 Todd
Mangatal
&
Susan
Mangatal
(Picture
courtesy of Antoinette Charles)
Greetings
On-Line Family
 It’s
been 1 week and 3 days since the 7.0 earthquake struck
Haiti, and what a heartbreaking, worrisome and
terrifying 10 days it has been.
Due to 30 seconds of the earth shaking
Port-Au-Prince crumbled and approximately 200,000 people
lost their lives, 100s of thousands have been injured,
approximately 1 million are homeless, and thousands of
children are orphans.
Honestly,
I have gotten angry, I have cried, I have sighed
in relief, and smiled at what’s been taking
place in Haiti.
You can imagine how pleased I was that
the food, water and medical supplies arrived and
was on the
ground, but it seems these are not getting to
those who need it.
It is apparent that there is no effective
plan to distribute the supplies and I am baffled
and question why a proper plan has not been
established and implemented.
Anger
raced right
through me when I saw the goods being dropped to
the ground from helicopters earlier this week.
Gosh…darn…doesn’t these people realize how
dangerous this is? And most importantly, it is
not an orderly way to distribute food and water.
What angered me more was the Reporters
talk of looting; and from my eyes I don’t see
looters, I just see desperate people in a
desperate situation trying to survive whichever
way they can.
What was most upsetting is seeing the
reports about folks being killed by the Haitian
police because they are presumed to be looters.
That is unbelievable; why would Haitian
police officers kill their own people????
I heard earlier this week rubber bullets
were being used to stop looters, but just today
I have read and heard reports of people being
shot and killed (obviously rubber bullets are no
longer being used).
Actually,
I read and saw photos of a young school girl who
was shot dead for allegedly taking some framed
pictures. It
hurt my heart to see her blood had
poured out of her head as she laid face
down on one of the pictures.
(Apparently, she was shot in the
head.)
Additionally, I saw some of the footage
on CNN of 3 men who were shot because it was
presumed they were looting (they had taken some
bags of rice).
One of these men died and was left laying
in the street for hours, while the other 2
survived. One
survivor was a Christian minister who stated he
was applying for a police officer job, and the
other survivor stated the rice was given to them;
even eye witnesses indicated that the young men
were not looting.
How could the Haitian authorities just
shoot someone for food presuming they were
looting? No
one in such desperation should be shot even if
they were looting.
Truly, all of this is mind-boggling!!!.
On
the positive side of things, I have been
inspired and my heart has been full of joy
seeing so many children and adults that have
been rescued.
It is quite clear a higher power is
working miracles in this country…yes, without
a doubt miracles are certainly taking place!
You have to wonder how a human being that
is buried under dirt and rubble can survive for
so many days without food, water and the  air
they breathe is full of dust.
I was so happy to see a 3-week old baby
girl "Elizabeth" who was buried under
the rubble, was found alive after seven days and
is doing very well.
 I
laughed and applauded the rescue of little 5
year old Kiki and his sister Sabrina who were
buried under the rubble for 8 days. Little
Kiki was  ecstatic
when he was found and threw his hands up as if
he just won a race.
Finally,
a 70 year old woman was rescued some days ago,
which just pleased me greatly.
Now,
I find myself awake at nights wondering about
the injured kids and adults who are laying in
hospitals without the proper medicine, and
worrying about the infections that must be
infesting their bodies and the pain they must be
in without the medicines.
I worry about what’s going to happen to
all the children who before the earthquake had
parents, and now they are orphans.
Yes, what’s going to happen to all
these orphans?
I
pray for all the survivors of this earthquake in
Haiti; I pray that many are rescued alive and
soon; I pray that survivors are kept safe and
receive the medical assistance they need right
away. I
ask you to keep the people of Haiti in your
thoughts as well, and keep up with the donations
of money, supplies and clothing, because it will
be quite some time before this country would
ever heal and rebuild from this major disaster.
Don't forget that you can donate $5.00
via texting to Superstar Rapper Wyclef Jean’s
organization “YELE
HAITI”.
Despite all the negative talks about Wyclef's
Foundation, keep in mind that he is passionate
about his people and his country, and has done a significant
amount of
work to expose the troubles of Haiti to the
world. Truly he is a humanitarian, and
clearly cares about his people.
Therefore, don't get "twisted"
with the crazy talk about Wyclef’s organization!
I feel strongly that the funds donated to Yele
Haiti will benefit THE PEOPLE, and no one else
including the dysfunctional
and corrupt Government. Therefore, go
ahead and donate $5.00 by texting “YELE” to
501501.
Additionally, you can also donate $10.00
to the Red Cross by texting “HAITI” to
9-0-9-9-9 or log into www.redcross.org.
Don't
miss the Televised Fundraiser/Concert "The
Hope for Haiti" organized by actor George
Clooney, whose goal is to raise funds for the
Haitian earthquake victims in a global telethon
tonight (Friday, Jan. 22nd @ 8:00 on CNN, MTV
and several other cable and local networks). The
2 hour event will be hosted by Wyclef Jean, and
top stars in the music world will be performing
such as: Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Alicia Keys,
Rihanna, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira,
Sting, Beyonce', Justin Timberlake, Dave
Matthews, John Legend, Stevie Wonder and many
more.
