It has been a year since a tragic earthquake left Haiti devastated and killed more than 300,000 people. Despite more than $1.4 billion in relief aid donated, little progress can be seen in the country and people are asking: Where’d the money go? PORT-AU-PRINCE—Last January, hundreds of thousands of Haitians lost their lives and millions lost their homes in an earthquake that flattened much of the capital. A year later, Haitians appear to have lost something else: hope. The impoverished Caribbean nation marks the anniversary of the Jan. 12, 2010, quake on Wednesday with little to cheer. Haiti’s government, which itself was hit hard by the quake, has been incapable of responding to the crisis. Foreign aid has trickled in, and a rush of well-meaning charities have led to chaos. Piles of rubble still clog the streets; at the current rate, it will take 20 years simply to clean up the mess. Nearly a million people still live in about 1,300 makeshift refugee camps that occupy every available parking lot and open space in the capital. With each passing day, the camps take on a more permanent look. “We are just completely discouraged now,” said Fai-na Bernadette, a 24-year-old nurse who has been living in a soccer field in Petionville, a suburb of the capital, alongside 3,000 other refugees. Carleene Dei, director of the United States Agency for International Development told reporters in a January 7 conference call that there was a “lack of understanding” about the pace at which pledges from March’s donors conference could be met, referring to the UN conference where nations pledged more than $10 billion to help Haiti rebuild itself. “A pledge is not a check,” she said. “A pledge has to be turned into legislation. Legislation has to be turned into plans. Plans have to be vetted and approved. And money has to be made available.” Tragic. Source
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$1.4 Billion Later: Where Did All The Haiti Relief Money Go?
