Haiti can’t catch a break.
Time and time once more — from the flip of the twentieth century proper as much as the current — the island nation has been beset by trials and tribulations.
Many of the conditions that bedevil Haitians strike within the type of pure disasters. Hurricanes, earthquakes, floods — all of them go to Haiti like vacationers.
Take into consideration this:
Starting in 1904, Haiti has confronted two dozen main — very main — disasters which have killed a whole bunch of hundreds of individuals and left a fair bigger quantity homeless.
And simply because the flip of the twenty first century, the nation has confronted eight main hurricanes which have devastated the land, cities and cities and folks. In fact that’s not all.
In 2010, a Jan. 12 earthquake killed greater than 300,000 individuals. And within the fall of that yr, a cholera epidemic — seemingly born within the rubble and filth left by the tremor — killed about 4,000 and sickened greater than 350,000.
If that isn’t sufficient, generally the nation and its individuals are affected by man-made issues, principally political and financial. Haiti has the undesirable title of the hemisphere’s poorest nation, and earlier this yr amid all of the pure disasters, its president was assassinated.
Now Haiti’s individuals are once more dealing with life-threatening disasters.
On Aug. 14, a 7.2 earthquake struck the southern portion of Haiti, leaving a number of hundred thousand individuals homeless, destroying some cities and closely damaging others. At the least 2,300 individuals have been killed and that quantity is predicted to develop dramatically.
Tropical Storm Grace pounded the nation the day after the earthquake, turning roads to mud and creating landslides that destroyed homes and blocked roads that weren’t washed away.
Secure consuming water in areas hit by the quake is as uncommon as political stability. Sanitation in essentially the most closely broken cities of Jérémie and Les Cayes is compromised — or non-existent.
So right here’s the underside line: Haiti wants our assist. Once more.
As File reporter Ruby Thomas famous final week, a number of native non-profit organizations have already swung into motion — in truth, a few of them have by no means paused of their efforts to assist Haiti and its individuals.
Gerry Delaquis is a local of Haiti who serves because the Haiti coordinator for Louisville-based Water With Blessings. Delaquis, a member of St. Bernadette Church, grew up in Jérémie and informed Thomas in an emotional interview that he’s “ready to assist and I’ll.”
Water With Blessings has labored in Haiti for a lot of the previous decade, offering water filters to communities. These filters can produce a steady provide of unpolluted, protected consuming water, one thing Haitians have by no means taken as a right.
The Cathedral of the Assumption has a sister-parish in Jérémie, St. Louis Cathedral. The latter has been closely broken, and the Cathedral of the Assumption’s individuals want contributions to extend their efforts in Haiti.
Catholic Aid Companies, because it at all times does, is conducting reduction work in Haiti — one thing the group has finished persistently in latest many years.
These are all good and simply efforts, all deserving of our assist. We will’t let the frequency of Haiti’s wants deter our willingness to offer help. If you happen to’ve contributed to Haiti charities up to now, please do it once more.
If this may be your first time offering some monetary help to these attempting to assist, please be part of the hassle.
One factor is definite, the necessity isn’t going away anytime quickly.
GLENN RUTHERFORD
File Editor Emeritus