Haiti Earthquake

I was on a long drive home last night when I heard about the earthquake in Haiti. I had called home for messages and on the machine, there was a concerned friend who let me know about the earthquake...I hadn't heard yet.
So with D asleep in the backseat I frantically tried to find a radio news station for more info. I couldn't find one but I managed to get a hold of my mom who I implored to please quickly go online and find out more. Where did happen?!!! How bad was it? Upon reading all she could find was that it was a 7.0 on the richter scale, a hospital had collapsed, and that thousands were dead. The rest of the way home all I could think of were the faces that I have been studying for the past several months. I know all their names. Oh my God. No. I feel like I know them all. One of them is my son! Were they alive? Were they okay? I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. My heart was aching. I began to pray. For 45 minutes I quietly drove home and wondered if a nightmare awaited me there.
As soon as I got in the door I dove for the phone number of the adoption coordinator for HCH. Thankfully, she answered on the second ring. Somehow, she had spoken to the orphanage director before the lines became jammed, or dropped or lost and was assured that everyone was okay. Thank God. Exhale. So far disaster averted.... for me....for now.
Unfortunately though, not for the tens of thousands feared dead. No, the nightmare is just beginning for those families. In the staggering damage of the earthquake on this third world country, it is as one news article put it; like kicking them when they are down. A nation where many make and eat mudchips as a viable way to cure their hunger. What is in store in the aftermath of a country abused by nature like a shaken baby.
Thankfully, many relief organizations are already stationed in Haiti and have hit the ground running. If you wish to help the relief effort in Haiti, you can do so by donating to any of the organizations listed in the upper right, or you can click the 'donate' button in the top right hand corner of this blog and I will ensure that the money finds the hands of the people working to help Haiti.