Help for Haiti: Deploy a Startup
Jason Rexilius, a very good friend and fellow entrepreneur is preparing a creative and exciting project to help provide relief in Haiti. Jason is working with Todd Huffman and Instedd to help support several relief organizations by providing them with actionable intelligence about what is going on across the country.
While Twitter feeds may be great for allowing people at home in the US to get a sense for the magnitude of the disaster, they don’t provide organizations like American Red Cross or Project KID with the information they need to support their operations. They need to know if a road is passable, if a well is operational or if a gang has set up a roadblock. They need to know if an area is safe for relief workers and if supplies have reached their intended destinations. And they need this information in a timely, accessible format.
That’s what this project is supposed to help with. Instedd was active in revealing election issues in Afghanistan and Jason’s mobile software significantly enhances what they already have. They can put smart phones into the hands of Haitians so they can take pictures and record audio messages which are uploaded to a server along with a timestamp and location information from the built in GPS. The software stores the information until it finds a signal and can upload. The server then feeds it directly into the data systems of active relief organizations.
With a few tweaks, the software can be translated into Creole and even made pictographic to be operated by people who aren’t literate (like more than 50% of Haitians).
However, to make it work, they need some funds – approximately $10,000. Instedd is a registered 501(c)(3) and will collect the money to support the effort. If you want to contribute, you can go to their web site, but you won’t be able to specify that the money is for Jason’s operation. To do that, just fill in the form below after you contribute and tell me your name and how much you gave. Instedd will then credit your donation to this operation.
For those of you in Chicago, there will be a fund-raiser on Wednesday, January 27 at English Bar & Restaurant in River North. The event starts at 5:30PM and we have the space until approximately 7:30PM. Jason will tell us more about the mission and we’ll be collecting donations – cash, checks, whatever you can do would be appreciated. Sorry for the short notice, but Jason hopes to deploy by the end of the week.
If you can’t make it or are considering a more significant donation, you can go to Instedd.org/donate and make a tax-deducible donation. If you do that, please fill out the form below and let us know how much you gave so this project is allocated the funds. You can also donate via check to:
inSTEDD
480 S California Ave, Suite 104
Palo Alto, CA 94306
If you do that, be sure to write “TODD-JASON-HAITI” on the comment line of the check and fill in the form below to let us know.
Here’s a little more information about the project:
Themocracy
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Have anyone noticed that earthquake is a bit frequent these days? . Does climate change have any thing to do with earthquake?