You might be feeling overwhelmed or despondent about Haiti’s plight following the devastating earthquake on Jan 12. Despite the millions of dollars that are being sent in aid from all over the world including the United States (over $22 million has been raised for the Red Cross by text messages alone), you might wonder if the money will be effectively used, or if it’s even enough to make much of a dent in helping Haiti build a stronger future than the impoverished one it has known for decades.
New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Nicholas D. Kristof confronts some of these questions as well as some others that you might be afraid to ask, like “Why is Haiti so poor?” ”Is Haiti hopeless?” ”Will our billions in aid even help?”
I’ve reposted some of the article below.
Why is Haiti so poor? Is it because Haitians are dimwitted or incapable of getting their act together?
Haiti isn’t impoverished because the devil got his due; it’s impoverished partly because of debts due. France imposed a huge debt that strangled Haiti. And when foreigners weren’t looting Haiti, its own rulers were.
The greatest predation was the deforestation of Haiti, so that only 2 percent of the country is forested today. Some trees have been — and continue to be — cut by local peasants, but many were destroyed either by foreigners or to pay off debts to foreigners. Last year, I drove across the island of Hispaniola, and it was surreal: You traverse what in places is a Haitian moonscape until you reach the border with the Dominican Republic — and jungle.
Without trees, Haiti lost its topsoil through erosion, crippling agriculture.
To visit Haiti is to know that its problem isn’t its people. They are its treasure — smart, industrious and hospitable — and Haitians tend to be successful in the United States (and everywhere but in Haiti).
Read the rest here and don’t buy into the despair and hopelessness.
Haitians, like anyone else in times of trouble, needs compassion, hope and faith. As one woman in our congregation with relatives in Haiti stated this past week: It’s not important to dwell on why this is happening but rather how God will use this tragedy for glory. Because He will.
Believe that and please continue to pray and donate for Haiti.
from the New York Times 
