Haiti: A Nation In Crisis

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February 22, 2010 • Gabrielle Loudermilk  
Filed under BuccaNews

          On the morning of January 12^th, 2010 an earthquake registering 7.0 on the Richter scale, the largest quake to hit the area in 200 years, devastated the small island nation of Haiti. The Republic of Haiti is a small island located next to the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Sea with a turbulent political past and has been ravaged by severe poverty for decades. The earthquake devastated the country collapsing schools, government buildings, and hospitals, and leaving the capital, Port-Au-Prince, in little more than a pile of rubble. More than 600,000 people have been left homeless and almost 200,000 people have been reported dead. Port-Au-Prince and other surrounding cities have been reduced to chaos with frequent looting in the streets among other crimes; however, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton along with other foreign ministers around the globe met on Monday to discuss the rebuilding of Haiti, and it looks as if foreign aid is finally on the way. 13,000 U.S. military personnel have already been deployed on the island and with the finding of two new survivors this week (twelve and fourteen days after the quake) new search mission may begin. The Port-Au-Prince airport is currently open around the clock to receive aid and supplies. There has also been talk of removing people from the cities and placing them in small refugee camps in the country. Aid has currently made strong headway in reaching displaced people; 7,000 tents have already been distributed, and the situation in the capital is on its way to being stabilized, say U.N. officials. However, while conditions are improving, complete reconstruction is a long way off. “This is a major challenge. We don’t have a magic solution . . . It will probably be a year or two before we can get people back in proper construction,” says U.N. official John Holmes. As we have seen, there is still much work to be done and the reconstruction of Haiti could take many years and millions of dollars to complete. There are currently many charities and fundraisers in our community such as Kennesaw State University’s “Hoops for Haiti” on February 4^th and 6^th or Cuppy’s coffee shop’s Haiti Relief Fundraiser featuring live local bands. You could also simply donate to reliable charities such as the Red Cross or UNICEF; all help will be greatly appreciated!