haitiblog
Haiti's challenges are enormous and there are no easy answers. However, a two-pronged strategy --- registration and monitoring of NGOs and a governmental and donor focus on "core governance" -- may be a good start.
The world has focused on rebuilding Haiti after this tragedy, but it's important not to lose sight of Haiti's rich traditions. One of them is soccer.
Haiti is not just "rebuilding" with cement and muscle. Haiti is "reimagining" a nation, with a bold vision and collective dream.
Two years ago, President Obama promised the people of Haiti: "You will not be forsaken. You will not be forgotten." From what I've seen, working with those already in Haiti who have a record of getting things done is the only way the United States can fulfill that promise.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
WHAT'S HAPPENING
To place blame solely on the earthquake is to miss the political and historical underpinnings of poverty in Haiti.
More than simply recalling the day, it is important that we quite literally re-member -- that we reconnect and attach ourselves again to that part of the body of humanity that was severed.
We are all diminished by the reality of the situation in Haiti. Reconstruction has been painfully slow, funds promised by other nations have not yet been paid or paid in full, and many, many people still live in tents.
This notion that God caused this earthquake as a good thing for the people of Haiti is troubling theology. Where is that "good thing" in the midst of the suffering?
Anyone who has lived or worked in Haiti for any length of time is bound to be asked if Haiti is hopeless. That will certainly be the case this week, when Haitians commemorate the second anniversary of the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake.