ABSTRACT
January 2010: Yet another natural disaster has struck. This time it is an earthquake in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Approximately 250,000 people died and many more were horribly injured. About 245,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged beyond repair along with severe disruptions to livelihoods, communities, and most of the government. The quake registered 7.0 on the Richter scale, classifying it as a “major” earthquake. Other earthquakes have been as strong but not as destructive. Why? Unfortunately for the Haitian people, this catastrophe is a perfect example of the confluence of nature, politics, economics, and media. The physical destruction was compounded by deep poverty, lack of infrastructure, and absence of internal political leadership. Outside assistance was hampered by impassable roads and the lack of medicines or shelter. Wall-to-wall media coverage gave us gripping pictures and accounts of death, destruction, and survival against the odds, helping us see the visible disaster but not always helping us understand the social implications. Even long after the quake itself, there is little rebuilding in Haiti, cultural touchstones such as its world-famous art have suffered, and women experience brutal sexual violence in insecure shelters. How to make sense of this disaster? How does such a poor country exist in the midst of affluence? What can we learn about the developing world to help us understand the fault line that is Haiti? And how does Haiti inform us about the crises in the rest of the developing world?
