The current Haitian Tragedy

Haiti is often described as "one of the poorest nations in the western hemisphere".  I think it would be better described as being the poorest country in the world.  Perhaps having the distinction of being the poorest in the world would somehow be beneficial. 

The country of Haiti which shares the island peninsula of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic in the Caribbean,  is a sad and haunting place.  It has been ravished by political turmoil and natural disasters.  Haiti is a forgotten place.  It is surrounded by countries which outshine it.  Most people have heard of the Dominican Republic but are not aware it is such close neighbors with Haiti.  When most people think of the Caribbean they think of Jamaica, Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.  Haiti is rarely thought of as being somewhere to go on vacation.  Paradise. 

The catastrophic earthquake that occurred on Tuesday, January 12th 2010 is the latest in a line of devastating disasters to hit the country. The quake has further paralyzed an already crippled infrastructure. 

The outpouring of support and aid has been quick but has been almost ineffective because of the devastation.  The airport until hours ago was inoperative.  The ports are still at this time not functioning.  Aid and supplies are sitting just miles away unable to reach those in need.

Meanwhile the hate mongers this side have not skipped a beat.  Pat Robertson blamed the Haitians themselves for the quake.  He said it was payment for the nations' "deal with the devil" to end slavery.  Wow! What brand of loving Christianity does he preach?  Or more importantly, how can anyone sit and listen to this madman.  His issue is not with slavery and the cruelty of it, but with people who did all they could to be free.  Robertson sites a ritual that the slaves performed in an effort to seek help from some higher power.  Of course being slaves, that higher power had to be the devil. Obviously, Robertson believes in a curse on the people, why not pray for them then? And, how about that important Christian virtue - forgiveness?

There is also the head moron himself spurting his usual racist rants on the radio.  He has accused President Obama of playing up race in sending aid to help the victims of this disaster.  How do these people sleep at night?

The future of Haiti is dimly lit.  It is difficult to imagine how they will be able to recover and rebuild.  The issues the country face are compounded, multiplied and magnified.  I fear the aftermath will be much worst than can be imagined.  I hope there is hope and a way to break the current shackles, because in some way Haiti's future is linked to us all.