Assignment 01: Critical Reading Reflection
The article “Haiti’s Disasters: Natural and Man-Made” explores the impacts of Natural and Man-Made disasters on Haiti. Some key themes discussed includes the effects on the general population, past occurrences of such disasters and the assistance from other countries. These brings focus to the issue of how the support for Haiti is carried out by other countries and how it can be improved.
Roger Noriega (2010) begins the article with effects of the earthquake in Haiti and quickly moves on to the man-made catastrophes such as ineffective political institutions, a predatory state, corrupt and venal politicians and weak civil society. This contrasts the natural disasters with the man-made disasters and
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Although statistical data such as “Haitians’ gross domestic product per capita was $1,300 in 2008” were used to support the previous claim by Noriega, I found it very ineffective to link it with the poor pay rate of the Haitians.
Other countries such as the United State have spent more than $3 billion towards assisting Haiti and trying to build a state so the Haitians could govern their own affairs. However, as stated by Noriega the actual delivery of the support has been very sluggish. “Since 2006, President Réne Préval has shown some progress in delivering political stability that has encouraged some private re-investment.” (Noriega, 2010).
Noriega then provides some suggestions on how to improve the support that is provided by the US and other countries towards Haiti. Some of these suggestions include conducting typographical surveys and imposing building standards to prevent damage from unstable hill sides, establishing an international fund and donor coordination mechanism to asses and prioritize need which will ensure that aid reaches those who require it the most and encouraging the formation of a government of national reconstruction and unity. Although these are good points, they lack enough support to catch the audience’s attention. Perhaps some statistical data could have helped better connect the suggestions with one another and focus attention on one idea which could have contained the main focus of the
Earthquake: a series of vibrations induced in the earth’s crust by the abrupt rupture and rebound of rocks in which elastic strain has been slowly accumulating; something that is severely disruptive; upheaval (Shravan). Tsunami: an unusually large sea wave produced by a seaquake or undersea volcanic eruption (Shravan). Combine these two catastrophic natural disasters, and it will be a day that will forever live in infamy through terror; a day much like that of October 28, 1746 in Lima, Peru in which an entire city was destroyed within mere minutes. Author Charles Walker guides his audience through the devastation and wreckage of this heartbroken town and into the economic, political, religious, and social fallings that followed. Walker argues that the aftermath of this tragedy transformed into a voting of the citizens’ various ideas perceived of the future of Lima, theological consequences, and the structure of the colonial rule (p. 12). However, as illustrated by Walker, the colonial rulers would in turn batter the natives with their alternative goals and ideas for the future of Lima. Finally, the author reconstructs the upheaval of Lima during its’ reconstruction and their forced and struggled relationship with the Spanish crown that ultimately led to rebellions and retaliations by the Afro-Peruvians and Indians.
The Nation of Haiti has been plagued with excessive bad luck when it comes to external invasion. Whether it be larger countries taking control, or outsiders brought in as slaves, Haiti has endured many hardships. These issues, while very common in a lot of countries, are exposed in a short story by a native Haitian. In “A Wall of Fire Rising”, Edwidge Danticat illustrates a myriad of historical issues in Haiti from the 17th to the 20th century through a series of events in one family’s life. One such issue would be the Haitian Revolution and the consequences that came of it.
Brooks’ hypotheses fit best with the modern theoretical perspective. From the perspective of the adolescent, Brooks attempts to find social variables that are impeding Haiti’s economic success, and provides his solution. His first hypothesis, however, is the one that diverges the most from the theory. He states we do not know how to direct aid and there is no consistent policy leading to economic growth. Modernization theory on the other hand is more determined to look at the internal factors of a country as the source of the problems with aid management and attempt to change the effectiveness of the government or the elements of a culture that are keeping it in a “traditional” stage (Rostow 1960).
The Republic of Haiti is in the western part of the island of Hispaniola in the West Indies. It is densely populated and has the lowest per capita income in the western hemisphere (Kemp, 2001). The population of more than seven million is made up of mostly descendents of African slaves brought to the West Indies by French colonists. The horrible conditions in Haiti, such as crushing poverty, unemployment and illiteracy, and high rates of acute and chronic illnesses and child and infant mortality, result in the illegal immigration of many Haitians to the United States, France, and other countries in Western Europe. Most immigrants are adults and teens who leave Haiti in tiny boats, despite the risk of drowning and other hazards. According to Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) 2001 statistics, the number of refugees has declined to several thousand per year since the early 1990’s.
Zanotti, L. (2010). Cacophonies of aid, failed state building and NGOs in Haiti: setting the stage for disaster, envisioning the future. Third World Quarterly, 31(5), 755-771.
Casimir, J, & Claypool, M 2012, ‘Going Backwards Toward the Future: From Haiti to Saint-Domingue,’ The Global South, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 172-192.
