I only hope that the wealthier countries in the world will really do all they can to alleviate the hardship of the Haiti people. It is good that so many individual people are responding by donating to the appeal.
P.S. Below is a message from David Cameron that I thought you might like to see.
"Dear Robert,
On Tuesday, the poorest country in the western hemisphere was hit head-on by an enormous earthquake.
I'm sure you've seen the heart-wrenching images of Haiti. The full impact of the earthquake is still emerging, but it's clear that hundreds of thousands of people have either been killed or left homeless.
It's essential that this small nation gets the help it needs as quickly as possible.
Britain is an incredibly compassionate and generous nation. We showed that five years ago when the British public raised £350m in the wake of the Boxing Day Tsunami, and I've no doubt we will show it again.
The best way for you to help, if you haven't already, is to donate directly to the Disaster Emergency Committee. Whether you can afford to give £5 or £500, it all makes a difference.
Call 0370 60 60 900 or visit the DEC website now to make your contribution.
In the meantime, I know our thoughts and prayers are with all those people who have suffered so much in that country over the last few days".
David Cameron
P.S. For more details see HERE
Rob Halfon - Working hard for Harlow, Hastingwood, Nazeing, Roydon and Sheering
What a dreadful, tragic situation in Haiti. I was in Haiti some years ago and recall how desperate the situation of Haitians was even then. There is just no infrastructure and horrendous poverty in the rural areas and towns alike. Half the population were starving and most of the other half were barely surviving.
ReplyDeleteHaitians even then were the saddest and angriest people I have ever encountered. I remember driving through a small slum town in a minibus and thanking God that the bus was in good order and unlikely to break down, for everywhere we drove Haitians glared and gesticulated at the comparatively affluent occupants of our bus with the most murderous expressions on their faces, I thought, if we had to stop here, I think they'd kill us: it was absolutely terrifying. So I'm not at all surprised that Cité Soleil, Haiti’s largest slum in the capital of Port-au-Prince, has been called "the most dangerous place on Earth" by the UN.
Even prior to this earthquake, it was as though almost all sense of community and order had broken down in those crumbling, dirty and dilapidated urban slum districts, I am hugely fearful of what will happen in those slums now if we do not get aid through to these people.
In recent years, the increasing rapidity with which Haiti's seemingly never ending series of oppressive dictatorships collapsed - encouraged by international meddling, largely by the US? - combined with endemic HIV/Aids has made life so much worse for Haitians. And now this tragic earthquake and the nightmare situation getting aid into a country with almost no infrastructure. These poor, long suffering people must feel totally abandoned by the world.
What a contrast between Haiti and its neighbouring country on the island of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic (DR). The DR has moved toward representative democracy since 1978 and has also adopted a liberal economic model, which has made it the second largest economy in the Caribbean. Though known for sugar production, DR's economy is now dominated by services and tourism: it has made itself the Caribbean's largest tourist destination. Though a very poor country, DR is developing infrastructure and has an advanced telecommunication system. Though poverty, unemployment and government corruption are still problems, DR has more than six times the per capita GDP of Haiti. In 2003, 80% of all Haitians were poor, 54% in abject poverty. The country of nine million people has a fast-growing population, but over two-thirds of the labour force lack formal jobs. Haiti's per capita GDP (PPP) was $1,300 in 2008.
I hope that Haiti's rural areas may be coping better than we know the towns are. Though there is terrible deprivation in rural areas, there is less overcrowding in small rural towns and none in rural districts outside the towns. Also, in my experience, the sense of community remains far more intact in rural Haiti. One example of this:
ReplyDeleteI travelled through the breathtakingly beautiful countryside to board a boat to one of the stunning small islands in the greater Antilles archipelago, just off of Haiti: an island renowned for its billions of butterflies.
At the jetty where we awaited the boat, in a cloud of thousands of black butterflies, sat a group of around fifteen or twenty little boys from the nearby village. Like so many of Haiti's children, their stomach's were distended from malnutrition and their eyes and faces sad and prematurely aged by the ravages of continuous hunger. We'd travelled for an hour or two, packed together in the minibus in scorching temperatures, without a drink and were given one can of ice cold coke each at the jetty.
The eyes of those poor little boys mentally devoured every sip we took of that coke, yet they didn't move from where they sat and didn't make a sound. I couldn't stand to see those little lads so hungry, so saved half my coke for one or two of them along with a few scraps of food and chewing gum I had left. I walked across to the group of boys and was immediately conflicted about which of them I should give the drink and food to: they were all equally starved and whoever I gave it to would wolf it down leaving none for the others.
I handed the coke can to the smallest lad - about 18 moths old? - and shrugged apologetically to the others. Then watched in amazement as that little boy took a small, measured sip of the coke then passed it on to the boy next to him. Quickly the can moved along the line of boys, each of them taking a small and equally measured sip, then passing it on to his neighbour. When it reached the last boy, I said, I hope there's some left for you. He seemed to understand and lifted the can away from his mouth to show me the small - perfectly measured! - amount of coke running into his mouth. Those little boys had managed to apportion and share that coke equally between them. They did exactly the same with the food and chewing gum: every boy had his equal share.
Sharing, even when you're starving, was clearly a powerful community value and, it demonstrated the strength of their community and, I would imagine, this strong community was the means by which these people had managed to survive.
The following comment on Haiti to BBC's Have Your Say was rejected by the BBC. Why?
ReplyDeleteDEBATE:
Is your city well-placed to recover from the recession?
SENT:18-Jan-2010 13:20
COMMENT:
My town and its people are a darn sight better off than the poor, earthquake survivors of Port Au Prince, Haiti. For goodness sake, cut the red tape and yacking, aid agencies & politicians. Get clean water, food and medical supplies to the Haitians.
PLEASE HELP THEM!
COMMENT STATUS:Rejected
I meant to add to my last comment that the BBC seems to be having a news blackout on comments regarding Haiti and how disgracefully slow governments around the world are in providing real, practical survival help to the Haitians as opposed to promises of money...which may never fully materialise and which does nothing to relieve their desperate, immediate needs.
ReplyDelete