Sports Radio Interviews

Samuel Dalembert Spearheading NBA’s Relieft Efforts In His Native Haiti

Be it on Facebook, during commercials of NFL games this weekend or just the topic du jour of folks conversing with one another around the country, the reaction to the earthquake that ripped Haiti apart at its seams last Tuesday has been nothing short of extraordinary. Extraordinary in how it seems to be on the forefront of so many people’s minds, efforts and conversations the last several days; and extraordinary in how people and companies (small and large alike) are utilizing technology to help out however they can.

Thank goodness for the initial outpouring of support too, because from the looks of it, it’s utter mayhem down in the small Caribbean nation. One such person doing his best to contribute to the immediate relief response is Philadelphia 76ers forward Samuel Dalembert, a native Haitian whose family and friends have been affected by the tragedy. Dalembert immediately put up $100,000 of his own money to help with the relief efforts, and promised to match any funds raised by Sixers fans. Extremely gracious of the soft-spoken big man, but hardly his first foray into charity or giving back to his community. Dalembert, through the work of the Samuel Dalembert Foundation, has an extensive history of working with UNICEF and other aid organizations to help those in need back in his native Haiti.

Dalembert joined WIP in Philadelphiato talk about his reaction to the horrific news back home, what it was like growing up in Haiti, how he plans to continue helping however he can in the immediate and longterm relief efforts, and how others can get involved as well.

On if he’s talked to his family since the earthquake:

“Yeah, through email I talked to my dad and he’s still looking for a couple of family members, my uncle and godfather. But you know, one cousin has a broken leg, but thank God most of my family is okay besides minor injuries. It’s just right now, as you can tell, we cannot tell how many people are missing. It’s chaotic out there and I think everybody’s doing their best to help out.”

On what his life was like when he lived back in Haiti as a kid:

“We used to have electricity for like two hours and parents washing and ironing your clothes for school for the whole week – you know, all the clothes they can iron because they don’t know when they get it [electricity] back. We used to study under candles in the middle of the night doing our homework. And just doing a lot of stuff that today people take for granted, and for us was normal.  But it was a situation where there was nothing else to compare it to, so to us I still felt like I was better than most people because I was able to eat everyday even if it was just one or two meals. But friends of mine were living in terrible situations so I had to share my lunch or my food with them. But I used to love it, I asked my grandma for an animal, my uncle used to be like we can’t even feed you, why would you ask for an animal?”

On the devastated infrastructure in Haiti and what the recovery and reconstruction process is going to be like:

“As you see, everybody from all over the nation – thank you to everyone who sympathizes with the situation and is helping out – they’re flying all over, coming over and helping out. Then we’re going to run in to another problem again after we stabilize everything, then we’re going to have to find a place to put those people who are going to be homeless. We’re going to basically have to provide food and water. And that’s why our work with UNICEF for the last many years is because the children are the ones who suffer the most. They don’t know how it is to survive when you’re five years old, six years old trying to stay alive with hunger, no water. And that’s going to be the tough part, and that’s why I’m out there and doing the best I can to help mostly those children.”

On his initial contribution to the relief effort and on his charitable offer to match any donation made by 76ers fans this past weekend:

“Yes what I did was, as I was in touch with UNICEF and they were talking to me, they said we still need as much help over there and stuff like that. So I made a quick initial $100,000 donation and everything after that I will match. But we still need as much money as possible, and thank you to all the people who hit my website (his website can be found here) and donate money.”

Listen here to Dalembert on WIP in Philly with Glen Macnow and Anthony Gargano

Tags: atheltes from Haiti, earthquake in Haiti, Haiti earthquake relief, Philadelphia 76ers, Samuel Dalembert, WIP