Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Suddenly Haiti

Haiti is in the news due to a large scale earthquake hitting the country, killing perhaps more than a hundred thousand and leaving a very large chunk of the population homeless. This one can easily verify by checking the newspapers and watching the evening news. However, they don't tell you that the country was in shambles BEFORE the earthquake, and honestly I can only think that the earthquake will be of long-term benefit to the island for drawing attention to a situation that has been regarded by many international observers as nearly hopeless since the '60's.

This former pirate colony, wracked by the successive plundering dictatorships of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, and the initially promising but ultimately criminal Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is the poorest country in the Americas and one of the poorest in the world. Scores of people live in the shanty towns strewn with garbage and lacking basic utilities and sanitation that constitute most of Port-au-Prince's urban sprawl. Nearly half the causes of death in the country have been attributed to HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, meningitis and other diseases according to the World Health Organization. The country has been occupied by U.N. peacekeepers since the 2004 rebellion that toppled Aristide. All this is before the earthquake.

Really, it's a shame that it took an earthquake for normal people to respond to the constant misfortunes of this small and vibrant nation with a rich cultural heritage.

The White House's web site has set up a link to the relief effort spearheaded by Bill Clinton and W. Not that that really inspires confidence, but here's the link anyway. Do offer help. It's entirely possible that these new channels for aid are secure enough to not be siphoned off by the likes of Duvalier or Aristide.

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