Moved by images of buildings crumbling like sand castles and children wandering the streets crying for parents buried in the rubble, I donated $10 to the Yéle Haiti Earthquake Fund, excited that saving the world was as simple as texting — something I do daily without even thinking. Yéle reportedly collected more than $2 million from its SMS fundraising, which was lead by hip-hop producer and Yéle chairman Wyclef Jean. Then a report by Smoking Gun lifted Jean’s Superman cape. Turns out the organization had some serious financial mismanagement issues, including not  filing taxes and large payouts given to Jean and his associates. Jean defended Yéle’s credibility, but the damage was done. One year after the earthquake, millions of Haitians  are living in tents and dying in record numbers of curable diseases, even after donors around the world gave more than $14 billion.

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Call it a social experiment or just plain crazy, but I refuse to buy a cell phone. This mobile-addict is detoxing. Not long ago, I was a slave to my Blackberry. I even started putting it next to my pillow to check emails before bed only to reach for it hours later to cut off

Then I went to Cameroon.

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