Record Breaking Fundraising

I am watching this video while Crying, Blogging, Twittering, Flickring, Facebooking, etc. (These are verbs now, right?) But, I have one nagging vision in my mind. I remember something a friend of mine said to me when I came to live in the US. I asked him if he was planning to go back to Haiti some time in the future. He responded: ‘Only if I could pick up Queens and drop it in Port-au-Prince‘.

This is something to really think about. As we are watching all this help pouring into our country, we should seriously start thinking of the ways the government of Haiti should funnel this massive influx of Monetary and Human Resources. Help is coming from everywhere in the world. Everybody and their grandmother are raising money and doing something to help Haiti. Some countries from Africa are sending as little as $50,000. Let us not disappoint them!

In my humble opinion, we should let what is left of Port-au-Prince become the Old Port-au-Prince, and build a new city. Turn all the destroyed structures into Parks, Open-Air Arenas or Concert Venues, and what not. We would get an Historic City à la Vieux Montréal, plus a brand new one next to it. We should definitely get a Brasilia-style Capital from this deal. The city of Brasilia is a world reference for urban planning, according to this Wikipedia entry.

It is also noted in this article that, Brasília was built in 41 months, from 1956 to April 21, 1960, when it was officially inaugurated. That is 3 years and 5 months, people! We can do this!

We should do this. We owe it to all those who, in a way, sacrificed their lives, in order for us, our children and grandchildren to have a better tomorrow. The money is there. The help is there. Let us tell the Americans that we do not need Marines! Haiti is not a war zone. We need Engineers, Surveyors, Urban Planners, Earth-moving Equipment, Construction Materials, etc.

Countless Haitian nationals are helping build other countries. Should they not help rebuild their own country? Why don’t the likes of the United States, Canada, France, etc, help us set up a safe environment, so we can all go back and contribute to this huge rebuilding project?

We would rather go to Haiti and do the things we are doing for these countries. I would feel like a king in my country; here, I am nobody. Like they say, I am just a number! Maybe there was a reason why I did this design back in July 2009: Li lè pou m ale nan peyi m!

“Hope for Haiti Now” will continue accepting donations for six months via the following methods:

» Online: www.hopeforhaitinow.org
» Phone: 877-99-HAITI
» Text: Text “GIVE” to 50555
»Mail: Hope For Haiti Now Fund, Entertainment Industry Foundation, 1201 West 5th Street, Suite T-700, Los Angeles, CA 90017

Please, drop us a line if you find any dead links, mistakes, mispelled words, etc. If you like this blog as a whole, or just this article, kindly share it with your friends, would you?

Blog post by Tatán
Please, don’t forget to visit Lakay Graphics where you can browse through our Haitian Designs and Products.

Haiti’s Earthquake Foreseen…

I Saw Haiti’s Earthquake Coming. I realized this truth only a few days ago… Coincidence or Premonition? You be the judge!

The last four weeks I have been listening to two specific songs, non-stop. For no reason whatosever. If one could browse the logs at Youtube.com, he would see that I had accessed the corresponding pages over thirty times! Each time, I would listen to these songs more than ten times in one sitting, while shedding some serious tears!

Indeed, I cried my butt off, while listening to these songs; every time! (This is also a little secret of mine that very few of my friends know about: I cannot help sobbing when I listen to certain types of music. But that is another story…)

The first number is ‘San Vicente‘ sung by Milton Nascimento; the second, ‘Calice‘ is a duet by Milton Nascimento and Chico Buarque. I do love the music and lyrics of Milton Nascimento’s recordings, but the same two songs, every day? It had to be something else. Only  a few days ago, it dawned on me that the images ’suggested’ correspond perfectly to what I saw in the videos I watched on the devastating earthquake.

As you listen to the songs, scroll down and follow the lyrics. For those of you who understand Portuguese or Spanish, the meaning will be quite clear. If you cannot understand the original text, Google Translate may help a tiny bit.

