After three hurricanes and a tropical storm hit Haiti this summer, the island nation is still waiting for relief. One tenth of Haiti's population, approximately 800,000 people, are homeless and the United Nations says that 80 percent oh Haitians live in absolute poverty. Haitian President Rene Preval is calling on the international community for relief: even before the storms, centuries of deforestation eroded Haiti's soil, causing flooding and water contamination. Doctors Without Borders, a non-governmental medical organization, projects that Haiti loses 80 percent of all the clean water from the Gonaives reservoir every day. Without access to clean water, even preventable illnesses can cause death and the Haiti's already unstable hospital system was hit very hard by the storms. With the Caribbean fund lending $200 million, the slow clean up has begun. Quotes "Just in Gonaives, we have 3 million cubic meters of mud. You can imagine the effort that is needed. I hope the international community understands the profound catastrophe Haiti is going through."--President Rene Preval of Haiti "There is a danger of some outbreaks of some diseases. We are really in a high risk at this moment, red alert, if you want to put it like this."-- Max Cosci, Doctors Without Borders "Doctors from Cuba and aid agencies partially fill the void. In Gonaives, it will be months, perhaps years, before a new permanent hospital, planned for higher ground, will be ready."- Fred De Sam Lazaro, PBS NewsHour correspondent Warm Up Questions 1. Look at a map. Where is Haiti? What do you know about the country just from looking at it?2. What is deforestation? 3. How can a hurricane effect health conditions? Discussion Questions 1. What news stories have you ever heard about Haiti? Why do you think you heard about those news stories and not other stories about Haiti?2. Should the international community aid Haiti? Why or why not?3. What are some public health problems in your area? How is the government reacting to them? Additional Resources Transcript of this report Hurricane Season in Haiti Doctors Without Borders website