Early on the morning of January 12, 2010 a massive 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti leaving death and destruction. Despite an immediate outpouring, rebuilding of the Northern Hemisphere’s poorest nation has been slow, hampered by corruption and bureaucracy.
The quake, Centered 10 miles from Port-Au-Prince, buildings were reduced to rubble within minutes burying thousands of people alive. Aftershocks rocked the nation for weeks collapsing structures that had withstood the initial shaking.
As many as 230,000 people were killed in the earthquake. An estimated 300,000 were injured and 250,000 homes and 30,000 businesses were destroyed.
Billions of dollars in aid pledged
Individual countries, charitable organizations and the United Nations rushed aid to the impoverished country. By March, 2010 more than $12 billion in aid had been pledged but it has been slow to arrive and its disbursement toward relief efforts even slower.
According to the United Nations, funding from all types of organizations was to total $2 billion in 2010 alone. A failure to follow through by all groups has resulted in only $1.3 billion being received.
Squalid living conditions bring disease
The earthquake left as many as 1.5 million residents without homes. Tent cities erected by humanitarian groups are now home to 1.2 million people, 375,000 of whom are children.
The conditions are deplorable and concerns of disease outbreaks came to fruition last year. An outbreak of cholera afflicted 155,000 people and has killed nearly 4,000.
Continue reading Rebuilding progress in Haiti slow to come even one year after earthquake
