Many Americans, including members of the Tufts community, continue to donate money to and participate in relief efforts for the people of Haiti following the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked the island nation on Jan. 12 and left over 200,000 dead. However, the relief effort for the more recent Feb. 27 Chilean earthquake, which registered a massive 8.8 on the Richter Scale, has been more tepid.
According to a March 7 article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, in the four days after the Chilean earthquake, charitable organization Oxfam America had raised $55,300, compared to $4.5 million in the three days after the Haitian earthquake. Other philanthropic organizations have reported similar outcomes.
One explanation for this discrepancy is that the Chilean government is far better equipped to handle a natural disaster than the Haitian government. The country is much wealthier than Haiti. According to the CIA World Factbook, Chile's per capita GDP is $14,700, compared to Haiti's $1300.
The physical devastation of the Chilean quake was also far less than that of the Haitian one, with about 700 deaths reported in Chile. Chile is also prone to earthquakes and experienced the largest earthquake in history in 1960. The country thus had far more strict building codes in place than Haiti.
Junior Nate Typrowicz−Cohen, who is currently studying abroad in Chile, said that the Chilean government is well equipped to deal with the disaster. "Because I'm in Santiago, far from the epicenter of the quake, it is harder for me judge the government's response. However, from what I have seen it has been a generally well−coordinated effort. The fact that Chile is one of the most developed countries in South America can't be overlooked; if this quake had hit a more unstable or underdeveloped country the consequences definitely would have been much worse," he said in an e−mail.
"I have to stress that I'm not near the worst damage, but the response to the earthquake overall has been effective and timely as far as I can tell," Typrowicz−Cohen added. "While the looting of supermarkets and ensuing violence was reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina, thankfully the government response has not been."
For now, most Tufts organizations raising funds for earthquake relief continue to focus on Haiti.
Tufts Hillel has raised nearly $2,100 for Haiti, exceeding its original goal by about $100. For the part few weeks, members of Hillel have been selling various baked goods, ranging from Challah bread to sugar cookies, in the Campus Center to raise money for the victims in Haiti and increasing awareness of the earthquake's catastrophic effects. "[Haiti] is one of the poorest countries and they really need our help," Hillel Tzedakah Committee co−chair Lisa Zingman said.
As to why Hillel has not done fundraisers for Chile yet, Zingman said that the group simply does not have the capacity to focus on both causes. "We typically do about one event a month, and so we did multiple events for Haiti. It would be impractical to do fundraisers for multiple causes at once," she said.
Several Greek organizations at Tufts have been equally successful in raising money for Haiti. Since winter break, the brothers of Theta Chi have been determined to help the cause by selling red wristbands and by hosting various benefit events at Hotung Café to raise money and awareness for the victims in Haiti. One such event included a comedy show hosted by a Theta Chi alum that featured an appearance by University President Lawrence Bacow. Theta Chi brother and sophomore Aditya Kulkarni believes that in times of such devastating hardship, altruism is critical. "I think that anytime a major event like this happens, everyone thinks they need to help out with it, and [fundraising] just seemed like the right thing to do," Kulkarni said.
And yet the immense amount of campus participation the Haiti earthquake spurred is not being matched in the aftermath of Chile's earthquake. Although a search for "Haiti" on TuftsLife.com yields six pages of results, including numerous fundraisers and crisis−mapping jobs, a similar search for "Chile" has only a handful of results.
Still, some Tufts students have been actively looking for opportunities to support Chile. The Ushahidi crisis mapping effort — where volunteers use the Web site Ushahidi.com to map points of importance for rescue workers — had been working to alleviate Haiti's situation for months, and has now also turned its attention to Chile. Sophomore Taylor Bates volunteered extensive time at Ushahidi's Haiti earthquake relief effort, but feels that Chile is in an entirely different situation.
"Chile's an advanced, first−world country," Bates said. "I've been to Chile; I know the area and the people and I've looked at the statistics on the casualties, and the Chileans have been doing extremely well given the devastation, so I'll try to get in and volunteer some time when I can, but it doesn't compare to the scale of the tragedy in Haiti."
Tufts' Solidarity with Chile organization is teaming up with other Boston colleges to raise money for victims of the country's quake. Solidarity with Chile is trying to fundraise by selling crafts at the campus center over the next few weeks. So far, it has collected over $200 and plans to donate it to Hogar de Cristo, a Catholic shelter in Chile. Sophomore Romina Green, a coordinator for Solidarity with Chile, emphasized that students should not forget Chile's earthquake. "I'm Chilean and I think it's important to bring awareness," Green said. Carter Rogers contributed reporting to this article.
