We have recently finished watching the film, The Quake and the obvious next question is "What should be done?". Please read the comments from others who have seen the film and evaluate their contributions. Which comments do you agree with? Which comments provided new information that you did not know before? Which comments seem off base? Below in the comments section, cut and paste a portion of a comment that you think we as a class should discuss, then tell why.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haiti/talk/
Then, if you finish early, see how well you can prepare for an earthquake at: http://www.stopdisastersgame.org/en/home.html
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ReplyDeleteI was in Haiti as a RN in February--what I saw and did changed my life forever!! The Haitian people are such wonderful loving people who can not say THANK YOU enough for what we have done for them--
ReplyDeleteI can not wait to go back. This video is so moving--I have ordered itCATHY DAVIES Apr 5, 2010 12:37
Read more: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haiti/talk/#ixzz1p6Jk48Di
- This shows that people who help volunteer has a life changing experience. Helping others can lead people to helping with bigger things and events.
After seeing the video I decided that i will start savings acount for the people of hatiti.Your President did not spring into action as George Washington Bush did not to the city of New Orleans.WE are in deep prayer for you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this comment because its true. Sometimes the government doesn't do enough when disaster strikes a country. Like when Hurricane Katrina came, the presidant barley did anything. New Orleans still isn't fully re-built. Same for Haiti when the earthquake came their president barley helped them out and its still not re-built. I also think its good that people are trying to donate their own money and time.
The world needs an organization to deal with disasters, "The Word Disaster Fund", not the UN, not outside NGOs. Too often when there is a calamitous event there are reports of mismanagement, funds that don't get used and massive corruption. We need a better model. Disasters have been increasing and will increase more and unless the world bands together soon to put in place a relief infrastructure, things will only get worse. I fear what would happen if a major disaster hit somewhere in the "first world" with its multi-levels of bureaucracies. Now THAT would be a disaster of monumental proportions!
ReplyDeleteI chose this comment because i believe that there should be an orginization seprate from the UN and not have to deal with bueracracy or polotics that come with aiding a country. The orginizations main goal should be to help the people in that country and not support their own agenda.
I was there before, during and after the quake. It was unimaginably horrific. I drove thru the airport and saw tons of supplies sitting there, doing nothing. Thank God no one tried to "coordinate" supplies brought in by small groups thru the Dominican --- those were all that sustained us while the big NGOs were in meetings, arguing about who would do what. My friend asked UNICEF to help some young teenagers in her neighborhood who were caring for their small siblings because their parents had been killed in the quake. They had no home, no adults to care for them. UNICEF took their names and did nothing else. Haiti's problems are complex and multi-faceted. The greatest culprit is the greed, corruption and laziness of the government. Foreign countries sending aid to Haiti are well aware that a certain amount will be skimmed off the top for the government and the elite: they do nothing to stop it. Elite Haitians own most of the land: they are not willing to part with it to help their countrymen. "The Strong" care only about themselves. "The Weak", the vast majority of Haitian people, are not at fault: they try hard to live quietly and decently in an impossible situation. Many times I have seen Haitian doctors refuse offers of help because of their pride: they will not accept that they do not know everything. Pride is good but only when tempered with humility. Strength is great but only when coupled with compassion. The Haitian government is bypassed by NGOs because of corruption in the government. NGOs are ineffectual when they get so large and powerful that any action must be approved by many layers of authority. Those at the top do not relate to those on the front lines. The UN doesn't want Haitian children in orphanages or given to foreign adoptions but many Haitian families don't want to raise their children themselves. Who loses? The children. Solutions are not simple. PBS gave a balanced view of a complex situation. GOD is the only answer. I pray for HIS guidance for all of us who are working to improve the lives of these very oppressed people.
ReplyDeleteI chose this comment because its pretty much exposing the things that are left unaddressed. The speaking was speaking from experimence, when he went to Haiti, he witnessed it himself, which creates his credibility.
It is beyond irritating to still hear about lack of sanitation for the tent cities. What has the Haitian gov., UN and NGOs been doing?? Even on tonight's Frontline there was still the same comments from people there about NO sanitation and the rains are coming.
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't/didn'tanyone ask what is being done about this to high officials?? Such passivity and irresponsibility.
Read more: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haiti/talk/#ixzz1p6LNoF7t
I chose this comment because the commenter felt passionate about the people in Haiti.
Although they bring up good points, it’s almost as though they haven’t grasp the latent meaning of everything. They talk about how the government, UN, and NGO did nothing about these things, but there at 9 million people out there. Even though it took time, they were still trying to get everything in, organization was just missing.
