Paul Farmer’s novel, Haiti After the Earthquake, is an amazing narrative from someone closely connected to the events which unfolded on January 12th, 2010. It serves as a powerful depiction of how a nation in need redefined resilience, recovery and sustainability, especially within the context of international aid. Dr. Paul Farmer has been involved with work in Haiti for the past 30 years. In the late 1980’s, Dr. Farmer and his colleagues founded Partners in Health, an organization dedicated to providing basic medical care and services to the people of Haiti, most notably the more vulnerable populations. Their goal is to bring modern medical care and better social services to the more neglected communities in Haiti, and included basic …show more content…
Many hospitals and clinics were damaged, including one of the nursing schools, killing 150 students. Days following the earthquake, rescue and relief workers began pouring into the region. Dr. Farmer was one of the first to arrive in country with medical supplies and other resources necessary to assist but the task of triaging patients to appropriate care centers and placing volunteers in the right place was overwhelming amidst a country in shock. NGO’s filtered in from across the world and set up their own “semi-autonomous worlds” (Farmer, pg. 15). The General Hospital became a make shift tent city for the dead, wounded, and …show more content…
Farmer discusses the “acute-on-chronic” problem facing Haiti. He describes these as the issues which have existed for a lengthy period of time and then became monumentally worse and brought about new issues after the earthquake happened. Before the earthquake, Haiti had been declared one of the most water-insecure countries in the hemisphere. Haiti was, and remains, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 70% of the population living on less than $2 a day. By the time the earthquake in Haiti struck, the country had withered into a nation barley functioning. Haiti’s infrastructure was crumbling, the government was corrupt from continuous political instability, few professionals remained (such as doctors who had long ago moved on to better opportunities) and basic resources were hard to come by. Local food resources were also scant. Most food products were imported and/or donated from other nations meaning little was locally grown, an example to how the Haitian agricultural system was undermined and therefore left unsustainable. Added to the country’s plight was the damage caused by hurricanes in the years leading up to the earthquake. The deep-rooted social and economic problems made it difficult to deliver basic services to large numbers of people and created a system which made it difficult for relief contributions to reach those most in
While the book covers on several thematic concerns, the issue of social inequality takes a major portion of the author’s attention. Particularly, Mountains Beyond Mountains highlights the economic inequality and disparate provision of healthcare services in Haiti, its impacts on the affected people and the possible solutions to this social inequality. To begin with,
Paul Farmer is believed to be a visionary by many people. After graduating from Duke University, he visited Haiti and realized that it was a country in need of a lot of things. While attending Harvard Medical School, Paul Farmer realized what he had to do. He provided Haiti, particularly Cange, with basically free medical care. His operation expanded from there, and PIH was founded.
occupation of Haiti change their culture and therefore their history. Renda is very careful in dealing distinctions in the conclusions she is making. This can be seen as early as the prologue where she makes sure the reader understands the terminology in the text and their implications. Renda does a great job of letting an experience a new historical topic without it being too dense. The reading is very easy to follow and shows many aspects to what shaped the culture, so it lends itself to being minimal in bias.
An Analysis of The World's Cruelty After reading journalist Leonard Pitt's article entitled, "Sometimes, the Earth is Cruel", I saw the disaster in Haiti in a whole new light. What is on the surface an article based on the terrible earthquake that shook Haiti on January, 12, 2010, is in actuality a riveting, eye opening piece of human re-evaluation. An article that looks beyond ordinary human conventions and presents a broad picture of who we truly are and how we truly operate. The overall theme, however, is present in the first line; Sometimes the earth is cruel and Leonard Pitts expresses this through his description of the Haitian people's actions after the earthquake, his language comparing the Haitian people with nature and his overall response to the way Haitian people responded to their unfortunate tragedy.
Haiti is a Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic to its east. Though it’s still recovering from a 2010 earthquake, many of Haiti 's landmarks dating to the early 19th century remain intact. These include Citadelle la Ferrière, a mountaintop fortress, and the nearby ruins of Sans-Souci Palace, the baroque former royal home of King Henry
In the future to prevent Haiti from greater damage by natural disasters Haiti should do the following actions: To prevent Causalities in future disasters Haiti should give warning to all residents about the disaster predicted and get to the safest place possible. You could get to a safe place in your city/town were you can prevent serious injuries and deaths. People In Haiti could have a plan run by the community or council and all should know what to do if something horrific occurs, that way the town will be safe and knowledgeable about how to protect themselves. These three proposals could prevent further impact in the future from natural disasters and the citizens of Haiti to be safe and aware at all times.
In A Paradise Built in Hell, Rebecca Solnit focuses on the occurrences of the aftermaths of five major North American disasters and how strong bonds within communities form because of those disasters. Each case study provides a concrete description of what surviving residents themselves understand to be an unusual sociological change arising in the midst of casualties, disorientation, homelessness, and significant loss of all kinds. Reflecting on the 1906 San Francisco earthquake; the enormous 1917 explosion in Halifax, Nova Scotia; the devastating 1985 Mexico City quake; Lower Manhattan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks; and Hurricane Katrina’s 2005 deluge of New Orleans, Solnit brings a new perspective to these heart-wrenching tragedies. Solnit tells many enlightening stories of altruism and courageous social action. Moreover, although providing insight on these tragedies, Solnit presents her case with a redundant political bias and can seem to show problems that were not there.
Natural disasters are unfortunate events that cause damage to the surrounding environment and its inhabitants. These events can be disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes. In the article, “In Their Own Words: Resilience among Haitian Survivors of the 2010 Earthquake”, it was stated that resilience after these natural disasters is “...‘acceptance of conditions,’ as solidarity demonstrated by ‘Haitians helping Haitians’” (581). To overcome the disasters, the inhabitants of the affected area must connect as a community. It is imperative for the survival of the affected people that this is done because the connections help the people to push through the aftermath of the disaster.
Conditions for the small country worsened as a devastating earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, and over 300,000 people were killed, and 1.5 million were displaced, leaving them homeless. Just months after the earthquake hit, Haiti experienced the worst cholera outbreak in recent history, killing thousands, and infecting more than 6% of the population (Cook). Despite efforts from humanitarians and charities around the world, things never seemed to get better as access to clean drinking water and safe shelter became scarce. As the environment became virtually uninhabitable, many Haitians came to the United States, seeking asylum, and an opportunity to better the lives for themselves and their
Joshua Morgan Oral Communication Professor Currie General purpose-to inform Specific purpose- my classmates will be able to convey how I grew to have an intimate relationship with Haiti Central idea-Haiti has a special place in my heart Intro Attention grabber- Haiti is not a large country, Haiti 's border with the Dominican-Republic is only 159 miles. To put that in perspective, if you were to drive along the border at 60 mph 's, it would only take you 2 hours and 39 mins.
Even though Haiti’s a poor country, his people have a big heart. Parents don’t want their child to work, they make them focus on school only, and their education. On the other hand, Americans just consider a child to be lazy if at their teenage age they still don’t work. They raise their children to be independent different from Haitian that make their children to depend on them. Another fact is that Americans are not really friendly; they avoid contact with people, and they have a hypocrite smile on their face, however, Haitians are really friendly, sincere, and courteous.
By telling the story of a small Haitian village, Do Kay, and its history and community, Farmer meticulously explains how local cultural beliefs and individual reactions to disease are indeed related to larger context: national and transnational forces. He
Background Haiti is an island which is located in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea, the island is 27,750 square kilometers in size and has approximately 10.8 million people, which ranks it the first populous country in the Caribbean. Despite, Haiti vast population 80 percent of the people live below the poverty line hence, half of the citizens are malnourished. In terms of healthcare systems, the island positions last in the western hemispheres and one of the world worst healthcare system due to their lacking sanitation systems, poor nutrition and insufficient health services, which continues to prevent Haiti development. In addition, for generations Haiti has
Understanding How the Haitian Earthquake of 2010 Affected the Number Orphans and How We Can Help Have you thought about a natural disaster that happened years ago, leaving no effect on you at all? Why would you have a reason to? The effects of an earthquake that happened five years ago have probably been solved by now. Right? But unfortunately, the people of Haiti are still struggling and dying because of the earthquake that occurred five years ago.
Haiti, a sovereign state located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, is one of the world 's poorest and least developed countries. Same to other developing countries, Haiti developed agriculture instead of industry. Furthermore, Haiti is a country which always happened flooding, droughts, hurricanes and other meteorological disasters that were mainly caused by climate change. These disasters did affect Haiti a lot in the aspect of economy change, diseases like malaria or cholera caused by tropical Cyclone hotspots and vulnerability and adaptive capability of this country. First of all, hurricanes and droughts caused by climate change produced a very big effect on economy of Haiti.