Haiti. Here's what you need to know.

“It’s broken,” said my 2-year-old daughter as we watched the images of the devastated Haiti on the evening news. I’ve got to hand it to her. Her choice of the word “broken” is certainly fitting for Haiti. And not just because of the previous day’s events. Haiti is a nation that has certainly had a very tragic history. Here are some facts and figures that tell Haiti’s story.

Where is Haiti?

• Haiti is a country on the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola
• It is one of 3 countries on the island and is located on the western side

The History and Politics of Haiti

• Has had a long history of dictators, several of whom have murdered tens of thousands of their own people
• A high level of corruption, the most recent of whom was ousted in 2004 who rigged elections, pocketed millions of dollars of foreign aid and sent gangsters to attack opponents
• Haiti has seen more than 30 coups
• Had United Nations peace keeping presence since 1994
• Utterly dependent on foreign aid
• Born in 1904 after the world’s first slave rebellion

Living Conditions

• 8.7 million people live in Haiti
• People live on about $2 a day making it the poorest country in the Americas
• Structures are built poorly and therefore cannot handle earthquakes as well as those in developed nations
• Lack of health care, electricity and health services
• Contaminated drinking water has been a long-standing problem
• A seemingly endless series of hurricanes and other natural disasters that have claimed countless lives
• Utterly reliant on foreign aid
• 65.9% literacy rate
• 30% of children make it to year 6
• Widespread instability
• The capital is Port-a-Prince
• United Nations peacekeeping presence since 1994

The 2010 Earthquake

• Estimated hundreds of thousands of people have perished in this earthquake
• 7.0 magnitude with 30 after shocks and counting
• The worst in 200 years
• There is a paralysed emergency response from the government, and rescue efforts initially fell largely to “individuals with bear hands”
• No ambulances or other rescue vehicles have been seen in the capital in the first day
• Medicine and health care are in short supply
• Telephone communications are down
• Basic services such as water and electricity have collapsed almost entirely
• Medical facilities have been inundated with injured.
• Presidential palace (pictured below) collapsed. It has been described as “something out of a fairy tale in a country that had nothing”
• UN peace keeping headquarters collapsed
• 26 UN peacekeepers confirmed dead
• 100 UN peacekeepers missing
• NGOs and aid agencies have food, clothing, blankets and water but the challenge is getting them to the people in need
• Because it is a developing nation, structures are built poorly and therefore cannot handle earthquakes as well as those in developed nations
• Parliament has collapsed
• Tax office has collapsed
• Hospitals have collapsed
• Schools have collapsed and are full of bodies

Haiti is already an extremely volatile and unstable country. The effects of this earthquake have added insurmountable problems that have taken rebuilding Haiti many steps backwards. Spare some dollars and prayers for the NGOs who are rushing to rebuild one of the most needy nations on earth.

HOW TO HELP:
Visit www.worldvision.com.au and www.redcross.org.au. These are two reputable organisations that are providing assistance to Haiti via their international organisations.

There is also this Australian website through Oxfam.