"Al Jazeera Correspondent" - Haiti: After the Quake
September 17, 2011 http://www.commondreams.org/video/2011/09/17
Published on Saturday, September 17, 2011 by Al Jazeera Correspondent
Al Jazeera's Sebastian Walker asks why a system that was designed to help Haitians ended up exacerbating their misery.
Al Jazeera's Sebastian Walker was sent to Haiti to cover the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that rocked the tiny island nation in January 2010. His assignment was to last two weeks, but he was there for more than a year.
He saw firsthand how Haitians dug up their dead from the rubble with their bare hands. He witnessed people struggling to recover from an earthquake, violent weather and disease. Millions throughout the country were made homeless.
More than a year later, millions of Haitians are still living in makeshift camps, cholera has become an epidemic and the aid money has run out. Many Haitians feel abandoned after one of the most tragic chapters in the country's history.
Sebastian Walker revisits many of the people he met at a time when Haiti was deep in crisis to examine how the country has coped since the earthquake struck. Where have things gone wrong since the international community promised to 'build Haiti back, better'?
This film examines why a system that was designed to help actually ended up exacerbating the misery and how aid efforts created a state of over-dependence.
© 2011 Aljazeera.net
