About

Welcome to InsideDisaster.com, an interactive educational website about the Haiti earthquake and humanitarian work.

The website is a companion to the three-part documentary series Inside Disaster, which follows the Red Cross humanitarian response to the January 2010 Haiti earthquake.

InsideDisaster.com combines content and themes from the documentary series with original material shot, photographed, and researched by our web team.

The goal of the site is to help users explore the complexities of humanitarian work in the 21st century, as well as the specific challenges and experiences that arose from the aftermath of the Haiti quake.

There’s a wide breadth of material on the website, which we hope you will dig into, respond to, and share with others. The first section of the site focuses on the Haiti earthquake, and includes:

• a jaw-dropping online simulation that allows you to experience the aftermath of the quake as a journalist, survivor, or aid worker;

• a definitive interactive account of the Haiti earthquake, its impact, and the global response it evoked;

• an exploration of the specific challenges facing humanitarians in Haiti;

• videos documenting how Haitians survived the quake, with and without access to humanitarian aid;

• a backgrounder on Haiti’s history, and how the country’s political, economic and environmental circumstances made the earthquake more than a “natural” disaster;

• a guide to Haiti’s recovery and reconstruction, including how the country has been changed by the quake, and the government’s priorities for rebuilding;

The second part of the website, Inside Humanitarianism, focuses specifically on the humanitarian industry, the nuts and bolts of working in the field, and information on how to become an effective and accountable humanitarian donor.

Highlights of this section include:

• an interactive history of humanitarianism;

• provocative quotes and ideas about humanitarianism from leading thinkers in the field;

• a list of the best websites, books, and films on humanitarianism;

• information about a range of humanitarian careers and the training that they require, many illustrated with original footage of professionals at work in Haiti;

• a detailed quiz to help users determine their suitability for a career in the field;

• a list of institutions around the world offering programs and training related to humanitarian work;

• the “Donations Hall of Shame”, an interactive gallery of well-intentioned donations that caused their recipients more harm than good;

• a guide to “Best Practices” and additional resources for humanitarian donors and volunteers

If you’re engaged by the material on this website, be sure to explore the documentary series that started it all. Within Inside the Documentary, you can read about Inside Disaster, watch the trailer and behind-the-scenes clips, and learn about the team behind the documentary production.

Inside Disaster will premiere on TV Ontario in January 2011 in Canada, and will be available for sale on DVD shortly after. Check back to this page frequently for festival, TV, and theatrical listings in your area.

We hope you enjoy the website and will share the material in classrooms, online, and in discussions with others. Our first-person simulation, Inside the Haiti Earthquake, can be distributed via this URL:

http://www.insidethehaitiearthquake.com/

Our Flash-based interactive pieces are gathered together in thematic galleries (The Haiti Earthquake and Inside Humanitarianism), and each of them can be shared and embedded on other websites.

Our written content and original photos can be repurposed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Our team is always looking for your feedback and suggestions about the site:

• Try our first-person simulation and let us know if it changed your understanding of humanitarian work on the ground in Haiti.

• Help us improve and expand our list of resources about Haiti, Humanitarianism, and Donor Education.

• Leave comments and start debates on the pages you love or hate, and let us know how you’ve made use of our content in your work, studies or personal experience.

The Inside Disaster documentary, website and simulation are produced by PTV Productions. Our team is grateful for the public and private funding that have made this website possible: TVOntario, the Canada Media Fund (CMF-FMC), the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, the Government of Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the Ontario Media Development Corporation – Tax Credit Program.

After a year of work and contributions from Haiti, Canada, and hundreds of academic and online sources, we are proud to be able to share Inside Disaster with you, and look forward to your response.

THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE

INSIDE HUMANITARIANISM

INSIDE THE DOCUMENTARY