-Haiti's Slow Recovery

By Kiendra Browne

It’s been two years since the terrible 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti, and about 500,000 people still remain homeless living on the streets. It has been a slow and tortuous process of recovery, and experts said, “ It will be another 10 years of spending before people see any serious results.” http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/10/v-print/2582235/questions-arise-about-how-haiti.html

“The world’s response to the disaster is slowly coming to an end,” said Sam Worthington, who heads InterAction, an umbrella group of major international aid groups. “ I look at what’s left to be done and how much money is left, ($360 million) there is no way that much amount of money can address the problems that exists down here.”

I must say some of the money was put to good use, including removing half of the rubble caused by the toppling of hundreds of buildings, creating 300,000 temporary jobs and helping more than 1,000 families get home. But many people continue to live in tents, have no food or access to clean water. Many children cannot afford the cost of education in Haiti which eventually leaves them illiterate, http://www.hope-for-haiti.org/current_projects.html

According to the Miami Herald, “Just as many Haitian survivors suspected, huge amounts of money went towards supporting the relief and recovery operation in intangible ways that were difficult for most Haitian to accept and understand. The lack of an educated civil society meant agencies had to send in experts for everything from accounting to human resources, feeding the perception that aid benefited foreigners as much as it helped Haitians.

“The Center for Economic Policy Research think tank found that beltway area [ Washington, D.C] for-profit development companies received 83 percent of U.S Agency for International Development Haiti contracts. About 2.5 percent of the funds went to Haitian companies, and less than half of one percent went to Haitian non-profit groups.”

The people of Haiti are unwittingly­ absorbed by a culture of dependency. They do not have the money to help themselves and will continue to be taken advantage of by the slimy politician­s. More money will not help. An internatio­nal interventi­on (not just the U.S.) is required, but frankly the prognosis is dim. I wish I could be more hopeful.