Day 5: 2 Years After the Earthquake in Haiti

Today, while I was looking through GreaterGood.org, I realized that are many donation sites for the victims of the earthquake and cholera outbreak in Haiti. Recently, there has been a lot of stories in the news about the 2-year anniversary of the earthquake that rocked Haiti on January 12, 2010. A study by the Inter-American Development Bank estimated that the total cost of the disaster was between $8 billion and $14 billion, based on a death toll from 200,000 to 250,000. That number was revised in 2011 by Haiti’s government to 316,000; the government has never explained how it arrived at its death toll figures. An estimated 634,000 people live in displacement camps, according to the International Organization for Migration. International donors promised Haiti $5.3 billion at a March 2010 donor’s conference. But reconstruction involving better buildings and roads has barely begun. Officials’ sole point of pride six months after the earthquake — that disease and violence had been averted — vanished with the outbreak of cholera.

Many members of the 634,00 people in displacement camps, as well as other Haitians who can't live in the structurally unsafe buildings. These people need some form of shelter. You can give these people shelter by providing them tents. Partners in Help are asking for donations to give a large amount of victims shelter, and it costs as low as $10. Please consider donating.

Personally, I don't know how these people haven't been given their proper needs. I hadn't really thought about how bad things aren't limited to places like Darfur. It just seems simple to me that if the relief fund was promised over $5 billion, they should be given their money. I hadn't actually known that everything was so bad in Haiti. I don't live in a state where major reconstruction efforts have been made, which is probably why I didn't think it took this long. I'm astounded that I didn't know about all of these bad things happening to the citizens. When I began this blog project, I had no idea that I was so sheltered from all of the bad things going on in the world.

To donate a tent, please go to this page. The reconstruction process is still a long way away from being finished, and it is critical that the Haitian refugees are given their basic needs. There is an interesting video by CNN that I encourage you watch. You can also read this article surrounding the 2-year anniversary from the New York Times.