round and not only when tragedy strikes.

 Word Count: 502

P.S. El Centro de acopio será desde el miércoles a las 8am en el Edificio Centro Bonó ubicado en la Calle Josefa Brea No. 65, casi esquina 27 de Febrero, Mejoramiento Social, Santo Domingo. Las donaciones se realizarán a traves del consulado dominicano en Haití y de la Cámara Dominico Haitiana. Tel (809) 686-6688 ext 2381 y 2584 o llevar a departamento Relaciones Públicas en Listín Diario.