Collegiate Times

In February 2010, a catastrophic, magnitude-seven earthquake struck Haiti, roughly 15 miles away from the capital, Port-au-Prince. It was the worst earthquake to hit Haiti in more than 200 years and was followed by more than 59 aftershocks.

It was so powerful that residents of the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Columbia, Venezuela and Florida felt the movement. It also produced tsunamis. The disaster killed 222,570 people, injured 300,000, displaced 1.3 million and destroyed 97,294 homes.

Naturally, the sympathy of individuals, businesses and organizations showed in fund raisers, food drives and more. In the weeks following the quake, news reports included updates about relief efforts and encouraged those with disposable resources to share them.

Now, nine months later, where do the relief efforts stand? With all that time, many people picture clear streets, repaired homes and a return to regular life. If a new human life can be created in that time, surely there can be major progress in rebuilding from a natural disaster.

Reality, however, is a very different picture.

According to recent reports from the Associated Press, the money from many countries has not arrived in Haiti. About $1.15 billion from the United States, which donors pledged at a conference in March, still has not seen the shores of the island. To make matters worse, the U.S. is not the only country with delayed funds.

In fact, only 15 percent of pledged funds have arrived.

Naturally, the immediate efforts following a disaster focus on humanitarian aid; healing the injured, feeding the hungry, and maintaining life.

The U.S. has produced $1.1 billion to support these efforts. People feel good about providing food and water, and they should, but there is a bigger picture to consider. While those $1.1 billion were noble and necessary efforts, there are still 1.3 million people without homes, even after all this time.

Relief efforts for natural disasters also have to consider the long-term plans for restoring and rebuilding. When the bulk of our sympathy produces funds to provide the basics that are so noticeable on the evening news, we have to be careful of peaking too soon.

There is a complicated process for recovery. A long-term focus is vital to the success and rebuilding of any area, especially one as devastated as Port-au-Prince.

First, you do have to handle the basics: food, medical attention, temporary shelter. Without these staples, there would be no population left to recover. This is the phase where major news coverage plays a big role in contributing to the publicity, keeping events fresh in the minds of all viewers and readers. The newness of the event also contributes to our focus.

The disaster is fresh in our minds because it’s not something we’ve heard about for months.

This is also the phase where most people stop thinking about places they never visit or plan to visit.

They give food or money, feeling that they have done their part, and they move on.

What about the children who no longer have parents? What about the individuals whose homes are now gone? What about those who did not survive the quake? What about the roads that are blocked?

These are not simple questions, and they will not have simple answers. The answers will be the product of long-term thinking, planning, and efforts. We as viewers have to remember to remain conscious of the efforts.

The reoccurrence of the story is there to show the whole picture, not just the first two weeks.

A version of this article appeared in the Oct 7 issue of the Collegiate Times.