Four years ago, I stood in the middle of a country surrounded by devastation. Even two years after the 7.0 earthquake struck the nation of Haiti, you could still see the effects consuming the country. I was blessed enough to meet so many amazing people during the duration of my visit. I met mothers whom wept with gratitude, fathers who were fighting to provide for their families, and children who smiled and laughed even in some of the worst imaginable living conditions. These are people. They are living and breathing, and they are suffering. So now, they got struck with yet again another natural disaster, but did we just stop caring this time?
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There was numerous amounts of aid sent to Haiti after the earthquake in 2010. Unfortunately, a good portion of that was not actually used for its intended purpose. Rather, it went into the pockets of politicians who did not care about the people of it's nation. Now, Haiti whom was still recovering six years later from earlier wounds, gets hit with Hurricane Matthew. People whose houses were barely standing before, are now completely washed away, roads flooded with students unable to walk to schools or parents unable to sell their goods, and a death toll already at almost nine hundred and climbing every hour as the effects are felt across the country. So where is the help? Not the red cross spending one million dollars on six houses type of help, but rather humans fighting for humans. A world trying to help repair a broken country. How do we as humans let others sleep in mud? Or eat dirt because they are so hungry? Where is the help?
Four years ago I stood in a country surrounded by devastation and now that country is right back to where is started. We all need to do something. I know there is plenty of devastation in our own country, but in a time of crisis our news is focusing on the fact that Hurricane Matthew was shaped like a skull (even changed the colors on the map to prove his point!) rather than reporting the actual destruction that the storm left. Places like Charleston and parts of Florida were all evacuated. Haiti was NOT, because they COULD NOT. They have no infrastructure to even warn their citizens of something like that. They had next to no shelters set up, no outside support to help them prepare, and now next to no help coming to them in the coming days or weeks. Where is the help?
I don't want any of you to pray for Haiti like you did for Paris. I want us all to realize that we have a duty as human beings to help others when we can. Now is the time we NEED to. Donate. Volunteer. Run a drive. Do your research. Help them. Haiti is an amazing country and it has some of the most amazing people you would ever see, with the most grateful people you will ever see. They need the news coverage, they need the help, they need people to know that they exist and they are hurting, and that we as a whole can help.
Four years ago I stood in a country surrounded by devastation. It is a country I would visit in a heartbeat if I could. It's a country that changed my life. Its people need you to know that they may not recover from a disaster like this. Be the change you wish to see in the world. Let's change it for the better.
