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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The victims of Haiti’s latest challenge lie in cots quarantined so as not to spread cholera.
The bacterial disease has killed more than 1,100 people and hospitalized more than 18,000 since the outbreak was first reported late last month and health officials here fear the epidemic is about to get far worse: The United Nations estimates as many as 200,000 Haitians will contract cholera within the next six to 12 months.
Kerry Sanders / NBC News
Pierre Dennis,9, suffers from cholera and clings to life in a Red Cross tent hospital.
In the worst hit area, Cap-Haitien, U.N. statistics reveal the death rate is an astounding 30 percent.
“It's an epidemic, it's a nationwide crisis now,” said Imogen Wall, the U.N.Humanitarian spokeswoman in Port-au-Prince. “Cholera is in Haiti now, so this will go on for years.”
Race to save lives
Cholera, a water-borne bacterial illness, can kill within hours if left untreated. But if treated quickly, survival is almost guaranteed. A simple mixture of salt and sugar water to replace lost fluids nearly always results in a cure, according to the World Health Organization.
But when patients get treatment late, the administration of intravenous fluids may be necessary.
The faces of the youngest of the victims are haunting: Twelve-year-old Yvio St. Leger and his nine-year-old brother Pierre Dennis lay side-by-side in a Red Cross tent hospital 40 miles north of the capital city. Both are alive, but their parents and two siblings died en route to the clinic.
Dr. Henrike Meyer, who is in Haiti with the German Red Cross, slipped a finger-nail sized pill into Pierre’s mouth. Then she gave him a little water so he could swallow it down. As hard as he tried, Pierre couldn’t swallow. After three tries, he spit the pill into a bucket.
Health officials warn that Haiti's deadly cholera epidemic will strike at least 200,000 people in the coming months. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.
He was trying to take Doxycycline, an antibiotic that is a long-tested medicine used to treat a variety of infections all over the world.
Pierre was hooked up to an IV. “The main problem is we need to provide fluid, fluid, fluid,” said Meyer. “He got already yesterday about four liters, and we have to continue.”
(The brothers were recovering well, according to doctors Friday, but they are still under observation at the hospital).
Anger over source of illness
Cholera is often spread due to poor hygiene. Despite rampant bad sanitation and poor access to clean drinking water in Haiti, cholera has not been recorded in the island nation for six decades. But cholera is endemic to Nepal, and thousands of Nepalese troops came to help Haiti in the wake of January’s devastating earthquake.
Outrage over the outbreak has erupted over the last several days, fueled by suspicions that U.N. troops from Nepal spread the disease from their base into the Artibonite River system, where the initial outbreak was centered last month. Those suspicions are shared by some prominent global health experts.
Anti-U.N. violence spread to the nation’s capital Thursday as protesters threw rocks at peacekeepers, attacked foreigners' cars, blocked roads with burning tires, and toppled light poles.
But Wall, the U.N. spokeswoman, said where the illness came from is irrelevant at this point.
“It doesn't change the response knowing where it came from. We know everything we need to know about this illness from lab tests, and we know how to deal with it,” she explained. “So the origin is obviously of interest but not significant from a response view.”
Dealing with crisis at hand
In one of the quarantines, 12-year-old Emerson, cradled in his mother’s arms, said he believed he got sick after eating rice.
“It hurts inside. I cry a lot,” he said. As his mother gently poured cool fresh water into her hands and bathed his face, Emerson cried, “I’m hot. I’m hot. I’m hot.”
Doctors say all Emerson and his mother can do right now is wait.
Juergen Rostan, the logistics officer at the German Red Cross clinic, said he’s unsure what they’ll do if more patients arrive.
All 45 cots at their clinic are now filled. His hope is to cure those who arrive as quickly as possible, so they can leave and make room for the next patients.
“We do what we can here on the spot, and that’s all we can do from our side here,” he said.
Wyclef Jean on Haiiti presidential run: World 'wasn't ready for me'
Prevention education needs to spread
Unlike the outpouring of help that flooded into Haiti following the January earthquake, there’s little outsiders can do to help now. Local aid organizations say the key to beating the cholera epidemic is education.
If word could spread quickly to explain that washing hands, boiling water for 20 minutes before drinking it and keeping fecal matter far from water sources will help prevent the spread of illness, experts believe the battle could be won.
But there are a limited number of Creole speakers with medical authority with the time to spread the word because they are increasingly dealing with the crisis at hand.
Another problem is millions of homeless packed together in tent camps in the capital city. Health officials say that close proximity means once cholera hits, it can spread to hundreds of others within days.
The Haitian department of health has launched a team of six men to scour the city for the dead. On Tuesday they found two bodies. Wednesday, another was found dead in a busy street. The team wears masks, protective yellow suits, and gloves, and they spray a chlorine disinfectant on the bodies. It’s a stunning image that scares residents as much as it calms them.
Haiti has a long history of uphill battles: political upheavals, hurricanes, earthquakes, and now, cholera. But deep in the soul of those I met, there is an energy that drives them to keep going and overcome the problem, not matter what the challenge. And in that spirit, there is hope for a nation that again is in crisis.
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Well, I'm trying, but flights into Cap Haitien from Providenciales (80 miles away) have been suspended since Monday. How much longer should I sit on the sidelines and wait?
I commend your compassion John. I donated money after the inital crisis, but witnessing the way they are acting, i've washed my hands of them. Act like savages, live like savages. They will receive nothing more from me. I refuse to attempt to aid anyone cannot act like a human being. Attacking those who are trying to help you? Then rot.
I also applaud you
John David. Be wary of the HaitianPolice and government, their are more respectable men in the Mafia in Jersey. I have and am traveling to various third world countries and you must be vigilant as even the people that your are helping you cannot trust. I used to do what you want to do, however, after being betrayed from all sides, my heart has harden and now I travel as a contractor and I look at it as business. I hope your experience will be better than mine and you do not become Jaded. I am only trying to warn you to be weary as you will be every-bodies target and you need to be prepared to help preserve your life. While you are there you will have no one to trust.
Dear Mr. BoBo the Clown,
I have just a few words to say to you. You are a "RACIST!" Just admit it, you hate blacks and you are using the Haitian situation (which was caused by your own white racist bredrens in the first place) as an excuse to vent your hatred of blacks by using the word, "savages!" I bet you also hate President Obama just because he's the first blackman this century to become President and to reside in the White House. By the way, it was a blackman (that you hate so much) that designed the White House and it was blacks (that you hate so much) that built the White House.
Jaraad - Looking at your post tells me everything I need, and more than I wanted to know about you. It is you who needs to get over your own problems. The World doesn't revolve around you and your prejudices.
Dear Mr. Jaraad Abdalla - let me tell you how much YOU, unknown annonymous forum blogger person labeling me a racist means to me. Zero, zip, zilch, notta, nothing, i dont care, you dont matter.
With that being said, if you have ever read any of my other posts, you would know what i am or am not, but you havent. I would say YOU sir are the racist. You look at the world and you dont see people, you see white people and black people. The fact that the word "Savage" instantly draws you to the conclusion of a black person does nothing but highlight your racist view. You cant look at the world without bringing race into the picture, its the central point of your world, and you are so caught up in race, its the only thing that drives you. That my friend, is your curse, not mine. I, thankfully, dont view the world that way. There are people, some good, i would venture to say like John David - who's compassion is applaudable. Some bad, i would venture to say people that can only see the world in black and white and any form of disagreement is dismissed as an ist or a phobe, and then there are those of us that fall in between.
Again, if you knew anything about me, which you dont - i may care enough to defend myself from your declaration, but to be honest, your not worth the effort. Your opinon of me means less to me than a pimple on someone else's ass.
Kudos to your rebuttal Bobo. Very eloquently stated.
i may care enough to defend myself from your declaration
LOL - that is a lot of discourse for someone who doesn't feel the need to defend himself.
Brickwall - and did i defend myself from any allegation? No - it wasnt worth my effort, but i did want someone exhibiting that much ignorant racism to possibly see it from the other angle and hopefully realize that by his statement the hypocrisy was quite evident. But because im not going to defend myself from a ridiculous claim, doesnt mean i wont respond, it means exactly what i said, i dont care enough to defend myself from his accusation. But you realized that im sure.
Bobo -
Who gives a drib what you do or don't think. Crawl back into the echo chamber & shut your trap.
"Who gives a drib what you do or don't think. Crawl back into the echo chamber & shut your trap"
Right back at ya Tbart. Or is your opinon the only one that is allowed to be given, but anyone else - needs to 'shut their trap' as you say?
Bobo - You have something to say, go right ahead. You come on here to spew the mindless crap and exhibit your ignorance, well, who gives a drib? Shutting your trap sounds like aperfectly reasonable idea to me.
From my experience, especially on message boards, black people are the racists. For every stupid redneck that says something negative, you will have 30 black people spewing the most hateful drivle a person could imagine.
Just go to The Root website. You will see it in stark detail.
Haiti, the first black republic, is a failure. Its a failure because the black leaders of Haiti are greedy, opportunistic, thugs. The white man has no say in the affairs of Haiti other then when they need a bailout. And when we bail them out you see other black people profiting from the aid.
All of you saw the black man selling U.N. rice to the starving children of Haiti on CNN. Was that a white man in black face? I think not.
Black society needs to take a good long look at themselves. Personally, I see very little difference between how indoctrinated black youth are or Muslim youth. Both are brought up to hate the "great white establishment."
Excuses are like....
To the statement: "the outpouring of help that flooded into Haiti following the January earthquake"...I strongly disagree
The US Government is WITHHOLDING $1.15B (Billion, with a "B") in funds... Shouldn't we be dropping aid packages on that country, just like we did during the Berlin Airlift? "Fear of Corruption" is the official excuse, but babies are dying. We could be delivering bottled water, medicine, and food RIGHT NOW. But our Secretary of State is holding back the money, until the IHRC can take charge of the funds.(co-chaired by her husband) There is NO help "flooding" the country, right now...but there really should be
Yep the big money that was promised with much fanfare has not been delivered. It is my understanding that the funds have been held up by a hold placed on them Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma. Another self-righteous rightie.
Tbart,
Who gets the money?
As it stands right now, with the government in place in Haiti, we would be better served burning the 1 billion dollars. Better yet why not use that billion to fund all of the shelters here in America that will be filled beyond capacity this winter. All of those homeless have to sleep somewhere.
OR, Jim, the U.S. could use its 1.15B to pay off its own national debt? is it our responsibility to help every suffering country?
Put a fence around them, withdrawal all the troops and US aid money, and then napalm then. Then, just maybe, we can start over. This 'country' has always been drain on US taxpayers and will continue to be so, no matter what we do. They are beyond the tipping point.
It looks like the U.S. Government should start directing more money towards teaching grammar and spelling to Americans like yourself. You are insensitive and obviously misinformed; clearly speaking from your emotions. There is hope for Haiti. I have been there four times in the past 10 months and I've seen it with my own eyes. While Haiti isn't our "problem", we have the proximity and resources to assist the country. History shows that we have done our fair share of injustice to Haiti in the past. The Haitians are real people and there is no reason we should ever "napalm then". Education is free in America, Scott.
Wow, Scott, did your heart get misplaced somewhere in life? Did bad things happen to you and no one stepped in? So now you think since no one helped you, then we should not help others? I am sorry for anything that happened or didn't happen to you. That is no reason, however, to de-humanize an entire country. I have been there several times in the past year and I have found the Haitian people to be kind and loving. They have not had the benefits we have had in education, medical services, decent food, etc., in order to help themselves. Their government has been keeping the population in poverty forever and denying them things that we, as Americans, take for granted on a daily basis. They cannot be judged by our American standards.
I am ashamed of people like you, Scott. I hope not all of my fellow Americans think the way you do.
Scott, you know what...
I was about to go off on you but instead I am taking a deep breath and will pray for you.
7 votes for Scott??? What is happening to people?
Not so much you personally, Scott; your post just really shocked me and still does. I'm stunned at how many agree with it or like it.
What are you, Scott, a psychopath, or just a selfish devil?
Maggie - Well, Scottie can be both a psychopath and selfish, can't he? Just another Teabagger, they're a dime dozen with change coming back.
Yeah it's definitely time for a change, that's for sure. I don't believe this country should help anyone but people of this country. It's time for people to take care of themselves and when your over populated these types of things will happen. Soon to be coming here as well, when we allow all the immigrants to freely come across the borders w/o any type of inoculations. I'm saying it won't be long until people here start to see what survival really means, not to worry though because not only is it necessary it's a good thing.
Time to start deleting the population in our country as well! Who gives a rats butt what all these countries need, let them fend for themselves and all whom think differently then go there and make your mark!!! Oh and the tea-bagger comment was so eloquently used, I find this funny when a beggar wants to put someone down for not giving money to a poor person in need. GO TO WORK if you live in another country, cause we don't have any jobs left here in America. Be sure to thank your fellow politicians for that!
The problem is to treat the water at the source and not the hospital. Just like many places in Africa, Solvatten a portable water heater and purifier could be extremely helpful. Tons of plastic bottle waters are not the solution. What is needed is sustainable and long term solution approved by the World Health Organization to arm families against waterborne diseases.
Solvatten is probably the BEST solution right now to treat this problem and reduce charcoal use in a country with less than 2% forest left. Get the word out please and someone attention to look at this product to help those in need. Here is the website for the product. www.solvatten.se
With less than $50 millions this problem can be address in a long term program and create a much more of positive impact than purchasing these chemicals day in day out.
The solution is to treat the water at the source and not the hospital. Just like many places in Africa, Solvatten a portable water heater and purifier could be extremely helpful. Tons of plastic bottle waters are not the solution. What is needed is sustainable and long term solution approved by the World Health Organization to arm families against waterborne diseases.
Solvatten is probably the BEST solution right now to treat this problem and reduce charcoal use in a country with less than 2% forest left. Get the word out please and someone attention to look at this product to help those in need. Here is the website for the product. www.solvatten.se
With less than $50 millions this problem can be address in a long term program and create a much more of positive impact than purchasing these chemicals day in day out.
There is aid, but not from the gov't. Doctors Without Borders, church groups, even a college professor from Montana working with a Haitian doctor in PAP to rebuild his clinic... small groups working with the Haitian people are taking significant steps.
And yes, medicines and medical supplies are always needed. Food is always needed. WATER PURIFICATION and SANITATION are desperately needed (bottled water is only a temporary fix that leaves more trash). With resources and training, the Haitian people could build sanitation facilities. But it needs to be done in a sustainable way - shovels and wheelbarrows putting Haitians to work, not shiploads of UN forces with bulldozers.
There are also the small things. Clothing, blankets, food. Even something on the order of water purification tablets would probably be helpful. The "helping hand" is what is most important though, not just a "handout."
Excuse me but have I wandered on to the heartless sadists blog by any chance? By all means we should help in any way we feasible can but the fact remains that sending money to this country will not help at all. We have stockpiles of canned and bottled water with more produced every day for a start. As to 'spreading the word' why not tell the village elders and their own healers what is needed?
What ever happened to: "I tell two people and they tell two people, etc.?" Why not "I tell ten people, and they tell..."? Send them food, send them clean water and tell the UN to stop whining and moaning about what is wrong and who isn't doing what (they blame us for everything anyway); and to get off their lazy behinds and do something for themselves. For God's sake tell the UN to prod China for more aid, THEY can afford it!
We have homeless starving people here...
So why are they rioting?? Why don't they do something to help themselves?? Violence gets you nowhere fast,people will want to just go home and say to hell with the ungrateful people.. There are plenty of US citizens that could use some help with heat this winter and would be grateful..
So why are they rioting?? Why don't they do something to help themselves??
Trust me, the Haitians want to help themselves. I've worked alongside them for years. You can't help yourself if you don't have the resources. They are rioting because their voice is all they have. I'm not supporting the riots, but I understand why the riots are occuring. Heck, in America we riot when we win a ball game. The Haitians are rioting because their friends and family are dying from a disease that came from a foreign source. Another interesting note, the protesters have been the victims in these riots. The riot deaths you read about are all protesters; not the UN or international aid groups.
Trust me, the Haitians want to help themselves? And they are doing this how? By crapping in the same water they drink. Evolution at its finest. Go God
grammie-457450, they have no resources. Why can't people understand that? They have no choice, NO CHOICE, but to live they way they do. There are NO jobs equaling no money, NO govt. support, nothing, nilch... Tell me how they can help themselves? Like ShawnChristopher, their voice is all they have.
My family is living in Haiti. I have been there.
God Bless you ShawnChristopher
hey javondure why dont you read my post on the next page
Dear Grammie, they're not ungrateful, they're desperate!
A different article on CNN stated that Haiti needs to build up their water resources and sewage systems. So this proud nation of blacks who freed themselves from slavery 206 years ago haven't been able to do this most basic thing? The ancient Maya had an incredible system for bringing water for irrigation and drinking to their city-states not to mention the Aztec and the Inca, and they were supposed to be "primitive savages". The ancient Romans built aqueducts and cisterns and had an incredble system for bringing water into their cities and carry away sewage. There are other examples from the Middle East and the Far East but in this modern day and age of advanced engineering and technology why can't the Haitians do this? Don't they have engineers? Where did all the money that was sent to rebuild Haiti under Aristide go? Where are all the billions that was raised from all those concerts earlier this year go? If anything, at the very least, the Haitians should have the sense to at least catch rainwater for godsakes!
elsabio -
I recommend that you read a history of Haiti if you really want to understand the context of what is happening there now. It's not a happy story, but there is also much that is inspiring and fascinating. The corollaries between their history and our own history are fascinating. And unfortunately, there were a number of bad moves by the U.S. that contributed heavily toward the country coming to the conditions that existed before the earthquake.
As to the money and aid that went there during the Aristide time-period, the country had made serious progress toward inclusive government and becoming a modern state. There was a long,long, way to go and no amount of money or good intentions was going to solve the problems all at once, but progress was being made.
Now they are back to being in serious crisis. And when people are hanging on to life by a thread, when they are living in incredibly dense camps, when huge amounts of aid have been promised but not delivered...well frustration will grow and burst out. Given the same conditions, it would work out the same way in the U.S. for any demographic group you might care to name, including country-club white folks.
Haiti can come thru this, and maybe be the better for it, but it will take a whole lot of work. And, uh huh, a whole lot of money too. And it won't happen overnight or in a year or in five years. It will take decades, but then it took decades to get so bad too.
Personally, I am looking forward to a trip to Haiti next month to assist in the planning and construction. My group has a plan for funding that does not involve the US or UN, we will see how it works out, but I am optimistic.
A salt and sugar water solution? C'mon Gatorade - send a few Cargo planes full of your drinks to Haiti, now!!
I've actually been to Haiti since the Earthquake. I went this past spring. With a bunch of doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel. The Haitians are all very optimistic type of people, when they are down, they keep on going. However, they do what they can to try and stay clean. They do bathe and drink the water out of the rivers, if that's all they can come up with. Our country needs to try and help them as much as we can. I totally 100% agree with you Jim! As for Scott, we don't need to do that to them. They are a country, they are on our side of the planet so we need to do what we can to help them, as I've previously said. I know our country is in great debt as well, but that's our ignorant governments fault, as well as the people who vote them into office over and over again. As for John, are you trying to fly into Port-au-Prince? There is a "airport" in one city that you can try to land in. I don't remember what it's called, but I can find out for you if you want me to.
They should pull all of the UN soldiers out of there and send in North Korean soldiers as replacements. They know how to get the people back under control and bring order to the mess and do it quickly.
Seriously, people? You read heartbreaking stories about CHILDREN suffering and dying from an easily preventable and curable disease and you react with '"Blar blar savages muh tax dollars" and other heartless, ignorant statements? I certainly hope none of you consider yourselves to be Christians (but as those sentiments are pretty much synonymous with the conservative right, I'm betting you do).
These people are scared and hurt and have very little hope left. Most have lost at least one loved one (if not more). Of course they're going to react in anger toward a group of people that have tracked in cholera on top of all their problems (carelessly, I might add).
bloocanary, why do you propose to skip by all our children here in the U.S. that are hurting in our inner cities, going to bed hungry and no roof over their heads. We are scared and hurt here but nothing from you or the others with all your baloney about helping the children as long as it isn't here in the U.S. As far as the Haitians are concerned, what does the Dominican Republic have to say, they share the same island!! The Haitians practicing voodoo will eat you alive, thats why the Dominicans turn their backs on those beast. Maybe Scott has a point we should consider. St. Paul said "You don't work, you don't eat".
The Dominicans hate Haitians....
GTR5
I sure do agree with you...we need to help these unfortunate people but we cannot and should not be spoon feeding them while they sit around waiting for handouts. Able bodied men roaming all over the streets, fighting and stealing with nothing else to do and women and children living like animals waiting for ther next disaster to fall on them.
Come on shape up or ship out !! there are lots of poor and needy countries in the world and lost of folks working hard to help themselves...this laziness is disgusting !
amen brother amen
Storm/GTR5/Doesn't Matter/Scotty & on & on & on....
So you think they are all lazy, huh? If one of you cornfed overweight righties from the 'burbs ever had to work as hard as an average Haitian you would think you had died and been sent to hell. Which hasn't happened yet to you lazy dweebs, but just wait.
whatever tbart your just mad cause im in better shape than you hahaha
That, my boy, is something you have not yet proven.
You are an UTTER ASS....what a HORRIBLE thing to say as people are dying.
Savages...they are desperate......Obviously YOU have never been desperate...watching your family and country DIE.
  May the Lord punish you and YOURS. SO BADLY..they it bends you in two.
The ONLY savage I see here is YOU.....
Â
   And you must be a WHITE MAN....you nasty BIGOTED...EVIL piece of garbage....
 That's why your talking trash here...YOU BELIEVE YOUR SPECIAL...RIGHT??????
Â
I sense he is not the only bigoted one on this thread. White people are evil pieces of garbage? Look in the mirror, buddy.
why would you bring race into this you ignorant slimeball
Elis - You, sir, are an A$$. I flagged your post and hope you are deleted. We value reasoned and respectful debate here. Your post is neither!
u of m - sure, you "value reasoned and respectful debate..."
uh huh, such as the idea of herding the refugees into a pen and bombing them with napalm. [scotty]
uh huh, such as that haitians prcticing voodoo will eat you alive. [trident]
uh huh, such as that the UN should bring the north korean army into haiti. [gtr5]
TY tbart, good call
These poor people are suffering so much...
Keep your money you disgusting Biggot....No one wants your trash....
Â
 Go home and point to Russia...
I'm willing to bed that if the little 9 year old in the photo up top was white, those of you turning your heads and grumbling about 'savages' and 'handouts' and 'living like animals' would be singing a different tune.
Amen to you! appalled- 2690945
All this hate for Americans? What the "F" is Africa doing to help in this crisis? Haven't heard a thing yet!! Africans have the same color, it seems color is all you care about. Most blacks I've met don't want the "White devils" help, anywhere! Get a job, organize and help!
I have been to Haiti twice and have seen success stories in both Port au Prince (a group of students from Cite Soleil going to university in Brazil) and in a small town (Baraderes, the high school there has some of the highest test scores in the country). These strides are happening with small groups making a difference. One pebble can make a whole pond ripple.
Haiti has had years of bad luck; corrupt government, natural disasters et al. The key will be in educating the young population, the future leaders of Haiti. If we ignore Haiti, it will be another developing country's tragic story (just 200 miles from the US).
Natural disasters? Really? let's build our city on a fault line. Then when the earth shifts, its totally everyone else s fault.
Yes, how silly of them not to listen to the geologists they hired to survey the island prior to settling centuries ago.
Well Catherine Haiti has been free and independent for over 200 years and this is the best these people can do. Just educating a few will do no good. Their main concerns are making babies and voodoo, not progressing with the rest of the world.
I totally agree.............and except for a few bleeding heart liberals, I believe most Americans believe the same. America first. It's the real world folks.......get over trying to save every backward country in the world. Racist? No. Realist? Yes/
scott sincerely... hope you and you and your loved ones (kids, wife, parents...everyone) get terminally ill and die slowly and painfully... i hope that everything in your life turns into a disaster and then after that i hope that a haitian comes along and craps all over you mouth and your family's mouth you stupid piece of @!$%# mother@!$%#er.
I wouldn't I'd still not send them a single dime or food. I don't care if it was one person from every background and race. Humans don't need aid, They cause this crap themselves. Building a city on a earthquake island? Building a village next to a volcano? Government stealing money from its people and not doing any thing to help them? You know what, since its the UN fualt, lets get UN out of there, what will happen to all these people then? They will die. They riot and they will die. Humans have the ability to change the world with the hands they are given and the legs to walk on.
Gosh, you're absolutely right. I mean, how stupid of them to just stay on an island in the middle of the ocean when they can just hop on a raft and float over to America, where they'll be welcomed with open arms.
Oh, wait...
... looking for the right words...
I love you.
:)
I meant that for appalled, by the way. I couldn't agree more.
Gosh, you're absolutely right. I mean, how stupid of them to just stay on an island in the middle of the ocean when they can just hop on a raft and float over to America, where they'll be welcomed with open arms.
Oh, wait...
I am loving you appalled-
Actually, the Haitians didn't choose to build a country on that island. Their ancestors were kidnapped from Africa and brought there in chains to live out their lives as slaves. When they finally revolted and kicked out their French masters, the main condition of the truce with France was that they pay back the value of the land and the free labor France was losing. From the very start the nation was in unsupportable debt, but if they refused to pay, France would have returned and put them back into slavery, so they chose poverty and independance.
GTR5 -Scottyy -
And that's not a racist statement, right? Sure boys....whatever you say, boys....do you know what racism is, boys?
Also, can we now assume that you're ready to abandon California from LA up thru San Francisco? Haiti hasn't had a significant earthquake in 150 years, look at everything we have built in the past fifty years on top of what we know full well is a major fault and where there have been many, many quakes since the cities were built. And we are ok to be lecturing other people on the subject? Get a clue.
I mean, not that I really expect you to get a clue, you are likely way too far gone for that. Still, a little consistency might be a good idea.
And we are rebuilding a city in a basin?! (New Orleans, under sea-level) Nostalgia at a price...
And with all that we do have, how come it's far from completed? Be careful how you judge other governments when ours should be able to run much smoother. Egos at a price...
I see a lot of anger here directed against the Haitian people. This is quite puzzling to me, that so many would be so quick to disparage and abandon so vulnerable a nation because of the actions of a small element of their society.
You do not cut off your hands to spite your face.
It is natural for people to lash out when their lives are threatened by an unseen force which they unable to effectively combat. To fight cholera you need doctors, medical supplies, access to clean water and food. Facilities to bathe with and shelter to protect from the elements. These are things which the Haitian people have been deprived of by a natural disaster.
Naturally, frustration and misplaced anger are going to breed in such a dire situation but to take the actions of a few and apply it to all of Haiti is equally illogical as striking out against helping hands.
Cooler heads must prevail here. I believe that Haiti will rise up but as with all nations, their prosperity will be hastened and executed most efficiently with the helping hands of concerned nations. A modern educated Haiti could have quite a bit to contribute to the world and I believe that day is on the horizon.
is that before or after they riot?
Is being detrimentally short sighted and shallow something you do professionally or is it just something you do for fun?
No I just like when the human race gets what it deserves.
So... you're saying that 9 year old deserves to die from an entirely preventable epidemic? I see your point; he looks really sinister what with the way his eyes are rolled back into his head from delirium and fever.
He looks like he's about to just jump up and immediately start building a chemical processing plant next to the community reservoir. In fact no, he looks like he's about a day away from dying before he's even experienced puberty or had a chance to hold a girl's hand.
beer-man
You are so right. Having a crisis-ravaged neighbor 200 miles from our soil is not in our own interest. Haiti can recover and move forward as it was doing since the Aristide era. What we do there will come back to us, whether we do good or evil.
Good point, tbart. And I wonder what the cynics would be saying if natural disasters destroyed the same proportion of lives and property here?
What is happening to humanity? When did we begin to freeze our hearts? These poor families, these poor children are hurting and all you can come up with is taxpayer's dollars and all that imbecile nonsense? We all share the same world, breathe the same air, go hungry when food is scarce... and yet you think something makes you more important than our cohabitants? You are skin and bones, too, and when the time comes that you need a helping hand and water to calm your desperation, I honestly hope someone will be there for you, as you did not wish to help others. Maybe then you will feel something, anything.
Our humanity is long gone, Open your eyes. We take and take and offer nothing to the world. Extinction of animals, destruction of forests, Do you honestly think the human race has done nothing wrong and deserves a golden age? Your mind is clouded by your emotions, humanity will suffer forever till theres nothing left of us. It's only karma.
My mind is not clouded by my emotions. I understand perfectly everything we have done and what steps we could take to slowly turn back. The fact that I understand the principles does not mean I will not apply care to them. To master complete ethics in everything you do, first you have to learn to combine reason with feelings. One may not work well with out the other.
If you combine reason with feelings you lose sight of what you are trying to do. For alot of problems in our planet right now there's no easy way out.
I understand that you hold a lot of anger towards humans, and that somehow you don't consider yourself a human and feel set aside. Fine with me. Never the less, I will never accept that a child deserves to suffer in sickness. A child does not deserve pain, nor does a child merit pain. Humans might be responsible for so much of the trouble we are now facing, but that does not mean I will not care for others. When my son disobeys me and then falls off the table, I understand it is his fault, yet I still love him. I understand principle, I understand reason, but I still have a heart.
When I was in Haiti last February after the quake, it was obvious to me then that endemic disease would soon follow. I credit the outstanding work of MSF and PIH with staving it off as long as they did. Sadly. Haiti is a vast smoking dump... denuded of plant life, the rivers and streams are choked with detritus and filth, the stink of burning rubber fills the air. There is NO clean water in The plight of Haiti is extraordinarily sad… I don't know what is to be done for the long term, but what the Haitians need now is a way to get clean water, and not in the form of plastic bottles, it needs to be cleaned at the source.
I don't know what hurts me more... the look on the child's face, or the lack of empathy that some people show. Not even the fact the our country is now shaking helps us realize just how much NEED hurts.