When a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti on 12th January 2010, a country already on its knees became hell on earth. Belfast musicians Anto O’Kane and Aaron Abernethy decided to do something to help, and soon found that their city wanted to join them.
BY HEATHER MCGARRIGLE
After centuries of civil and political unrest and decades of dictatorship, sanctions and violence, Haiti was a country already crippled by poverty and debt. Its poorly-constructed buildings had claimed lives before; in 2008, a school in Port-au-Price collapsed, killing around 500 pupils and teachers.
So when the magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti on 12 January, the physical devastation that followed is on a scale which is difficult to comprehend. I could descend into tear-jerking, colour descriptions of the horrors but I don’t need to. We all saw the TV and newspaper coverage; it was yet another terrible ‘Remember where you were when…’ moment.
These images on the news were what inspired Anto to do something positive to help. He logged on to local music forum, Fastfude, and offered the services of his band, Tinpot Operation, for any benefit gigs that were bring be arranged. He soon realised it would be down to him to organise any such event!
Aaron was soon on board. “I contacted CDC Leisure, who own The Limelight, Katy Daly’s and The Spring & Airbrake and asked if they’d be interested in putting on a large event, a bit like the tsunami fundraiser they did five years ago. A couple of hours later, they came back and asked for a meeting. We went down and they said that in principle, they had no problem with it. So we went ahead and started booking bands.”
The speed with which the venue was arranged set the pace for Belfast4Haiti. In less than three weeks, around fifty bands had been booked for the gig on the 31st January, including The Answer, In Case of Fire, Panama Kings, Mojo Fury, A Plastic Rose and General Fiasco. Aaron commented: “There were a few notable names – And So I Watch You From Afar, LaFaro, Two Door Cinema Club – who were on tour at the time, and if they hadn’t have been out of the country, they would have been on the bill too.”
Aaron and Anto even performed; not content with organising the night, Tin Pot Operation and Aaron’s band, Black Bear Saloon, both played sets in the early evening.
Setting up Facebook and Twitter accounts lent the campaign further momentum, with online ‘clarion calls’ producing logo designers, writers, PR experts and media interest, as well as generally spreading the word. Tickets went on sale on 19th January and by the 29th, the online allocation was sold out.
It wasn’t long before others became inspired to do their bit for the cause. The Stiff Kitten planned a ‘fundraver’ to run at the same time as the gig, booking big names in lightning-fast time, such as David Holmes, Phil Kieran and The Japanese Popstars. A 5k run was also organised to take place earlier that day. What was already an impressive ‘mini-festival’ was becoming a citywide event, all under the Belfast4Haiti banner.
“It took for an event to be announced for people to go, ‘Yeah, you know, I was thinking of doing something myself ’ ” said Aaron.
Lisa Millar from Lisburn was the brains behind the Belfast4Haiti 5k run, having participated in similar events for charity before. With a little help from twitter contacts, she sorted out logistical details such as public liability insurance and helped organise an event that drew around 700 runners to Ormeau Park on a cold Sunday morning, including well known personalities such as Dame Mary Peters and Hollyoaks actor Gerard McCarthy.
It kicked off a day to remember. Hundreds showed up to the gigs that day and many more without tickets queued outside for as long as it took to buy one. Anyone leaving early was urged to hand over their ticket to be re-sold, maximising proceeds to the cause. Bar staff, bands, lighting and sound engineers all worked for free, with smiles on their faces, and the night ran like clockwork.
Without getting too slushy about it, whether you were in the Limelight, Katy Daly’s, the Spring & Airbrake or the Stiff Kitten that night, there was a tangible sense of being part of something special. As Aaron put it, “There was no wrangling over egos or paychecks. Everyone was doing it out of the goodness of their own hearts.”
I won’t draw crass comparisons between this event and recent political happenings, but I have to say, it was heartening and inspiring to see the people of my country using their talents, working their backsides off and working together, with the ‘bigger picture’ in mind.
There’s no sign of so-called ‘compassion fatigue’ either; every day, it seems a new Haiti fundraiser is added to the Belfast4Haiti website, with Aaron and Anto only too happy to promote the efforts of those inspired by their gig. At the time of writing, the second of two fundraising nights of music organised by DeadOnMusic is taking place in Auntie Annies; a special arts sale, HeARTS for Haiti takes place on Valentine’s Day in the Black Box and an Xbox 360 ‘Battle of the Bands’ is being held at Auntie Annie’s on the 21st February.
So far, the total raised altogether on the 31st January has exceeded £40,000 – twice the original target – and continues to rise. All funds raised are going directly to the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee), an umbrella organisation for thirteen UK humanitarian aid agencies. When major disasters and emergencies occur throughout the world, the DEC brings together the aid, corporate, public and broadcasting sectors to rally support, and allocates funds to DEC agencies best placed to deliver effective and timely relief to people most in need.
A list of useful websites is below, including the Belfast4Haiti site, which will be updated with any new fundraising events. Their JustGiving page is still active and will remain open for at least three months, so if you can’t make it to any of the events, you can still donate money to help Haiti.
The DEC website is also listed; donations can be made here and you can also check for updates on the relief effort. The DEC will be working in Haiti long after Haiti fades from our news schedules.
WEBSITES:
Belfast4Haiti:
www.belfast4haiti.com
www.justgiving.com/belfast4haiti
www.twitter.com/belfast4haiti
HeARTS for Haiti:
http://tinyurl.com/heARTSni
Xbox 360 Battle of The Bands:
http://tinyurl.com/Xboxni
Disasters Emergency Committee:
www.dec.org.uk