After the initial chaos caused by the earthquake in Port-au-Prince, the international community needs to set priorities in the reconstruction of Haiti. The first step, that is already taking place, is to create emergency teams to rescue trapped people, clear debris and restore water and sanitation to prevent the spread of diseases. The second step should be focused on the alleviation of the country’s debt with international financial institutions and the promotion of direct access to credit. Only by solving the financial problem, will the country be able to reconstruct its economy and reduce its high unemployment rates. The third step involves international cooperation in the fields of agriculture, health, social development and the …show more content…
The second step should be focused on the alleviation of the country’s debt with international financial institutions and the promotion of direct access to credit. Only by solving the financial problem, will the country be able to reconstruct its economy and reduce its high unemployment rates. The third step involves international cooperation in the fields of agriculture, health, social development and the strengthening of institutions. This way, it will be essential to provide even the most basic resources and knowledge due to the fact that everything is starting from scratch. This final step will take decades to be accomplished and for that same reason will demand a great effort of the United Nations and other multilateral organizations. Besides those measures led by multilateral institutions, several initiatives taken by individual countries will surely contribute to accelerate the process of reconstruction. Brazil, for instance, is cooperating with Haiti in school lunch programs, the promotion of sports, the production and use of ethanol fuel produced from sugar cane and a vaccination campaign. However, the most important thing in this reconstruction process is to learn from past mistakes. By doing that, it will be possible to avoid all the wrong choices that were made in the country’s history.
After the initial chaos
In 2010 the country of Haiti experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and many lives were lost and buildings are slowly being rebuilt today. Through the years after this disaster, many countries from around the world have come to its aid in rebuilding.
The earthquake of 2010 altered the way the people of Haiti looked at everyday life, as well as, it caused them to be deprived of all hope on creating a new beginning. On Tuesday January 12, 2010, the Haitian society knew that their world would never be the same. Having killed over 300,000 people and wounded more than 200,000 people, the magnitude 7.0 earthquake was demoralizing to the Haitians (“The 2010 Haiti Earthquake”). To make matters worse, following the magnitude 7.0 earthquake there were twelve aftershocks containing a magnitude larger than 5.0 (“Earthquake in Haiti”). The outcome of the earthquake was devastating to the extent that the minority of people who survived stood on the remains of their churches, grocery stores, and even their own homes. Corporations like Merlin USA and others around the globe are contributing in various ways to help try to rebuild Haiti’s nation. Working to repair Haiti’s demolished society, Merlin tries to bring appropriate health care to all susceptible associations in Haiti (“Haiti”). Strongly, Merlin continues to put in a great effort and they have tended to around 47,986 patients merely in Port-au-Prince (“Haiti”). Sorrowfully, people are constantly dying from Cholera in Haiti; nevertheless, it seems to them that nothing the world can offer will be able to cure the adversity they have encountered.
Over one thousand miles of roads and two hundred bridges were built. The occupiers reconstructed the French irrigation system that Haiti had, new wharves and acetylene lighthouses were built. Theaters and parks were restored or built from the ground up. The public health systems were enlarged; hospitals and clinics were set up across the country. Even American doctors came to train Haitian doctors, and some Haitian doctors went to the U.S. to study (Thomas Smith: 291, video). These are the only things that Haiti benefited from this intervention.
This free market system allows low labor costs and tariff-free access to the US for many of its exports. However, Haiti’s economy as struggled for decades. Within the last 7 years, Haiti has experienced substantial roadblocks on the path to economic growth: poverty, natural disasters, weak infrastructure, such as access to electricity, deforestation, soil erosion and inadequate supplies of potable water. Economic recovery has been impeded by the 2010 earthquake and 2012 hurricanes which adversely affected agricultural production and slowed public capital
On January 2010 a devastating thing happened that lasted approximately 90 seconds but forever changed Haiti. January 12 a devastating earthquake struck their country leaving behind a wrath of destruction. The earthquake measured out at 7.0 on the rector scale. Sadly, up 200,000 people were lost to the deadly earthquake. Over 1.5 million people were left homeless and after 5 years over 80,000 Haitians are still living in makeshift shelters and tents in Port-au
A week after Hurricane Matthew, a storm that struck on October third that killed hundreds of people and forced thousands from their homes, the relief effort is finally gaining steam in Haiti, with the flow of food and medicine increasing to cities that will serve as hubs for desperate outlying villages. As Hurricane Matthew passes, Haitians are struggling with Cholera, an infectious disease that can be deadly and is transmitted through contaminated water or food and that's not the end of their problems. Haiti is in a long political crisis and during this national emergency the government has failed to act accordingly instead depending on foreign donors. Haiti still haven't finished their election, which is predicted to start again soon to have a stable leader in this time of need instead
As a developing nation, Haiti relies on international aid organizations to deliver some basic services and necessities that the government is not able to. In the wake of the 2010 earthquake and the subsequent cholera outbreak, Haiti needed aid organizations more than ever, so much so that the aid community unintentionally gained political power. Recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stalled an economic aid package bound for Haiti due to the postponement of elections. The IMF did not think it was prudent to disburse aid to an interim government with little to no experience expending aid and the World Bank and the Inter-American Dialogue Bank have taken similar stances.