The NGO aren’t governmentally run and does what they can for people who need it. Certain NGO groups even took it upon themselves to give the patient their food and supplies because other people weren’t coming in to give it. (that can be the bad of both government, and the people of Haiti who knew there were suffering citizens in tent hospital).
Even in the film, it was apparent that the government of Haiti was at a loss for words and didn’t understand or know what to do. Perhaps even you can say the UN wanted to help, yet, you have to take in the consideration that their own people died and their headquarters was ruined. You can only do so many things without the resources (as seem by the Haiti people themselves). They even had to replace and move people that they loss. (I think they said that someone died in the crash and a new guy ended up replacing him).
Also, about the part where they talk on the people whose basically doing nothing, it’s ironic to mention that because they are basically sitting at their own computer doing nothing, but yelling at other people. Perhaps before saying that people were irresponsible, the majority of their knowledge was probably only based upon the film. Although you can tell that they are passionate about the issue, they’re still attacking it in a bad way.
Thank you so much frontline PBS for such an incredible story about Haiti. I am from Africa and was just amazed by the lack of Africa nations participation in the wake of the disaster. Apart from Senegal that offered to resettle the displaced, nothing came from Africa. This is largely because African nations think its not their job to respond. Rather its their duty to wait and have someone respond on them. In a way we have African nations just seated somewhere waiting for the big brother (USA, Canada, EU, Japan, Russia, Brazil, China and Israel) to respond. Of course everyone does not expect Africa to respond in a big way, but how about even sending volunteer rescue missions.
ReplyDeleteAnother aspect is while the international community was responding to a natural humanitarian disaster, in most of African nation, the response is about responding to political and man made crisis. How can we in Africa explain about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Rwandan genocide, the Kenyan post election violence and the synonymous macabre of violence in Somalia that takes new dimension every time. I think the Haiti crisis was a wake up call to African nations to get their acts together, by being responsible as human beings and take charge of their affairs. International community should be left to respond to natural disaster like Tsunami, earthquakes etc and not man-made political crisis that plague Africa.
It is a high time for the International community to start responding to African man-made crisis by carrot and stick. Move in for the sake of the innocent civilians but ensure engineers behind the crisis face the full wrath as a result of their consequences.
I chose this comment because Frank feels that african nations are too dependent on other nations to help them out.Frank thinks this is wrong and he talks aboput the carrot and stick thing.AFrica should step up and become a nation like the americans and people.
TROLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
DeleteI think it has to do more with money and power. People who want to make a change are not powerful enough and those who don't care rule the country. My question is what is the most effective solution to these problems. How can we confidently say "NEVER AGAIN" for any man-made or natural catastrophe in future. We have said this a gazillion times in the past yet we fail AGAIN & AGAIN.
ReplyDeleteI chose this comment because I agrree with this person when they say that many people in power do not care to help while those who are passionate about helping are unable to make a signifigant imapact because of their lack of power.
BTW...I still believe the world is surreptitiously punishing Haiti because of the "awful" crime of being the first black free nation in the West. France forced the Haitian gov't to pay an indemnity if they wanted to stay a free nation. The U.S. placed an embargo and the list goes on.
ReplyDeleteRead more: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haiti/talk/#ixzz1p6Oi4tHO
i chose this quote because i think its completely irrevelevant and a biased thing to say if it were true the u.s wouldnt help haiti at all. we sent in supplies and relief methods. also doctotres and nurses to complete amputations and provide food supply. if we were holding a grudge none of these efforts would be made.
"
ReplyDeleteProblem of Haiti is its population and specifically the population explosion that can’t be sustained. I have no compassion for people who multiply irresponsibly and then expect others to feed and house them.
In turn they occupy other people's land and cry about discrimination and not being wanted. The example of one woman who complained to the Frontline how to feed her seven children demonstrates the core of the problem."
This is not the problem. The problem is Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. I find it pretty ridiculous how these people aren't concern about the wellness of the Haitians. They're more concerened about how the Haitians sort of rely on others to feed and clothe them. That's selfish.
“It’s funny when people like who never visit or learn about Haiti history think they are expert on a country based on the lies the media constantly feeding them.
ReplyDeleteThe media is missing a valuable opportunity to explain why Haiti is so poor. Once again, Americans are receiving a hefty dose of misinformation. They are learning that Haiti is simply a poor country where bad things happen all the time. Always blaming the Haitians by making them look like savages or portray their government as week and ineffective. The media does nothing but reinforce bias and racism toward other countries. They have always been irresponsible and bias when it comes to Haiti and their irresponsibility has contributed to Haiti's misery. The focus on poverty, with the repeated tagline "the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere" and references to crime and unrest, make it hard for viewers to imagine any other aspect of life in Haiti.”
