Gwangju donates $100,000 to help Haiti following its earthquake devastation

- City sends $100,000 as first stage of aid program, cash sent directly for rapidity
- City will later work with civic groups etc, and will look into sending both medical-trained volunteers, and supplies

On Jan 12th, the Caribbean island of the Republic of Haiti, was devastated following an earthquake of magnitude 7.02 on the Richter scale. On Jan 18th, Gwangju City announced it would send $100,000 of aid to help the relief efforts there.

Gwangju convened an emergency meeting on Jan 18th lead by the mayor, and decided to join with government and civic groups’ immediate relief efforts, such as sending emergency rescue teams.

The reasons to Gwangju decided to simply donate cash as the first stage of its relief program since purchasing supplies directly would take some time, and delivering these to the affected regions is very difficult due to the lack of transport infrastructure on the island of Haiti. So on Jan 18th, Mayor Park Gwang-tae gave the money to local Gwangju/Jeolla-province Red Cross Representative Kim Pil-sik.

Additionally, in the future, Gwangju plans to promote and support fundraising efforts by local residents, dispatch medical volunteers, and send appropriate medical and aid supplies, all through consultation and partnership with local civic groups.

Haiti, an island located near Cuba in the Caribbean Sea, is one of the poorest countries on earth, where over half the population survive on less than $2 per day. Now an estimated 200,000 have died and 2,130 buildings been destroyed due the earthquake.

Following the destruction caused by the tsunami in 2004, Gwangju City sent a medical team of 20 people, a 2.5-ton truck of medical supplies, and covered all air fare and travel expenses, to the city’s sister city of Medan, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.