In the aftermath of catastrophe, people get absorbed in evaluating the response and forming opinions. A cause is getting too much news coverage, or not enough. Organizations aren't helping in key areas, or there are logistical and bureaucratic problems with aid distribution. I've also heard the point of view that the amount of expressed support for those affected is out of proportion to relief aid. Forget putting your money where your mouth is (we all know that it's easy to pitch in $20 and feel good) and consider this: What are you actually doing to help?
That has always seemed like a somewhat unfair question, since I don't think it is plausible to get directly involved in a case like Haiti. It's just unrealistic for college students, who in general don't speak Haitian Creole, to put their lives on hold and go there. Just a few hours after the earthquake, though, a group of Tufts graduate students got together with their laptops in an effort to streamline the efforts of crews on the ground by crowdsourcing. That became the first situation room at Tufts for a group called Ushahidi.
Before long, the volunteers were compiling text messages and Twitter feeds directly from Haiti onto a report map. They began providing aid workers with the locations of people trapped in buildings and reporting urgent medical situations, communicating with the military, U.S. Coast Guard and a number of humanitarian organizations.
Three weeks later, they're still translating and mapping thousands upon thousands of messages requesting help. By now, over 200 people have gotten involved, and the situation room has migrated to the basement of the Cabot Intercultural Center.
I'm a volunteer with the mapping team, which means that I find certain GPS coordinates based on translated text messages. You can see the incredible scope of information at haiti.ushahidi.com. Ushahidi is a great organization, and I recommend at least looking it up. The work they're doing is innovative, immediately relevant and rewarding. Unfortunately, it's also largely unknown among the undergraduate population. That's partly why I've begun writing about my experience, which has been really fulfilling in many ways. I still get a rush every time I pinpoint a set of coordinates. However, it's not easy in any sense of the word.
Working to locate report coordinates can be frustrating: Many areas of Haiti, especially the inner-city slums, are largely unmapped, so sometimes it's impossible to find a given intersection. Some places have multiple names, and sometimes street names and landmarks are misspelled. The other day I was trying to find Rue Dube but ended up unsure if that meant Dubois, Dublin or Dubet. I've had to just give up more than once when I didn't have enough information to even find a general neighborhood.
Beyond that, it's emotionally draining to read message after message saying things like, "Please, there are children here and we have no place to sleep;" "We haven't gotten food or water;" and even, "Have we been forgotten?" The first weekend I looked up to realize that I'd spent five hours straight staring at maps and reports and could hardly see straight anymore. I got up to go and eat, and I realized that I was shaking.
It's hard to leave Haiti when I leave the situation room. It's hard to regain perspective and focus on the demands of classes and real life. I'm nowhere near as involved as some volunteers, and it still gets to me. I'm coping a lot better than I did a week ago, but I still remember every message I've read, and wonder if the people who sent them have gotten help yet. The Haiti earthquake will never be some remote disaster I forget about in a year or two. For me, it's become a stream of individual voices.
The stress of helping with the Haiti relief efforts is unavoidable, even when you're physically remote. On the other hand, empathy is the reason the Ushahidi group at Tufts exists. Caring about people we'll never meet is a kind of double-edged sword. It's powerful, too. I get confirmation every day that our efforts are helping save lives. We improve the chances of people getting basic help (water, medicine and food) where they desperately need it.
I've been volunteering with Ushahidi for over a week now. Simply put, it's nothing short of inspiring. There's a strong undercurrent of hope and determination in that basement of Cabot. Sitting in a room full of volunteers, the positive energy and sense of purpose is almost tangible. There's even the occasional vein of humor to offset the seriousness with which all the volunteers approach saving lives.
I've also learned just how disaster truly draws people together in the aftermath. Seeing people of many nationalities and backgrounds come together for this one purpose is enough to make me believe that things will get better. Right now things are very bad in Haiti, I know. There are plenty of difficulties and things to criticize, and we can't fix everything all at once. But it will get better, because people are working together. And that's enough to change the world.