Read more: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haiti/talk/#ixzz1p6LzpdU9
This comment really stood out from the rest, not only because it happened to be the longest comment that I saw, but also the amount of a sort of hatred this person had. This person constantly attacked the US government for its role in making Haiti so ill-prepared for the disaster. By placing tariffs on Haiti’s exports as well as introducing US subsidized imports, the US government completely destroyed the Haitian agriculture and forced them to move to cities, overcrowding them. This person also attacked the documentary as well as the viewers who seem were awestruck by the information in the documentary. He blasted his hate/dislike for the “misinformation” conveyed. He stated that the documentary was full of “misinformation,” that it lacked sufficient evidence of the situation at hand because some information was left out. It was pretty obvious by the comment that this individual had done their research in this subject, so their argument does hold some ground. But it is not okay for that person to attack others for their opinions. Yes there were things left out, but the documentary’s purpose is to shed light onto a matter that is most pressing at the time. Though I do agree with the fact that more information about Haiti’s past could’ve been added to the documentary, I do not agree with this person’s tactics by attacking the documentary. This person seems angry at the US government and is venting his anger by anonymously commenting on another website.
Next time build your houses without 10 ton concrete roofs. Go back to the straw and earth huts. Haiti has alot of potential for agriculture and its in a ideal trading position with other countries. Maybe Haiti would be better off occupied as slaves in order to get anything done cause the government sure can't and the people all want to kill each other instead of work together.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to express my thoughts to such a comment, not exactly sure if this person is speaking on a positive note rather than negative. In a way it seems as if he/she is trying to humor the haitian ways of how they do/ build things. But at the end of his/her comment it actually proves a point of how they rather fight each other than work together. I don't agree with haiti becoming/ being occupied as slaves, but I do agree with them working together rather than fighting for something they all need.
"Thank you so much frontline PBS for such an incredible story about Haiti. I am from Africa and was just amazed by the lack of Africa nations participation in the wake of the disaster. Apart from Senegal that offered to resettle the displaced, nothing came from Africa. This is largely because African nations think its not their job to respond. Rather its their duty to wait and have someone respond on them. In a way we have African nations just seated somewhere waiting for the big brother (USA, Canada, EU, Japan, Russia, Brazil, China and Israel) to respond. Of course everyone does not expect Africa to respond in a big way, but how about even sending volunteer rescue missions.
ReplyDeleteAnother aspect is while the international community was responding to a natural humanitarian disaster, in most of African nation, the response is about responding to political and man made crisis. How can we in Africa explain about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Rwandan genocide, the Kenyan post election violence and the synonymous macabre of violence in Somalia that takes new dimension every time. I think the Haiti crisis was a wake up call to African nations to get their acts together, by being responsible as human beings and take charge of their affairs. International community should be left to respond to natural disaster like Tsunami, earthquakes etc and not man-made political crisis that plague Africa.
It is a high time for the International community to start responding to African man-made crisis by carrot and stick. Move in for the sake of the innocent civilians but ensure engineers behind the crisis face the full wrath as a result of their consequences."
This was a comment posted by an African man named Frank. I kind of agree with him. Haiti needs to stop relying on other countries to help them. They are to dependent on other countries. They need to rebuld their government. They need to think about their future. What if there was another disaster? What if other countries were'nt there to help? What will they do?
They need a stronger government with a better president. They need a president who will step up his game and help his people right after the disaster. They also need to put the kids first because the kids are their future.
If the Haitian government can't take over/ control their own people and other countries can, why not let us take over? They basically depend on us to respond to their needs. We're basically their saviors, so why not make us their government? I think that if the United States became part of the Haitian government then more would get done. Other countries help little by little because the smallest amount of food, water, supplies, aid, etc. can make a huge difference!
I had to stop watching because I was so disturbed. It is hard to believe that such appalling horror, suffering, injustice, and corruption exists in the world and how bad the situation continues to be in Haiti. I don't know how we can call ourselves human and allow this to go on. What can I personally do about it? I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this statement. Theres still a lot of help that could be brought to Haiti and money isn't the only resource that they need. The film was very graphic and real. I didm't think this was the aftermath of the earthquake.
