Remember Haiti, even in the midst of floods

Monday, January 17, 2011

By Tim Costello
CEO World Vision Australia

The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax media), 12 January 2011 

Australians glued to their televisions watching the dark tide of floodwaters in Queensland may remember the earthquake that flattened the capital of Haiti, Port au Prince, one year ago and killed more than 200,000 people.

Both natural disasters have caused chaos and death and both are equally deserving of support and assistance. All natural disasters are tragedies.

In Australia we are lucky to have a strong and responsive government, access to financial support and effective emergency services that allow us to respond. The Queensland floods underscore the importance of what aid can do to help communities that do not have the resources, the wealth or the capacityto bounce back from the very brink of obliteration.

In Haiti, not onlywere many people killed in the earthquake, but government infrastructure and basic utilities were also destroyed, disabling much of the city's already inadequate water and seweragefacilities. Many of the government's staff who oversaw Haiti's complexland title and planning systems were also made homeless or even killed in the quake, making it difficult to rebuild people's homes.

The quake has had such a huge impact on Haiti that decisions such as how to clean up rubble from damaged and destroyed houses have remained unresolved. More than 10 million cubic metres or about sixfull MCGs of broken concrete still clog the narrow streets of the Caribbean capital. Donors around the world, including Australians, responded with incredible genero sity to the quake in Haiti. The large humanitarian organisations workingwith the United Nations have since spent hundreds of millions of dollars to keep Haiti's vulnerable people alive. Rapid humanitarian efforts and generosity from donors meant that for most survivors there were within weeks at least a tarpaulin or tent and some food shared around to ensure communities did not succumb to the immediate threats. But repairing the country will be measured in decades, and will cost billions. In this instant generation, sometimes the time scales involved are hard to fathom.

Twelve months later, for the people of Haiti and for others who are watching its recovery keenly, there are legitimate questions about when things will return to normal. But no - one aspires to return to what was "normal" for Haiti before the quake.

The stark reality is Haiti was already one of the world's poorest nations with appalling vital statistics. Four out of five people did not have access to sewerage, and half of them even lacked access to clean water.

Haiti has a history of poor and sometimes brutal leadership. Even now its struggle for better governance continues disputed results from the November 28 presidential election led to violence and rioting, throwing up another barrier to recovery efforts.

 Responding to an outbreak of deadly choleraone of the contagious diseases that can be planned for after a disaster but rarely prevented has become one of the most urgent needs, sidelining some of the more fundamental reforms and decisions desperately nee ded for substantial progress in this nation's recovery. More than 3000 people have died, and more than 50,000 hospitalised.

Nations like Australia that have a functional health system are in a much better place to respond when a disaster strikes. But for Haiti, there were other hurdles, including poor access across the country, an influx of eager but inexperienced agencies, and understandable unrest and instability.

Clearing the air with a government mandated by popular support and a determination to increase the pace of decision-making towards recovery is key to the prospects of the next generation of Haitian children.

The people of Haiti needed help as soon as the quake struck. And they will continue to need humanitarian agencies to stick out the challenges to be partners rebuilding a nation reduced to rubble.

Some people watching the Queensland floods will question whyAustra- Hans should continue to spend money on overseas aid when we are all too often beset with disasters on our doorstep. The reality is that Australia does not have to choosewe can do both. Australia has the capacity to help flood victims as both state and federal governments have pledged to do. But we also have the capacity to help those beyond our shores. 

Opinion Pieces, Emergencies, Latin America and Carribean, Australian Government, Earthquake, Election, Flood, Foreign Aid, Haiti, President Obama, Tim Costello

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