Personally, it's really hard for me to focus on anything but the situation in Haiti right now.
Catastrophic devastation.
Hundreds of thousands of people have perished.
Survivors are hungry, injured, sick and I was about to say lacking adequate shelter, truth is they are lacking adequate everything. Shelter, sanitation, electricity, fresh water
Continuing, massive, emergency relief is necessary. Food, shelter, medicine and medical care are things that we all can help with please help.
The people of Haiti are traumatized and heartbroken. Without continuing support heartbreak will turn into frustration frustration to anger and violence.
Stop the violence before it starts. Give to Haiti.
As a country, we have a moral obligation to help Haiti, not only heal from this disaster but to ultimately succeed in the long run as a nation with a solid economy.
We need to commit to becoming a key player in solving Haiti's problems because, well, we've played a role in creating them
In the past America supported the evil dictatorships of "Papa Doc" and "Baby Doc"- remember those charming guys?
Motivated by politics and concerns about Haitian corruption, the US, and the international community, have imposed sanctions off and on against Haiti since 1991
The latest came during the second Bush administration when we imposed an aid embargo to the Haitian government. Our embargo included blocking $500 million in aid from the International Development Bank. In 2004, the Boston Globe reported that the aid cutoff ravaged the economy of Haiti a nation already twice as poor as any other in our Hemisphere. Haiti has been suffering on many levels long before the earthquake and it's complicated stuff.
For instance, the country has a broken food supply thanks to a slow demise in agricultural production due to poor market regulation, low tariffs on rice and other staples, battered environmental conditions such as deforestation and erosion - the list goes on The food supply is just one of many, MANY "man-made disasters" the half-island nation is burdened with.
A comprehensive plan for Haitian economic reconstruction and development is long overdue. I'm on board with the idea of the creation of an international "Marshall Plan" for Haiti a comprehensive plan created with Haitian leadership that would be drafted intelligently, implemented quickly and fully funded by multiple international partners.
World leaders, our leaders, need to act quickly and create a reconstruction plan that focuses on healing, hope and prosperity in the meantime; please give your continued support to Haiti. **
WOSU Commentator Michael Ivey is a writer and filmmaker from Westerville. We want to hear from you. E-mail your comments to "feedback at WOSU - dot - org.