Causal Analysis

Causal Analysis Essay

On 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 Haiti's 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 it's 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 didn't care that Haiti needed to be rebuilt from the ground up and be put back better than what they were before. We weren't 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 they're still suffering then we didn't