Aid in Haiti increases in a time of desperation
Mount Holyoke students examine the Haiti relief effort
By: Suinely Hernandez
Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Opinion
Before the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, which occurred almost a month ago, many civilians around the world perhaps were not well aware of Haiti’s weak government and poor economy. It seems reasonable to argue that other countries should have helped Haiti improve its bad conditions way before the earthquake, but we cannot ignore the previous aid that people have offered to help. Haiti is an independent country and yet because Haitians were in dire need of help before the earthquake, different foundations, organizations, leaders and famous people have been working rigorously to help the people of Haiti.
In 2004, Wyclef Jean established the Yele Haiti Foundation, which has continued to help Haiti even more after the earthquake. That same year, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti came to restore some sort of order and make sure that there was public safety. In 2009, former President Clinton was even appointed United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, in which he addressed specific issues affecting the people of Haiti. Of course, the amount of attention and service that is being provided now is a lot more than before and that is because of the immense crisis that Haiti is now in after the earthquake. Unfortunately, we cannot expect for too many countries to put 100% of their efforts into aiding a country like Haiti because they have their own crises to deal with.
This is an unprecedented issue that no one expected and several countries, especially the United States, are doing their best to help the victims in Haiti. Thus far, the relief initiative has been successful; the United States has partnered with the Haitian government to restore order. We must be appreciative of the leadership that President Obama is demonstrating to help Haiti and, most importantly, of the donations from so many people to support the victims with necessary resources. Hopefully, Haiti will be able to rebuild and grow strong.
It is terrifying to watch the news and see corpses on the streets, people stuck under the rubble of buildings seeking for help and hundreds of thousands injured who need quick treatment from medical doctors. In the days following the crisis in Haiti, I could only feel sympathy and speak to family and friends about possible ways to help. No one deserves to experience such harm and it is unfortunate for a country that was not doing good already to suffer something so drastic.
In 2004, Wyclef Jean established the Yele Haiti Foundation, which has continued to help Haiti even more after the earthquake. That same year, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti came to restore some sort of order and make sure that there was public safety. In 2009, former President Clinton was even appointed United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, in which he addressed specific issues affecting the people of Haiti. Of course, the amount of attention and service that is being provided now is a lot more than before and that is because of the immense crisis that Haiti is now in after the earthquake. Unfortunately, we cannot expect for too many countries to put 100% of their efforts into aiding a country like Haiti because they have their own crises to deal with.
This is an unprecedented issue that no one expected and several countries, especially the United States, are doing their best to help the victims in Haiti. Thus far, the relief initiative has been successful; the United States has partnered with the Haitian government to restore order. We must be appreciative of the leadership that President Obama is demonstrating to help Haiti and, most importantly, of the donations from so many people to support the victims with necessary resources. Hopefully, Haiti will be able to rebuild and grow strong.
It is terrifying to watch the news and see corpses on the streets, people stuck under the rubble of buildings seeking for help and hundreds of thousands injured who need quick treatment from medical doctors. In the days following the crisis in Haiti, I could only feel sympathy and speak to family and friends about possible ways to help. No one deserves to experience such harm and it is unfortunate for a country that was not doing good already to suffer something so drastic.