Haiti Needs More...

Being a journalist working in Toronto, I could have easily written this blog on the tragedy that befell Toronto Police Sergeant Ryan Russell who was killed when a man stole a snow plow, and ran him over.

Being a journalist in Canada, I could have easily written this blog about how those young Mounties killed in Mayerthorpe, Alberta were not as green as we were lead to believe.

But Haiti has been forgotten long enough. And I don't mean for just the last 365 days.

It's been one year since a devastating earthquake hit the Caribbean nation, killing thousands, many more injured, and even more still killed after a cholera epidemic.

Many people, watching their high-definition TV's during the past week, have been reminded of the catastrophe, and wonder, why isn't everything fixed? We donated billions of dollars! Surely that small country should be back on its feet by now.'

So what is the answer?

Some people believe political corruption is to blame, others would tell you the country sustained more damage than it could fix in one year.

But the answer lies deeper.

The truth is, Haiti has been a 'charity case,' long before January 12th, 2010.

Donations have poured into that country, as the nation's poor have long been left in the cold by the government. Money in the country has been used to keep those in power in power. Keeping their eyes closed to the poor, and letting gangs run free, the country has been in trouble for a long time.

They haven't been able to keep young people in the country to improve their lot either.

75% of those who are educated in Haiti leave for the bright lights of the US, or elsewhere. The ones who are left, remain uneducated and poor; usually living in squalors that aren't much better than the tent city's they live in now.

Which brings us back to the present. Where has the money gone? Is it being stolen by local gangs? Are the Red Cross and United Nations dragging their collective feet? Are the politicians using the money to keep themselves and their allies rich?

I don't have the answer, but I can tell you this.

They lie much deeper than the rubble in the streets of Port au Prince.