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Megan Sheils is
a federal reference librarian. She received her Masters Degree
in Library Science from the University of Maryland, College
Park, and was selected as an American Library Association Emerging
Leader for 2008. She lives in Washington, DC, where she is helping
to organize Girls
Rock! DC, a rock and roll camp for girls.
 In
the last three weeks, Haiti has experienced an outpouring
of aid from all over the world. From local rescue teams traveling
to Haiti with much needed medical supplies, to rapidly organized
fundraisers in most major cities, to donations flooding into
organizations like the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders,
and Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti, Americans are eager to
help in the messy aftermath of the devastating January 12th
earthquake. We are moved by the staggering number of casualties
and haunted by the photos and news clips of injured people
and lost children. We are also frustrated by how slow relief
seems to be getting to Haiti—but the quake isn’t
the core problem in Haiti. The extreme poverty and lack of
infrastructure that have plagued Haiti for over 200 years
means Haitians are extremely vulnerable in the event of a
natural disaster like this—when so many have so little,
they have everything to lose.
A tumultuous history makes Haiti a very unique and culturally
rich country. In art, cuisine, religion, music, and customs,
African, European, and some native elements blend greatly.
For most of the 18th century, Haiti was a wealthy French colony
heavily dependent on African slave labor. Near the end of
the century, the half million slaves revolted and eventually
Haiti became the first black republic in the world when it
declared independence in 1804. But independence did not bring
stability, and Haiti has struggled throughout its history,
suffering from economic strife, despotic rulers, government
corruption, and political violence.
No nation is ever ready for a widespread natural disaster—but
the recent earthquake has laid bare the ways in which Haiti
has long needed attention and assistance. A disaster makes
water scarce—but Haitians already had inadequate supplies
of clean drinking water and poor sanitation systems. Over
150,000 people died in the quake—but Haiti already had
a lower life expectancy, high infant mortality, and an HIV/AIDS
rate that is estimated by some sources to be as high as 12%
in urban areas like Port-au-Prince. Many city dwellers lost
their homes and everything they had—but were already
counted among the densest and poorest populations in the world,
with an average annual income of about $450 per person. 80%
of Haitians live below the poverty line; 54% live in abject
poverty. Most of the labor force works at informal, unskilled
jobs that bring neither stability nor benefits.
The most important way that we can help Haitians right now
is to donate to relief efforts that meet immediate, desperate
needs. There are wounds to be tended, families to be reunited,
shelters to build before the rains come next month. But if
we truly want to help Haiti, we can invest in long term solutions
that will create an infrastructure to hold Haiti up and allow
its citizens to live easier lives. We can invest in HIV/AIDS
education, economic growth, organizations helping children,
urban services, women’s empowerment, health, schools,
and fighting deforestation. It sounds like so much needs to
be done—and it does. But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
We can begin to make a small difference by researching organizations
working in Haiti, finding a cause that speaks to us, and then
donating or even volunteering. Don’t let yourself forget
the Haitian reality once the rubble clears and the dusty faces
fade from our nightly news. The disaster will subside but
the daily struggle for survival in Haiti will not—unless
the world listens to the wake up call and acts.
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