Help and Hope for Haiti

Friday, January 15 2010 | Send to a friend

Help and hope for Haiti

Mecca aka Grimo

Today we continue our coverage of the earthquake's aftermath by talking with people on the ground in Haiti, artists and restaurateurs organizing relief efforts, and those who are still trying desperately to connect with their families. 

Miriam Castaneda of the Canadian Red Cross was in Haiti when the earthquake struck. She tells Dick Gordon, via satellite phone, about what she saw that day, and the pressures the survivors face now.

Mecca aka Grimo is a poet based in Miami. He says since the earthquake hit on Tuesday he's been moving non-stop, using events and social networking to help unite Haitian-Americans.

Katherine "Kay Kay" Kean and Gary Sanon-Jules of Tap Tap (photos: Kenny Malone)

Tap Tap Haitian Restaurant in Miami has become a gathering space for the Haitian community. General manager Gary Sanon-Jules and owner Katherine Kean describe how people are gathering together there now during this time of crisis.

Fabienne Colas got through to her father in Haiti within hours of the earthquake. She tells Dick how lucky she felt to hear her father's voice, and how frustrating it is to her that just as things in Haiti were starting to look up, catastrophe struck.

Marvin Chery doesn't know if his father survived the quake. So he set up a website for himself and thousands of others to post information about missing family members. Working on the website, Marvin says, is keeping him occupied while he waits anxiously for word on his father.

• Follow Mecca aka Grimo's efforts on Facebook, Twitter, and myspace
• Learn more about Marvin's website

• Music in this story: Paradi and Haiti performed by Mecca aka Grimo; Jou a Rive ("The Day Will Come") performed by by Boukan Ginen; Yele performed by Wyclef Jean for the album Wyclef Jean Presents the Carnival; Banm Youn Ti Limye performed by Manno Charlemagne for the album Les Inedits de Manno Charlemagne.

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