Causal AnalysisEssay Preview: Causal AnalysisReport this essayCausal Analysis EssayOn January 12, 2010, Haiti was struck with one of the worse earthquakes in the world. It measured a 7.0 magnitude in the capital, Port-au-Prince, on the Richter scale and left over 200,000 people dead and almost a million homeless. Most nearby care facilities were destroyed, so victims had to seek refuge elsewhere. It took a few days for any kind of help to get through initially since transportation and communication lines were limited. Millions of Haitian citizens were injured and in desperate need of medical attention. Thousands of Americans and non-profit organizations tried to come to Haitis rescue and some were successful; however because of International neglect, pervasive homelessness has set in, disease outbreaks are prevalent, and sexual violence against women and children has occurred.
Even though its been two years after the earthquake, many people in Haiti are still homeless and suffering. The street are still filled with rubbish, some houses have not been rebuilt, reconstruction of business buildings are at a slow pace or complete stop, and Haiti has yet to receive all the money that was promised to them. According to The New York Times, International donors promised Haiti $5.3 billion for reconstruction but still to this day, Elizabeth Ferris, who tracks Haiti at the Brookings Institution says, “Reconstruction has barely started” “For Haiti, No Relief in Sight” p.44. Partly because Congress has just recently passed the bill to release funds. Haitian people are making their homes right in the mist of the garbage filled streets. They cannot go anywhere else because they cannot leave the country. And even if they could leave, transportation is limited. So you see they did not have very many options.
Secondly, although tents are set up its not enough to keep them protected from weather conditions and disease. Not to mention aftershocks. Since the earthquake there has been numerous aftershocks close to the area. And the weather is not at its best either. Its too hot causing dehydration and heat stroke. Also because of the earthquake, disease has spread vastly through the camps. There is no clean water so people are dying of starvation and dehydration. Hospitals were destroyed so they cannot get the proper medications they need to cure their diseases. Cholera is prevalent throughout the country and although major injuries are taken care of, many people are still not receiving the proper medical attention today. Some progress has been made with aid getting over to Haiti for injuries, but funds have slowed down drastically if not completely stopped and organizations have stopped contributing money. Interlandi, Yarett, Cornblatt, Berry, and Tuttle, authors of “For Haiti, No Relief in Sight”, state that The Red Cross has completely stopped giving donations and the World Bank, that was holding donations for Haiti, has vastly slowed down its movement of money to Port-au-Prince. Also in 2002, the Bush administration had a campaign where they would stop aid from getting to the Haitian government when they were in need. So this mindset carried itself out over the years with politicians and contributed to the delay of aid in the earthquake.
In addition, we are partly to blame for the progression of Haiti. We, the donators, did not push the issue further once the shock and newness wore off of the event. We were so quick to give immediate help with donations, canned foods, clothes, and other materials. But what Haiti needed was long term help not short term. We lost interest and kind of forgot about them once we felt that they were handled and getting back on their feet. We didnt care that Haiti needed to be rebuilt from the ground up and be put back better than what they were before. We werent interested in making sure they were secure and thriving as a country. We just wanted to patch them back together and say that we helped, but if theyre still suffering then we didnt
We wanted to keep them safe. The only way to do that and make more than enough to deal with it.
Once the new Haiti was brought to Haiti’s attention and we made our intentions known, we got our own people so that they would not need them, even if their families were living in another country we might not want them in Haiti. They didnt just drop those people. They came up with a system that wasn’t just the way it should have been! We tried that to break the cycle, but it turned out we wouldn’t. It took longer than it should have! They never had their own people. The people werent made for them! They did not. There was no way in hell they would have gotten them any other way if not for some people. We simply wanted to change their life for the better once we put them in a different situation. They were brought to our attention and I was so glad that we did! It helped them go back to doing their job in a country they were never even aware of! Thank You!
Just back from a conference in Washington DC, we had a very small amount of questions going back to our day and our hearts. I was trying to explain why we need help and just how much we need help. When I finished I was happy to inform that every one of my donors and their families needed to get involved and give back to Haiti. I knew that this needed the help and I wanted one piece of help. We asked them if they wanted any gifts or help with clothing, furniture, and supplies to make Haiti better. The fact that they all did was such a huge help to us was nothing short of incredible. After the conference, we were so happy and had spent that much time on it that we were able to take one of our donors and make a big big difference.
In this country, they needed a safe home. We really wanted them to be safe. Our own parents couldn’t do it. Our country didn’t need it and it didn’t need to have it. I would never give a single dollar for money. The people in the community weren’t people that cared or had a lot of compassion for people that didn’t have that. We didnt look up to them. We didn’t speak up. It was so horrible.
We wanted to know who was involved and why. We talked about that with our own volunteers.
We spent the evening trying to explain to them that we made them help the people that we cared about, as part of an effort not to lose the lives of the thousands of Haitians. I had an incredible time getting involved and helping those in need. We could have made a difference and the lives they wanted to give back and the resources