2nd anniversary of the devastating earthquake

Dear friends, donors, supporters…

Two years ago, at 4:53 in the afternoon on January 12, 2010, the earth shrugged and added another chapter to the sequence of tragedies that define Haiti’s history. A devastating 7 magnitude earthquake killed an estimated 300,000 people, destroyed 80 percent of the capital city of Port-au-Prince and left more than a million Haitians homeless. Nearly all public buildings were destroyed, and with them much of a generation of civil servants, doctors, nurses, engineers, professors and students. The world responded immediately and with a generosity and for a while things looked optimistic for the future. Today, two years later, the outlook for Haiti’s future is probably worse than ever. The poorest country of the Western hemisphere before the earthquake, today is the poorest country in the whole wide world. The media spotlight has moved away from Haiti. Cameras are gone, controversy related to human rights, lousy conditions in tent cities are old news but for most of Haitians everyday life. The big international entities with histories in Haiti, like the U.N. and the United Nations Development Program, remain, but much of the promised aid money was never delivered and Haiti is more desperate than ever. The consensus, in Haiti and abroad, is that little progress has been made, and a sense of pessimism has enveloped the country and its million-strong overseas community.
But beyond disappointment at the slow progress of reconstruction, many Haitians and Haitian Americans have begun to lose faith. Politics, racial issues and different interests need to be overcome for this poor Caribbean nation of 10 million to move forward.
It breaks my heart seeing these proud people drowning deeper and deeper but still trying to stay on the surface. At the same time it fills my heart with pride and hope seeing how much we have done with your help and prayers for the most needy ones. Blessed are you and your generous hearts for providing a better life for our Haitian orphans and truly making a difference in this world.

Thank you, God bless you and Haiti