The song ‘Calice’ is so deep. It deserves to be understood… well, deeply! Most important, while listening, try to replace the original video with one of those earthquake videos, in your mind. It is a trip and a half. Some will get it, some will not. El que sabe, sabe…

San Vicente

Coração americano
acordei de um sonho estranho (I awoke from a strange dream)
Um gosto de vidro e corte (A Taste of glass and flesh wound)
Um sabor de chocolate (A taste of chocolate)
No corpo e na cidade (In the body and in the city)
Um sabor de vida e morte (A taste of life and death)
Coração americano
Com sabor de vidro e corte

A espera na fila imensa (the wait in the huge line)
E o corpo negro se esqueçeu
Estava em San Vicente
A cidade e suas luzes
Estava em San Vicente
As mulheres e os homens
Coração americano
Com sabor de vidro e corte

As horas não se contavam (Time practically stopped)
E o que era negro anoiteceu
Enquanto se esperava
Eu estava em San Vicente
Enquanto acontecia
Eu estava em San Vicente
Coração americano…

Calice

Pai, afasta de mim esse cálice (Father, take away from me this chalice)
Pai, afasta de mim esse cálice (Father, take away from me this chalice)
Pai, afasta de mim esse cálice (Father, take away from me this chalice)
De vinho tinto de sangue (of bloody red wine)

Como beber dessa bebida amarga (How can I drink this bitter drink)
Tragar a dor, engolir a labuta (swallow the pain, swallow the hardship)
Mesmo calada a boca, resta o peito ()
Silêncio na cidade não se escuta (The silence in the city cannot be heard)
De que me vale ser filho da santa (What good is to be the son of the holy)
Melhor seria ser filho da outra (Better to be the son of another)
Outra realidade menos morta (Another reality less dead)
Tanta mentira, tanta força bruta (So many lies, so much brute force)

Como é difícil acordar calado (How difficult it is to keep quiet on waking up )
Se na calada da noite eu me dano (If I the silence of the night is bringing me pain)
Quero lançar um grito desumano (An inhuman yell, I want to throw in the air)
Que é uma maneira de ser escutado (So I can be heard)
Ese silêncio todo me atordoa (This silence is making me lose consciousness)
Atordoado eu permaneço atento (Even in this state of unconsciousness, I am still aware)
Na arquibancada pra a qualquer momento (in this setting where, at any moment)
Ver emergir o monstro da lagoa (I will see the monster rise from the laguna)

De muito gorda a porca já não anda (The pig hardly walks from so much fat)
De muito usada a faca já não corta (The knife hardly cuts from so much use)
Como é difícil, pai, abrir a porta (How difficult it is, father, to open the door?)
Essa palavra presa na garganta (The word is choking me)
Esse pileque homérico no mundo (this homeric mix we have to drink)
De que adianta ter boa vontade (What good it is to have goodwill)
Mesmo calado o peito, resta a cuca ()
Dos bêbados do centro da cidade ()

Talvez o mundo não seja pequeno (Perhaps the world is not small)
Nem seja a vida um fato consumado (Nor is life a fait accompli)
Quero inventar o meu próprio pecado (I want to invent my own sin)
Quero morrer do meu próprio veneno (I want to die of my own poison)
Quero perder de vez tua cabeça (I want to lose my head once and for all)
Minha cabeça perder teu juízo (Let my head lose all common sense)
Quero cheirar fumaça de óleo diesel (I want to inhale some diesel fumes)
Me embriagar até que alguém me esqueça (And get drunk until they forget about me.)

TwitterFeed – Haiti’s Earthquake

Haiti Earthquake Relief

CafePress is helping raise money for Haiti’s Earthquake Relief efforts. CafePress designers/sellers get involved by donating designs to their Haiti Relief Effort Shop. Proceeds from the shop will go directly to UNICEF to aid families from Tuesday’s devastating earthquake. Sellers will not receive any commissions.

UNICEF is targeting these funds to provide safe water, temporary shelters, medical supplies and other essentials to displaced children. The money will also be used to help orphaned children reunite with
families.

The design below is Lakay Graphics’ contribution to this endeavour. Support CafePress’ fundraising efforts by going to the Haiti Relief Effort Shop. Thank you for your help.