When catastrophes happen far from home, it is easy to just tune them out as one more negative story on the late night news.
However, the more time you spend on the road as a budget traveler, the more of a growing burden you start to feel for people in poor and developing countries. Seeing images from the disastrous earthquake in Haiti caused me to research some ways to help and it is surprisingly easy.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and most of the population survives on less than one dollar a day.
This natural disaster could not have hit a place harder. Most budget travelers don't have an abundance of money (most of it goes to feed their travel addiction) but if you have a mobile phone you can make a huge difference for some people that really need it.
By simply texting the word "HAITI" to 90999 on your mobile phone, $10 will be given to the Red Cross and added to your monthly statement. It takes only a few seconds and its a good feeling that no matter how small, you made some contribution.
$10 isn't much in the grand scheme of things considering how much you probably spend on a typical weekend having fun - but if you share this with your friends and social networks we can make a difference.
Other ways to help:
- Text the word "YELE" to 501501 to donate $5 to the Yele Haiti foundation.
- Text the word "HAITI" to 20222 to donate $10 to the Clinton Foundation Haiti Relief Fund.
- Text "HAITI" to 25383 to donate $5 to the International Rescue Committee.
- Text "HAITI" to 85944 to donate $10 to the International Medical Corps.
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