One year already.
No, I don’t have my dates wrong. It has indeed been one year and one day since the devastating earthquake that struck near Port-au-Prince and its surroundings in Haiti, a country that was already in the buried in misery and poverty. But it has been exactly one year, to the day, since I wrote about it, saying and showing as much as I could about the disaster back then and calling to any and all readers of that post to consider making a donation to the recovery effort.
It was already the worst natural disaster of the decade, with the 2010s being less than two weeks old. Hopefully nothing will top it, at least in the near future.
What has happened since then?
As soon as news of the earthquake and the possibility of the death toll going beyond one hundred thousand became clear, the spotlights of the world were placed on the greatly-affected Port-au-Prince, and almost immediately charity foundations began to provide numbers and links through which people could easily donate. Right here, in the Dominican Republic, phone companies made agreements with local charities so anyone with a decent cellphone could do their part by sending a text message. Many of the injured were brought across the border to be treated in hospitals all over the country. Even the college I attended arranged to have places where people could drop off canned goods, medical supplies, hygiene products that would be sent to those in need.
Twenty-four hours a day, for several days, there was nothing else on the news channels. Celebrities, reporters, politicians traveled to the ground zero of 2010. Took less than a month for a song to be remade as a theme for this most unfortunate event. In the newspapers, online, everywhere you would see an article about someone doing a charity event, a batch of supplies being flown to the affected country and an ever-increasing death toll that has yet to be established, with all the mass-burials that make it an impossible task.
Months went by, and public attention on the 2010 Haiti earthquake began to dwindle, with new things getting more interest. Oil spills, volcanoes, plane crashes, notable deaths, document leaks, sporting events. All worthy of attention, sure, but it’s hard to forget about Haiti when it is one’s neighboring country.
From news about promised aid to the survivors of the earthquake, who resided and still reside in tent camps, we went to news of failure to deliver supplies, misuse of monetary donations, violence, rape and last, but most certainly not least, an ongoing cholera outbreak that has killed thousands and has unsurprisingly made its way across the border, causing fear among Dominicans, while authorities issue safety measures about water consumption and provide information on what cholera is all about.
Now came the new year. Haiti’s national palace is still in ruins. About five percent of the rubble has been cleared. Like I mentioned above, most of the homeless survivors are still living in tents which they might as well call “home”, after residing in them for so long. News reports have only begun to cover the situation again with some degree of notability because of the anniversary of the magnitude-7 quake.
As with last year (and periodically in the days and months that followed), Alan Taylor of Boston.com has compiled an excellent set of photographs on The Big Picture –to which I recommend everyone subscribe–, which illustrates the continuing struggle of Haitians who survive among the rubble, no longer getting as many supplies as they got during the initial response. They strive for recovery, as many images show, but it will take a tremendous effort and a considerable amount of time to bring Haiti’s capital to what it was before the earthquake, which wasn’t much to begin with, and even longer to develop Port-au-Prince, along with its surrounding areas, to reasonable levels of quality of life.
I’m not done here yet.
While the response to the earthquake seems to have diminished, it doesn’t mean that individuals can no longer do their part. Yéle Haiti continues to accept donations (see the brochure at the bottom to learn of what they’re doing), as do the Red Cross (click on How to Help) and Heart to Heart. Photographer Nick Zantop, featured in last year’s post, has gone beyond providing a list of links on his and founded Haitian Earthquake Relief, with shortcuts to various charities to choose from. There is also SocialVibe, with various causes that will aid Haiti (Yéle Haiti, Charity: Water, Direct Relief and so on). You can join the site and pick a cause or you can click on the SocialVibe widget on this very blog and do activities that will earn points –and consequently donations– for the charity currently displayed.
Many more posts on Haiti, with more information on ways to help, can be found in the WordPress page for the Haiti tag.
That’s all I can say for now. Another post on the subject, hopefully in a more positive tone, next year or sooner.
I agree. People tend to be active in the beginning of disasters, then as new events appear, they slowly forget. Haiti still needs donations, and still needs support. Thanks for posting, this is a must read. I’ve also posted an article similar yesterday, mentioning the places people can donate, and Haiti’s slow progress!
It’s sad, they still need a lot of help. –And also sad that there is not a time in the world when people somewhere are not suffering and in need of some kind of assistance.
And ya said I wouldn’t find it :D