A Picture of Haiti You May Not Have Seen

I forward this report from Antoine Jaulmes, a French  auto engineer  and a colleague of mine in Initiatives of Change (IofC), a non-governmental organization working for peace, reconciliation and human security worldwide.

Rebuilding Haiti will not be enough

By Antoine Jaulmes

20 January 2010

The 12 January earthquake in Haiti was devastating. Between 50,000 and 100,000 people were killed. International aid was mobilized quickly, though there was much criticism that the aid sent was slow to reach those most in need; the deployment of aid was slowed by the destruction of the country’s infrastructure—already inadequate because of Haiti’s acute poverty.

Why was it that the daily reality of Haiti did not cause the same kind of emotional response as the catastrophe which hit the island? Life expectancy in Haiti is only 53 years (against about 75 years in developed countries). The death rate of children under five is 12.3 per cent (against 0.5 per cent in developed countries), meaning that over 40,000 very young children die every year in Haiti. Losing your child before its fifth birthday is a rare tragedy for the developed world but a cruel reality in Haiti – the odds are one in seven. Ninety-five per cent of these tragedies could be avoided if poverty receded.

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