by Gourab Modak

Created on: January 23, 2010   Last Updated: February 10, 2010

As the new decade rolled in, it shook up the whole world. But one place was affected the most, and it was Haiti. Sitting directly above a dangerous crack in the earth, an earthquake was inevitable. Unfortunately the country sitting right above the fault was the poorest and most underdeveloped country in the Western Hemisphere, far from expecting disaster. Haiti was not ready in any way for the terrible earthquake on January 12, 2010. But was that just because of poverty, or something else?

For the most part, yes, poverty played a huge role in the devastation in the aftermath of the earthquake. Because of poverty, people were out in the streets, and probably will be there for a while. Housing is a very expensive amenity that people could barely afford before the earthquake, and since most of the housing in Haiti, whether in the slums or in the city, fell to the ground, Haitian citizens will have a hard time finding a place to live.

But that’s something that can be fixed over the course of a few years. But the Haitian economy did not just fall like all the buildings; it was totally destroyed. Haitian economy was still based solely on things like mango farming, and sugar cane refining. But after the earthquake, as marketplaces crumbled, and the busy capital came down, Haiti’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) also made a drastic downturn. The bad economy became worse.

However, there is still hope. Even with a 25% plunge, the Haitian economy has started rebounding. Remember, it was only the capital Port Au Prince that was affected. The other part of Haiti still can function economically.

In the poor country, poverty is something that hindered recovery not only in the economy, but it also hindered the nation from creating a stronger infrastructure so that the country would be ready for such a disaster. But like the people, the government also lacked the funds to allow the creation of stronger buildings designed to resist earthquakes. However, the main issue was that the Haitian government wasn’t able to provide relief nor for the people stuck under fallen buildings, but also for the people who were dying in the streets from infection. Because of the poverty of the weak Haitian government, many Haitians suffered a long and horrible death in the streets of Port Au Prince.

Haiti suffered, and is still suffering today. But so did New Orleans after Katrina, and so did Oceania in the aftermath of the tsunami, and they recovered for the most part. Help is still needed in Haiti, but the country will recover. Poverty may be something slowing down earthquake recovery efforts, but it won’t cause Haiti to fall.

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