Haiti Earthquake

1. A popular Western belief regarding foreign aid and disaster relief is that “Doing something is always better than doing nothing”. Provide examples from the book that disprove that idea.

Aid groups encouraged camps of makeshift shacks in and near the ruined capital. They used these camps as distribution points for water and other supplies. However, this was harmful. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, 600,000 people had left Port-au-Prince for the rural countryside. By distributing aid at the rural tent cities instead of at separate distribution points the aid groups were pulling many people into once place. This caused for danger on several levels and would ultimately hinder long-term recovery for Haiti (Katz, 2013). A second

A Haitian speaks of how the Haitian authorities had robbed the country and how they used the money of the country to fill their accounts (Katz, 2013). Katz (2013) recognizes a pattern after this interview: the government is first to be blamed for problems, donors slow to deliver funds, NGOs remain stuck in emergency mode, and they lack experience and organization. At one point, Haiti had a very corrupt government and I am not saying it did not when the earthquake struck in 2010, however withholding funds from the local governments when they can distribute the money for long term reconstruction is necessary in aiding Haiti. Due to the fear of the aid being misspent, Haitians were shut out of involvement in relief efforts (Katz,

Haiti suffered enormously from the cholera epidemic that was believed to come from the Nepalese UN peacekeeping soldiers (Katz, 2013). Volunteer health care providers were losing people from not having simple supplies such as vaccines and blood. Death also occurred within the Haitian people because of the irresponsibility of volunteer health care works as critical patients were left alone, Katz (2013) described this as another “stupid