Since January, I have purposely avoided posting about what is going on in Haiti. It’s not that I have put it in the back of my mind, on the contrary, I think about it everyday – several times a day. The feelings I have about how things have progressed since the earthquake are basically: disappointment, frustration and hopeless.

It’s been six months and there are still dead bodies under rubble. I just can’t  understand how after all this time and the aid that’s been pouring into the country, things look worse than they did on January 13th. Many people are discussing how best to move forward with the reconstruction (myself included) and how the government can strengthen its services to better serve the Haitian people. There’s also talk about the upcoming elections which I am sure is going to drain the already badly distributed resources.

All this is fine and dandy, but what about the sick babies living in tents? What about the people who

made it out of the earthquake unscathed, but have now contracted preventable diseases due to the lack of housing and sanitation? Don’t get me started on the people who need mental health services, but culturally can’t grasp the concept even if these services were available…it’s just terrible!

I watched one of the CNN documentaries about an orphanage operated by Americans that has struggled to stay open since the earthquake. When one of the Haitian teachers was asked if he thought Haiti would come through this a better country, his answer was “No”. Can you blame him? I know that there are people who have courageously gone to Haiti to help out where they can, but in order for this widespread suffering to end there needs to be humungous change that starts at the top. We’ve gone the route of people-led rebellions enough times in the past 20+ years to know that something different is needed. I really think the Haitian people are eager for a strong leader.

So, at least once a day I take a look at pictures taken of the people trying to make it through another day under very difficult circumstances. If they are still able to find something to smile about, I can muster up enough optimism for there to one day be a better Haiti.

Tags: Change for Haiti, Haiti, Haiti Earthquake Relief, Haiti's Development, Haitian Culture, Haitian-American in Venezuela

This entry was posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010 at 8:10 AM and is filed under Haiti, Haiti Earthquake 2010, Haiti Earthquake Relief, Haiti Relief Effort. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.