Drink red wine ladies, it won’t make you fat! But warning – don’t overdo it !!
Haiti was never rich, nor did it ever have a modern nationwide infrastructure that we in the more developed nations take for granted. There was never any real money to build earthquake proof housing for the masses. Any social cohesion was within very local tight-knit communities. So when the country was hit by a massive wide ranging disaster like this there could only be one outcome.
There are reported to be some 200,000 dead. Many more may be missing or still buried alive under rubble.
Port-au-Prince pre-disaster (www.traveladventures.org)
The initial reports coming out of the country showed how minimal the country’s infrastructure was. So bad that aid could get into the airport but got stuck in a bottleneck despite the best efforts of US forces on the ground. It is very easy to sit back in an armchair and sling mud at them, but I bet they are trying as hard as they can to get the aid out!
But once the aid was not seen by these people left hungry, thirsty and in need of medical aid things were destined to get ugly. Put yourself in their position. The violence of self-preservation is kicking in, making it even harder if not impossible to operate effectively. But again, I bet they are trying their hardest!
Within Port-au-Prince alone are about two million people surrounded by dead bodies and devastation, but only enough aid trickling through to sustain a couple of thousand. There is also a push to clear dead bodies for fear of spreading disease, despite Sir Nicholas Young (Red Cross Chief Executive) saying on the Andrew Marr show this morning that this should not be a true priority.
But there are thankfully, still stories of hope as children are pulled alive from the rubble and re-united with their families.
It took months if not years to plan and execute wars in Iraq. Time and money was spent on planning and asset allocation. Within moments nature had unleashed more power, death and destruction that man had inflicted on man in those conflicts. To expect an instantaneous response is ludicrous.
We must now react as fast as we can but also have an eye to the future. It is reported that at least two thirds of Port-au-Prince alone will need to be rebuilt. Where for example is the money to come from to ensure that future buildings are, as far as possible, earthquake proof?
The time delay for aid to arrive is also an issue. Consider how the money and resources tied up with the US, UK and French independent nuclear deterrents for example. They are there just in case. Can we not have a properly equipped international force of an aircraft carrier or two with support ships full of dry goods, shelters and mobile hospitals constantly on alert to get aid as close as possible as quickly as possible to the area of need. It would reassure people that help can be quickly sent their way and also maybe reduce instances of looting and crime. I know that this is simplistic and would only help people relatively close to the coast. But that in my view would be true ‘power projection’.
To Donate to the Red Cross Haiti Disaster fund go HERE.
To Donate to the UNICEF Haiti Disaster fund go HERE.
Tags: disaster, Haiti, Haiti earthquake, port-au-prince, red cross, unicef
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And doesn’t it seem to increase where the society is in a dire state in the first place?
Absolutely James. They’ve learned to rely on no-one but themselves in local communities, whereas we have learned to rely on others (the state) for everything and do nothing for ourselves.
Maybe the optimum is somewhere in between.
This tragedy makes us weep, but perhaps all the more when we realize how many people there are out there who could do something to help but isn’t bothering to, who would make a difference if they only gave themselves a chance, rather than to write themselves off as “someone who isn’t going to be able to make a difference anyway.”
If not you, then who?
I wonder how many people around the world are thinking or wishing something like “it should have been California”? No matter how much aid the USA gives Haiti, some will always hate America.
California used to be ranked as the fifth largest economy in the world, including the USA ranked first. It has grown massively in the last hundred years despite the San Andreas fault running through it, which will give way sooner or later. At that point Haiti will pale into insignificance.
Haiti may have a death toll of 200,000. No guesses are valid for California. It depends where the epicentre is and how strong it is and the time of day and day of the week and sheer luck.
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Obviously the British media are now in sob story mode and they’ll lay it on with a trowel, as usual. Just think Banda Aceh or New Orleans. But here’s my real point. 200,000 is a significant number and represents some thing like 0.003% of world population yet every single death of a British soldier in Afghanistan – and there has only been 249 (I think) – is given a level of reverence that all of the poor souls of Haiti put together won’t get anywhere near.
Why is the loss of (a few, relatively) British military lives in Afghanistan so worthy to the British public or media, so often, in a world that operates on an altogether bigger scale?