Baltimore, Md., Jan 12, 2011 / 04:05 am
A year after the January 2010 earthquake that left Haiti's capital in ruins, a million residents of Port-au-Prince remain homeless amid a spreading cholera epidemic and political unrest. But Catholic Relief Services remains committed to Haiti's recovery and self-sufficiency, despite overwhelming challenges.
In the run-up to the one year anniversary of the earthquake that killed an estimated 250,000 people on January 12, 2010, some observers insist that foreign governments and non-governmental organizations have failed Haiti. Others suggest the country's own government is to blame for the slow progress in rebuilding, and the spread of a cholera outbreak that could likely have been prevented.
But Tom Price, Senior Communications Manager for Catholic Relief Services, told CNA on Jan. 11 that outside observers should think carefully about Haiti's extreme circumstances before assigning blame for the continued suffering. Both the pre-existing condition of Port-au-Prince before the earthquake, and the subsequent disasters that have hit the country, are contributing to the painstaking rate of recovery.
The island nation's capital, he explained, could not possibly be restored to anything like its former state– which, in itself, was already an unsustainable improvisation of hillside structures, tightly-packed slums, and haphazard architecture.