September 15, 2008 by Tim Saunders
Fresh from appearing at the ONE X ONE Difference Awards in Toronto last Monday, Matt Damon and Wyclef Jean spent the weekend visiting the flood-ravaged city of Gonaives in Haiti following destruction caused by Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike.
The pair hope to encourage people to help the United Nations raise more than $100 million to help over 800,000 Haitians after four devastating tropical storms and hurricanes since mid-August, and the visit was organized by ONE X ONE, a Canadian charity that provides aid to children in need around the world.
Wading through knee-deep flood waters, the pair visited a school shelter to drop off cooking oil from USAID and bags of beans from the World Food Program. Jean – a native of Haiti – sang for the crowd, and both stars were overwhelmed by the humanitarian crisis.
“It’s inhumane,” said Jean. “I wish there was a word in the dictionary. No human should be living like this.”
“I’m speechless,” added Damon. “I can’t believe it.“
Gonaives police have buried dozens of unidentified corpses in the last few weeks, and Aid agencies are working at supplying medical supplies for mobile clinics to treat infections from people walking in flooded streets.
“It’s obvious that this country was absolutely flattened with these hurricanes,” said ONE X ONE chairman Frank McKenna. “Huge portions of the crops of the nation were wiped out, which means there will be food shortages. You just wonder how people can survive.”
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