Blogamole › Haiti

In the wake of the 7.0 earthquake that hit the impoverished and now devastated nation of Haiti on Tuesday, more stories from survivors are surfacing. Injured Americans who are finally being flown home to seek medical treatment are telling their stories of survival and making pleas for more aid to find its way to Haiti.

 Christa Brelsford is a 25-year-old American who was visiting Haiti with her brother Julian when she found herself pinned under the building she was in. Julian managed to escape, but Christa was not as fortunate. "My main objective was not to panic and to stay as calm as I could," she said, speaking from a hospital in Miami. "After I realized I was trapped I didn't know how long it would take to get me out. I thought I wasn't badly injured. I thought that I still had both my legs and my toes. I thought my only danger was losing circulation from the weight."

Julian was able to help his sister by making a tourniquet for one of her injured legs, but it wasn't enough to save her right foot, which later had to be amputated. "I did stay calm," she said of being trapped in the building's wreckage. "I didn't worry. I just tried to take it one second at a time."

Christina explained that she received treatment in the U.S. because the medical care in the country right now is in a state of chaos. Although she lost her foot, she noted that she is just happy to be alive. "It got cold and I knew it wasn't being saved. I'm so happy I'm alive that I don't care about my foot at all. I'm so thankful to be alive," she said. "You can either focus on the pain or you can focus on something else. It's a lot easier to focus on what's good in life than what's not."

Her brother added that despite his sister's injuries and the current panic in the country, he plans on returning to try and help others. "I'm definitely wanting to go back to Haiti," he said. "There are so many people who haven't gotten the wonderful treatment we did. We want to see outpouring of support for these people."

Freelance Journalist, Erik Parker, fortunately wasn't hurt, but shares his story of how he helped others.

To find out how you can help, head over to Think.MTV.com. (MTVNEWS)

Tags Haiti, Think MTV

So far, Wyclef Jean's nonprofit organization, Yele Haiti, has raised over $1 million for the victims of Tuesday's devastating earthquake from mobile donations alone. With a series of urgent tweets, an appearance on CNN and the help of his famous friends the singer has mobilized a massive effort on behalf of his homeland, imploring followers to text "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to the effort.

According to Albe Angel, CEO of Miami-based Give on the Go, the mobile communications company working with Yele Haiti to coordinate donations, the organization has raised over $1 million for relief efforts since the earthquake. Yele's goal is to up that figure to $1 million a day as part of the SMS fundraising drive.

"Since the disaster occurred around 5 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday and [by] midnight [Wednesday] we cleared $1 million," said Angel, whose company provides the technology that allows mobile users to make an automatic $5 donation. Give on the Go has announced that 100 percent of the donations raised will go directly to Yele Haiti. More than 200,000 people have donated to the cause, and Angel said he thinks it's possible that the $1 million per day goal could be reached, given the volume of donations that have been coming in. "These types of donations really were spawned by the [2004] tsunami relief effort, and the $1 million that Yele has raised already is a watershed event."

Wyclef is not the only celebrity who has stepped up to aid the cause. The Jolie-Pitt Foundation, founded by Angelina Jolie and partner Brad Pitt, has pledged $1 million to the emergency medical operations of Doctors Without Borders.

"It is incredibly horrible to see a catastrophe of this size hit a people who have been suffering from extreme poverty, violence and unrest for so many decades," Jolie said in a statement on Wednesday.

Relief efforts have spawned Facebook and Twitter users to take action, and a number of other celebrities have joined in the fight to send urgently needed supplies to the impoverished Caribbean nation, including Alyssa Milano, Olivia Wilde, LL Cool J, Jessica Alba, and Demi Moore.

On Thursday, President Obama pledged $100 million in aid from the U.S. The United Nations also announced that $10 million would go to relief efforts in Haiti, while the World Bank pledged $100 million. (MTV News)

Photos via Getty Images

Tags Agentes De Cambio, alyssa milano, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Demi Moore, Haiti, Jessica Alba, LL Cool J, Olivia Wilde, President Barack Obama, Wyclef, Yele Haiti

Yesterday's devastating 7.0 terremoto en Haiti left the city of Port-Au-Prince in a horrifying state of destruction.  El país, which shares la isla con la República Dominicana, hasn't experienced an earthquake of this magnitude in 200 years.  Millones de personas have been left without homes or food, and thousands more have lost loved ones in the destruction.

Wyclef Jean, one of Haiti's most famous exports, has asked todo el mundo to help his Haitian brothers and sisters in any way possible.  El artista stated the following on his website:

"I cannot stress enough what a human disaster this is, and idle hands will only make this tragedy worse. The over 2 million people in Port-au-Prince tonight face catastrophe alone. We must act now. President Obama has already said that the U.S. stands 'ready to assist' the Haitian people. The U.S. military is the only group trained and prepared to offer that assistance immediately. They must do so as soon as possible. The international community must also rise to the occasion and help the Haitian people in every way possible."

For an already impoverished nation like Haiti to be hit this hard, we can only imagine the amount of time and money it will take to recover.  Quieres ayudar?

The American Red Cross has a full-time staff on the ground in Haiti, providing ongoing HIV/AIDS prevention and disaster preparedness programs, and has already pledged an initial $200,000 to assist communities impacted by the earthquake. They seek additional donations to continue providing food, water, temporary shelter, medical services and emotional support.

Also, Wyclef's own organization, Yele Haiti will also be accepting donations to help people affected by the disaster.  Visit the website or text YELE to 501 501 to donate $5 to the relief fund.

For more ways in which you can help out nuestros hermanos Haitianos, visit MTV News.  Our prayers are with everyone affected by esta tragedia!  [MTV News]

Photo via Getty Images

Tags Agentes De Cambio, American Red Cross, donate, earthquake, Haiti, MTV NEws, pro-social, relief, support, wyclef jean, Yele Haiti