Saving Haiti
by Joel Dreyfuss
Some countries are just not lucky. Haiti is one of those places where bad things keep happening. The massive earthquake that destroyed a large part of the 250-year-old capital city, Port-au-Prince, is just the latest blow for a country that can ill afford any more disasters. In the last two decades, Haiti has suffered a series of coups, flawed elections, high crime and inept governments. Last year, back-to-back hurricanes devastated cities in Haiti's central plain, its richest and most fertile region.
Haiti is a country with a glorious past, a brutal present, and a bleak future. It is also a country sharply divided along class and cultural lines. You will hear over and over in the coming days that it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. What you will not hear is that it is also a country rich in culture, world-class art, and music that is celebrated all over the French-speaking world.
For those of us who were born there, each setback is a blow in the gut, a reminder of the precarious state of our native land. It also gives us a gnawing sense of guilt about how fortunate we are to be in places where systems work, building codes are enforced and a system of emergency rescue exists.
Read the Full Essay @ The Root
To Contribute to Relief Efforts in Haiti: Yele Haiti or The American Red Cross
by Joel Dreyfuss
Some countries are just not lucky. Haiti is one of those places where bad things keep happening. The massive earthquake that destroyed a large part of the 250-year-old capital city, Port-au-Prince, is just the latest blow for a country that can ill afford any more disasters. In the last two decades, Haiti has suffered a series of coups, flawed elections, high crime and inept governments. Last year, back-to-back hurricanes devastated cities in Haiti's central plain, its richest and most fertile region.
Haiti is a country with a glorious past, a brutal present, and a bleak future. It is also a country sharply divided along class and cultural lines. You will hear over and over in the coming days that it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. What you will not hear is that it is also a country rich in culture, world-class art, and music that is celebrated all over the French-speaking world.
For those of us who were born there, each setback is a blow in the gut, a reminder of the precarious state of our native land. It also gives us a gnawing sense of guilt about how fortunate we are to be in places where systems work, building codes are enforced and a system of emergency rescue exists.
Read the Full Essay @ The Root
To Contribute to Relief Efforts in Haiti: Yele Haiti or The American Red Cross
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