The recovery process was a long and slow process, even now Haiti is still recovering from the earthquake. Many countries and charities have donated to help Haiti recover from the devastating event. The biggest fundraiser was the American Red Cross. According to The Huffington Post, the money raised through The Red Cross has been wasted, the funds that have been invested to repair Haiti have been put to many of the wrong areas that need help. Overall the effectiveness has been rather patchy but getting better with the greater funds being produced for Haiti.
After US occupation, the Haitian government was in a state of unrest with political oppression, violence, and several coups. The UN began bringing in peacekeepers to help improve the political situation in 1994 and today the Republic of Haiti has its own functioning government, with President Michel Martelly at the head (Krasnoff 2013). Since the slave revolution that led to the country’s independence over 200 years ago, Haiti has remained deep in debt; it wasn’t until 20 years ago that there was a fully functional government, which to this day still has its fair share of corruption. With all this in mind, it’s no wonder that Haiti has been hit hard by many disasters, including the outbreak of cholera (Krasnoff, 2013). The country does not have the money to help provide treatment for those infected, sanitation, and clean drinking water outside of the main cities where many of its citizens live. The young government has not yet been able to organize a system to help its
The 2010 earth quake was a horrific event dismantling Haiti and leaving people without shelter, food, and resources. Many Haitians migrated to Dominican Republic to obtain a better standard of living. Those who stayed behind suffer substantially, and only wish that the development of Haiti could be
Haiti’s current social, political, and economic predicament is a grand result of the government’s failure to provide the society with their basic human rights. Unfortunately, this failure to provide such basic rights is due to the corruptive state of the government itself, hindering any progress in the country. The country’s political system, which entered a state of crisis in the late 1980’s, led to unrest and instability throughout the country (http://countrystudies.us). The government’s authority and ability to provide a sense of equilibrium was lost, hence creating an era of chaos.
As an undergraduate student majoring in Public Health, I have been fortunate to expand my knowledge about the health, social and politics challenges which affect other countries outside the U.S. There are many under developing and developing countries which are going through this challenges but the reason for this letter is about the country Haiti. Haiti had a devastating earthquake January 12, 2010 which tipped the scale of barely stable balance. This natural disaster destroyed the already weak health, social and political system. Infectious and communicable disease which were closed to being under control came back rapidly. Cholera outbreak occurred, which killed more than 5000 people and left over 500000 people sick,
There is a sentiment that the United states occupation in Haiti brought some good to the country. “The notion that there were indispensable nation-building benefits to this occupation falls short” A quote from an article published by Edwige Danticat a Haitian historian , scholar , and entertainer . In this article published ith nEw worker , Danticat argues that the United states goodness in Hait fall short because these infrastructure which was built were from the forced labor of those kidnapped Haitians Many scholars like Laurent Dubois, Charles Arthur and MichaelDash also share that sentiment. The United States government is still the determinant voice in Haiti’s politics in the economy. After the marines
It is known for a fact that Haiti suffers from an endless amount of natural hazards including: hurricanes, floods, droughts and earthquakes, which has a calamitous impact on Haiti’s development. Throughout history, Haiti has been suffering from these hazards on an extreme due to geographical problems, poverty, environmental degradation, poor building standards and social difficulties. As a result, buildings, infrastructure, families, crops and people are lost. Aside from the obvious consequences that natural disasters present, the secondary effects are just as dangerous. Earthquakes destroy infrastructure, therefore, hospitals and schools are destroyed resulting in a drastic stop in Haiti’s development. Natural hazards also destroy productive
In 2010, a gigantic earthquake -reaching a 7.0 range- shook Haiti. Now Haiti may not have been a huge area, but it was “overpopulated... which [as a result] was a factor in the large number of people killed” and left several more left homeless and injured (Wilentz). Of course, this sort of tragedy did not go unknown throughout the world and several different cooperations from different countries fled to Haiti; offering to lend a helping hand. One group, who broadcast themselves to be the main helpers to this case was the Clinton Foundation. At sight of this, the Haitians were initially relieved. They believed that things were finally starting to look up.