Please
Click Here for all the fundraising events,
vigils, and foundations that are working to help
in some way with the Relief efforts of
Haiti.
!!!GOD
BLESS HAITI!!!
These
past few days I have been very concerned about
the unusual amounts of earthquakes taking place
around the world.
Of
course, I am aware several earthquakes occur in
different parts of the world in a day; but
now that we are days away from traveling
out of the country I am a bit distressed with
the intense activity. After
the7.0 Haiti quake, of course there have been
many strong aftershocks there. However,
several more intense quakes have occurred around
the world. On Thursday, Jan. 14th a quake
measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale hit South of
the Marina Island (Close to Guam) and a
5.3 quake struck Santa Cruz Islands (group of
island on the Pacific Coast). On Jan. 15th
Venezuela (Sucre) was rocked by a 5.5 quake
along with dozens more that measured under 5.0
on the Richter Scale. On Jan. 17th a 6.3
quake occurred in the Drake Passage (A strait
between Cape Horn and the South Shetland
Islands, it connects the southern Atlantic and
Pacific oceans). The next day, Jan. 18th a
5.8 quake occurred in Guatemala and parts of El
Salvador. On Jan. 19th a 5.9 quake shook
the Cayman Islands Region. Wednesday, Jan.
20th another earthquake rocked Haiti again
measuring 5.9 on the Richter Scale; and on the
same day a 5.2 quake struck Argentina.
Additionally, there are several quakes taking
place around the US, but they are not very
sizable when measured on the Richter
Scale. However, I understand there are
swarms of earthquakes taking place in
Yellowstone National Park (primarily in
Wyoming but expends into Montana and Idaho,)
that began on Sunday, Jan. 17th, and continues
today, plus they have been increasing in
magnitude. Scientists are stating that the
increased activity is nothing to worry about,
but all I can say about their statement is
hummmm!!!! I suppose we must keep praying
that nothing major happens again.
The
hands of time has made its full cycle and this past
Wednesday, January 20th made it 365 days since
President Obama has been in office.  Congratulations to him on making it through this
difficult year. Although, I am not
surprised about the amounts of negative e-mails
that have come across my computer regarding the President, and his 1st year in
office; I find it weird that it seems many are
not fond of him (especially since he won the
election with the highest percentage rate of any
other President.) Some of these e-mails
were so awful that I found them very offensive
and it is definitely unworthy and unproductive
sharing them with you. Recently, a
colleague (Ms. Shea) became very upset when she
received a particular negative e-mail about the
President, that she discussed with me in great
detail. She was so disturbed that she vowed
she will respond to it, and she did. After
drafting her response she sent it to me for
review, and I must share her response with
you. Ms. Shea stated in part: "...Michelle
Obama was right about our country when she said
we can be "mean spirited".
People of color see our country with more
realistic eyes. There are plenty of
murdering Cartels, White Collar thievery, Lying
and Cheating to suit one's agenda and so
on. Being President of this Nation is no
joke. It's a shame President Obama can't
seem to please everybody all the time.
This is the first year that President Obama is
in the driver's seat and we must remember he is
not running this country by himself. After
the way Mr. Bush left this country, it's a
wonder that any of us have money left in our
bank accounts at the rate that these thieves
running the banks were stealing. President
Obama is not unpatriotic, he is just a
realist. We should all continue to pray
for him because probably the worst is yet to
come (Racists and over the top
Patriots)...."
I
must further say though, we all must keep in
mind President Obama did not create the problems
that America has been going through, the mess
was created long before he took the oath of
office, and I don't believe he will ever be able
to fully fix the problems plaguing this country
especially in his first term. We must be
conscious and understanding of what he walked
into; and patient while he works with his
administration to fix these massive problems
that is plaguing America. Definitely keep
President Obama in your hearts, mind and
prayers!
 Condolences
to the family and friends of JOHN "MUMBLES"
GRIFFITH who passed away quietly in Trinidad
this week. "Mumbles"
as we fondly knew him was a great asset to DC
Caribbean Carnival, Inc. (DCCC). For
years he was one of the head Marshal's for DCCC,
where he was in charge of mobilizing/organizing
the mas bands on the parade route and made sure
as they traveled to their destination that
everything was perfect. Mumbles loved his
culture, and loved Carnival dearly, and this was
evident by his undying commitment to
Carnival. I have seen throughout the years
(even when Mumbles became sick and was not able
to move around as he did in the past) how
committed he was to Carnival. I was
humbled on many occasions watching him work
intensely on the thing he loved dearly.
We will miss Mumbles dearly!!!
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Until
Next Week, Take Good Care of yourselves and Have a lovely weekend!
 Feel
free to always comment regarding this commentary or any of my past
E-Newsletter
commentaries, and I thank you for all the intriguing and thought provoking
comments you send me on a regular basis. As usual,
I
am eager to hear your thoughts on all
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