WTA: Naomi Osaka donates next prize money for Haiti victims
The earthquake victims in Haiti can expect a hopefully large donation from Naomi Osaka.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit:
Aug 15, 2021, 09:59 am
Until recently, we Central Europeans lived more or less on an island of the blessed when it comes to natural disasters. Of course, there were also floods, large mudslides and the like in our latitudes again and again. The tornado in South Moravia and the heavy flooding in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate this year, however, show the misery we will also face in increased form in the future.
The Caribbean state of Haiti, on the other hand, is already a branded child. The former French colony is repeatedly hit by earthquakes and storms. In 2010 an earthquake with an epicenter in the capital Port-au-Prince killed 220,000 people - one million became homeless. And now - only eleven years later - the state in the Greater Antilles was hit again by a severe earthquake. Including death and suffering for hundreds of people.
"Feeling that we really don't get a break"
Naomi Osaka - herself with close family ties to Haiti, after all her father comes from there - would like to give the victims of this renewed tragedy a helping hand. The current world number two announced on Twitter that she would like to donate all of her prize money, which she will earn at the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, to the disaster relief of the island state.
“It really hurts to see all the devastation that is rampant in Haiti. And I have the feeling that we really don't get a break, ”said the Japanese on the short message service. "I know that the blood of our ancestors is strong, we will continue to ascend." Haiti is one of the least developed countries in the world. Without wanting to be partisan, the four-time Grand Slam winner was warmly granted a long advance into the tournament week in Cincinnati under these circumstances.