On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, a catastrophic 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti (a country about the size of Maryland). The earthquake lasted only 20-30 seconds but in these seconds over 216,000 died, over 300,000 were injured, and over 1,000,000 were left homeless. That would be like the entire population of Shreveport suddently dying in a matter of a few seconds! Even today, over a year after the damage, there are around 800,000 still without homes, relying on makeshift tents for shelter. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere and before the earthquake most people lived on less than $2.00 per day.
 |
This is only one of many mass burial sites in Haiti.
Each cross represents one person that is buried here. |
 |
| This is a street scene one year after the earthquake. |
 |
This 4-year-old boy's parents were killed in the earthquake and his uncle
had been trying to take care of him. He could no longer afford to take
care of him so he brought him to an orphanage. This man works at
the orphanage and was trying to explain to him what was happening. |
 |
I can only imagine what terrifying things he must be dreaming about
to cause him to cry in his sleep. |
 |
The Hatian people are forced to bathe and wash clothes
all in the same water. |
 |
People say a picture is worth a thousand words, this picture
only needs one--HOPELESSNESS. |
 |
| An aerial view of one of the many tent cities where people are living today. |
 |
| Tent city. |
 |
| More tents. |
 |
| And even more tents. |
 |
When asked why he was crying, this boy responded that he was
crying because he was hungry. |
 |
| These makeshift tents hardly count as shelter. |
 |
While our kids play on clean playgrounds, this is the playground
for Haitian children. |
 |
Without benefit of heavy equiment to clear rubble and debris
the Haitian people work together to clear it by hand. |
 |
Some are fortunate to still have homes--they also have
raw sewage right in their backyard. |
 |
This 5-year-old little girl is trying to get purified water
for her family to drink. Unclean drinking water puts the Haitian
people at risk for cholera. In October 2010 there was a cholera
outbreak in Haiti leading to over 4,000 deaths. |