Haiti is a small country in the West Indies and is the western third of the island Hispaniola (Rodman, Selden). According to Selden Rodman Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world and after the earthquake in 2010 they are way worse than they were before. The Earthquake changed a lot for everyone living there rich and poor. “Over 200,000 people died as a result of the earthquake another 2.3 lost their homes” (Haiti). This quote shows how bad the 7.0 Haiti Earthquake was that happened in January of 2010. The conditions are already awful for the people there and all the human rights violations happening are not helping. The conditions are so bad many are trying to flee their country and come to the United States even though they know that the chance of making it there is very slim (Human rights violations…). According to Richard Horton and William Summskill the United States did a survey test called the lancelet to get results from the Haitians on human rights violations happening. The survey showed us murders, women getting raped and other human violations numbers. This showed the United States that we should take action, because we had real evidence from the victims of the human rights violations in Haiti. One of the problems is that the United States does not know how to help. Haiti is so behind in everything; technology, inexperienced policemen, lacking a judicial system and their economy is very unstable. We should take action in Haiti because of these human rights violations; police and government abuse, women not getting their rights, and poor people not getting their rights.
Several of the problems that Haiti faces today have their genesis in the country’s colonial history. The country was like a toy being fought over by spoiled children. The first of these children arrived in the early sixteenth century in the form of Spanish settlers in search of gold. They enslaved the native Taino population and, poisoned by avarice, nearly eradicated the indigenous work force. Thousands of African slaves were brought in to take their place. Eventually, the Spanish left the island to grab their share of newly discovered treasure in other lands. Tiring of their toy, the Spanish
The economics of Haiti has deceased in the last 4 years after the devastating earthquake that struck it 4 years ago. The Haiti economy has become very poor and one of the poorest country in the south, Central America and Caribbean region making it ranked 24 out of 29 countries in this area and its overall score is below average. Haiti’s economic freedom is 48.1 making it economy the 151st freest country while in the last several years Declines in the management of government spending, freedom from corruption, and labor freedom make its overall score 2.6 points lower than last year. Recovering from the disastrous earthquake in 2010 with the support of the U.S. recovering efforts “Haiti’s post-earthquake reconstruction efforts continue, assisted by substantial aid from the international community. Governing institutions remain weak and inefficient, and overall progress has not been substantial. The parliament has not renewed the mandate of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, which had been tasked with overseeing reconstruction efforts but was unpopular.”( .heritage.org). The open market of Haiti trade weighted to be 2.1 this is because the lack of tariffs hamper the trade freedom of Haiti. Foreign investors are given national treatment but the investment is small and the financial sector is remained underdeveloped and does not provide any adequate support.
Haiti is drenched in poverty, corruption, and lack of education. Due to these aspects Haiti is “the least developed country in the western hemisphere”. With only one-third of suitable land...
Why are these background informations useful? Because these informations provide us some important basic knowledges of Haiti. As a country mainly composed of ex-slaves, Haiti is mainly composed of people of African origin. However, why is Haiti so poor compared to its other black majority neighbors such as Saint Kitts and Neves and Barbados? Because Haiti did not attain its independence through peaceful means. Haitian revolt against the French, and they indeed won, against Napoleon Bonaparte[2].
The Haiti earthquake that occurred on January 12, 2010 just fifteen miles south of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince was a severely large-scale earthquake, at a magnitude of 7.0. The initial shock was then followed by a series of aftershocks with magnitudes ranging up to 5.9. Over three hundred thousand people died due to this extreme chaos. Many buildings collapsed and disintegrated under the force of the quake; both the cathedral and National Palace in Port-au-Prince were heavily damaged. In the aftermath of this tragedy, efforts to aid the people of Haiti with medical assistance, water, and food were hampered by the loss of communication lines as well as by roads blocked by debris. Over one million people were left homeless due to this quake. Two days after the earthquake, journalist Leonard Pitts wrote “Sometimes the Earth is Cruel,” an article describing how the people of Haiti responded to the disaster. In “Sometimes the Earth is Cruel,” a major theme is that some things are inevitable.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Agriculture is one of the incomes of the population. However, everything changes after the 2010 earthquake. The losses caused by the quake were between 8 billons and 14 billons dollars (Haiti earthquake). Joblessness, the lack of Foodland, the lack of clean water, further affected the economy because people chose to emigrate to other places for work such as the Dominican Republic (Haiti earthquake). Furthermore, “Haiti was a Republic of non-governmental organization to become a Republic of unemployment,” and in order to accomplish an economical growth Haiti needs the investment of companies that can help many of the people find jobs. Companies such Royal Oasis, are creating hundreds of jobs for many Haitians. Thayer Watkins, an economics teacher at San Jose State University, provides his review in his analysis of the Political and Economic History of Haiti, which states more than 80 percent of th...
International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). (2010, February). Haiti: from tragedy to opportunity (Rep.). Retrieved February 23, 2010, from International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies website: http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/reports/192600-Haiti-report-EN.pdf
It was a beautiful day like any other with the clear blue sky and the