Published by: Kate Carlisle Jan 13th

This morning I woke up to the news of devestation in Haiti. The unique kind of destruction that comes when the earth trembles from the inside, opening up chasms. levelling buildings and taking lives.

This is not the first time I have woken to bad news since I began working with ammado. When the Abruzzo earthquake rolled through central Italy, I was in my bed in Rome feeling the ground beneath me tremble. We felt it around the country in Italy, but when I turned on the tv, I realized that our hiccup in the capital was a roar in Abruzzo, just an hour and a half distance away.

ammado recieved numerous calls after the Abruzzo quake from people around the world wanting to know where and how to give. Non Italians were having difficulty navigating sites in Italian and most Italian nonprofits only accepted bank transfers or Italian credit cards.

We learned our lesson through the proverbial "baptism by fire" those long days, pulling together with the Irish and American Red Crosses to serve as a conduit and funnel the donations to start the long road of relief for Abruzzo's suffering inhabitants.

This morning, instead, when I woke in my home in Rome to hear the news of Haiti, we knew just what to do. In minutes the ammado staff was rallying to get a fund set up, contact member nonprofits and start getting the word out. It took us less than an hour to lay the groundwork. But now, the real challenge is ahead.

Haiti is on its knees.

As a country already gripped by poverty, Haiti is believed to be ill-equipped to deal with such a disaster.

ammado has established the Haiti Earthquake Appeal to support four of the non-profit organisations working in Haiti. Together with the American Red Cross, Oxfam Ireland, Aktion Deutschland Hilft and AGIRE Italian Relief Coalition, ammado provides a quick and easy means of pledging support to the victims of the tragedy in Haiti by collecting donations from around the world to funnel to agencies on the ground during these vital moments.

Through the Haiti Earthquake Appeal on ammado, people can give as little a 4euro or the equivalent in 32 other currencies, using any international payment method. 

To give to the Fund and get updates on the situation, please go to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal.