A Forsaken Country

A tent city set up for earthquake victims in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Wednesday, September 29th, 2010. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Haiti has narrowly avoided another level of devastation recently as Hurricane Tomas brushed by, soaking the place but leaving things relatively unharmed. The Associated Press:

U.S. Marine helicopters buzzed the southern coast from the USS Iwo Jima, reporting back good news.
"It sounds like from what everybody's seeing that it's no worse than after a major storm here. There's some standing water out there but nothing's washed away," U.S. embassy spokesman Jon Piechowski said.

Unfortunately, what little flooding Tomas did bring is only exacerbating the on going cholera epidemic that has already killed 500 people in recent months.

Cholera? Why is this allowed to happen? How can such massive and protracted suffering take place so close to the richest country on earth? Recession or not, the US could easily fund the reconstruction of Haiti. But what do we spend our vast national wealth on? Market Watch reports that campaign spending during our recent midterms reached nearly $4 billion. That's equal to more than half of Haiti's GDP. Where does all that money go? Meg Whitman alone spent over $140 million to lose the California Governor's race, the most ever spent on a campaign in US history.
Luckily there are ways to help the people of Haiti, by donating money or even your time and energy if you are able.

UNICEF

Food For The Poor

All Hands Volunteers