Ten months after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake wrecked havoc on the impoverished country of Haiti, efforts to rebuild its infrastructure are underway. But as expected, the process is slow as hundreds of thousands are still homeless and residing in makeshift shelters.
ITN correspondent Jon Snow arrived on the ground in Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince, days after the earthquake and witnessed first-hand some its destruction. He visited a basketball court in the city that had been turned into a makeshift camp. At the court was a woman with a horrendously infected eye, and a pastor traumatically injured by his own church falling onto him. Both lie in need of urgent medical help. As Snow filed reports, people lie in agony all around him with life threatening injuries
Recently he returned to Haiti, and to that basketball court, were he found conditions to be much better. Still, roughly 70 families have made the basketball court their home as many of their original homes are still masses of rubble.
But in one portion of the capital city, hope is rising from the ashes. Dennis O'Brien, and Irish telecom billionaire is rebuilding an iron marketplace near the collapsed presidential palace. It's set to be opened by Christmas. He hopes his efforts will spur others to invest and begin to move more quickly toward rebuilding Haiti.
Quotes
"The aftershock for me is that, at my age, things still seem confused." --Haitian woman living in Port-au-Prince
"We wanted to demonstrate to the people of Port-au-Prince that, one, we can rebuild something of this scale. But, also, hopefully, it will encourage other people to do the same and move quickly to rebuild other parts of the city." --Dennis O'Brien
Warm Up Questions
1. Where is Haiti?
2. What caused the massive destruction in Haiti?
3. What does the term "makeshift camp" mean?
Discussion Questions
1. Because Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, what are some of the challenges they face during the rebuilding process that wealthier countries might not face?
2. After watching the video, do you think Haiti's rebuilding process is too slow, or is it on par with what could only be expected from a poor country? What do you think could help speed up the process?
3. Can you name a natural disaster such as an earthquake, hurricane or blizzard that has happened in the United States? How has this country bounced back from it?
Additional Resources
In Haiti, Amputees Face Different Kind of Healing
Q&A: Haiti's Rebuilding Challenges Four Months After Quake
