Header Graphic
Articles on political and social issues in Cameroon, Africa and the world as seen by Njei Moses Timah > Haiti: Disasters Unlimited


8 Oct 2016

Glance at the these images of the impact of October 2016 Hurricane on Haiti before reading about this miserable country.

https://www.google.cm/search?q=haiti+hurricane+2016&biw=1360&bih=657&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwja7bH548vPAhUMsBQKHWRdADUQ_AUIBygC

Haiti (pop. 9 million) is a country that has always been living on the edge. For centuries, this country has been plagued by violence, bad governance, dictatorship, poverty, corruption and environmental degradation. Today, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and it virtually depends on the UN for her security and many other services. Haiti and the Dominican Republic are two countries that share the same Island. To the best of my knowledge, Haiti is the only country in the world where you can determine its national land boundary with her neighbor just by looking at satellite photos. From space you can differentiate Haiti from the Dominican Republic by the greenery in the Dominican Republic and the barren land of Haiti--a country where less than 1.5% of its original forest still remains intact.

Natural disasters like hurricanes and the 2010 earthquake only come to compound or feed on the man-made ones. With about 84% of the population living below the poverty line, there is no wonder that a cholera outbreak that came on the heels of the 2010 earthquake fed on poverty-driven squalid conditions to spread like wild fire. Haiti’s disasters seem to be evolving in a cascading sequences and the desperate population seems to be losing hope.

Nobody seems to figure out when Haiti will ever return to normalcy given the complex social, economic and environmental challenges facing this failing state.

The story of Haiti is long and complicated and I can only recommend the links below for more knowledge on the subject.

Historical Timeline of Haiti

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19548814

 

Timeline of Haiti’s Natural Disasters

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2010-01/14/content_9316563.htm

Environmental History of Haiti

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/index-ca.html

 

Njei Moses Timah