I was there before, during and after the quake. It was unimaginably horrific. I drove thru the airport and saw tons of supplies sitting there, doing nothing. Thank God no one tried to "coordinate" supplies brought in by small groups thru the Dominican --- those were all that sustained us while the big NGOs were in meetings, arguing about who would do what. My friend asked UNICEF to help some young teenagers in her neighborhood who were caring for their small siblings because their parents had been killed in the quake. They had no home, no adults to care for them. UNICEF took their names and did nothing else. Haiti's problems are complex and multi-faceted. The greatest culprit is the greed, corruption and laziness of the government. Foreign countries sending aid to Haiti are well aware that a certain amount will be skimmed off the top for the government and the elite: they do nothing to stop it. Elite Haitians own most of the land: they are not willing to part with it to help their countrymen. "The Strong" care only about themselves. "The Weak", the vast majority of Haitian people, are not at fault: they try hard to live quietly and decently in an impossible situation. Many times I have seen Haitian doctors refuse offers of help because of their pride: they will not accept that they do not know everything. Pride is good but only when tempered with humility. Strength is great but only when coupled with compassion. The Haitian government is bypassed by NGOs because of corruption in the government. NGOs are ineffectual when they get so large and powerful that any action must be approved by many layers of authority. Those at the top do not relate to those on the front lines. The UN doesn't want Haitian children in orphanages or given to foreign adoptions but many Haitian families don't want to raise their children themselves. Who loses? The children. Solutions are not simple.
ReplyDeleteDorothy Pearce Apr 2, 2010 16:04
Read more: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haiti/talk/#ixzz1p6NhTySf
I decided to post this comment because I strongly agree that most of the Haitian citizens who were not in power were trying to live decent lives and that the "elite" did not care as much as they should. More needed to be done for the people who lost their families, more specifically, the children. I am not sure if local doctors were actually denying help from foreigners, but I think that that is not a very smart thing to do. Given the situation, personal pride is not something that really needs to be worried about when it comes to helping others. But, again, I am not sure if that was actually true. But this comment may be somewhat reliable if this person was indeed in Haiti when the quake happened.
the above was posted by Raishon Daniels
ReplyDeleteI had to stop watching because I was so disturbed. It is hard to believe that such appalling horror, suffering, injustice, and corruption exists in the world and how bad the situation continues to be in Haiti. I don't know how we can call ourselves human and allow this to go on. What can I personally do about it? I don't know.
ReplyDeleteRead more: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haiti/talk/#ixzz1p6N0fKr3
I chose this comment because it shows that people do care about what is going on in other countries. How a disaster can change peoples perspective on the world.
My Haitian captain "Ever" who was with me the first two trips, lost his wife and 3 year old daughter in the quake. As of yet, now over two and a half months, the bodies have not been recoveed from the four story building that collapsed and buried not only his family but at least 10 other people. The body recovery efforts were directed to the buildings in the heart of the city and not the outlying areas. With the rainy season about to begin soon, the problem now is the contamination of the water and desease attributed to the flooding. I dodn't see where the living standards of the people will change because of the humanitarien efforts now being provided. The people of Haiti will continue to live as before.
ReplyDeleteRead more: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haiti/talk/#ixzz1p6Lru0sa
I agree with the sanitation section of it. Bodies will create deisease which will negatively effect the living. As for Haiti rebuilding itself, I believe that this will be Haiti's wake up call.
Francis Kamara march 14,2012
ReplyDeleteNext time build your houses without 10 ton concrete roofs. Go back to the straw and earth huts. Haiti has alot of potential for agriculture and its in a ideal trading position with other countries. Maybe Haiti would be better off occupied as slaves in order to get anything done cause the government sure can't and the people all want to kill each other instead of work together.Thoams Mar 31, 2010 03:01
i chose this comment because I disagree with this in ever ways, com on, how you going to say “Next time build your houses without 10 ton concrete roofs” when most of this people are poor and not educated. they us there last cent to building house to support there family with the best intention plus with out the help of the government, but don’t put all the blame on the government because it not an easy job when the people are not working together hand to hand with the government but want the government to be powerful. It will be best if the U.N teach them how to fish and let them be
Francis Kamara march 14,2012
ReplyDeleteNext time build your houses without 10 ton concrete roofs. Go back to the straw and earth huts. Haiti has alot of potential for agriculture and its in a ideal trading position with other countries. Maybe Haiti would be better off occupied as slaves in order to get anything done cause the government sure can't and the people all want to kill each other instead of work together.Thoams Mar 31, 2010 03:01
i chose this comment because I disagree with this in ever ways, com on, how you going to say “Next time build your houses without 10 ton concrete roofs” when most of this people are poor and not educated. they us there last cent to building house to support there family with the best intention plus with out the help of the government, but don’t put all the blame on the government because it not an easy job when the people are not working together hand to hand with the government but want the government to be powerful. It will be best if the U.N teach them how to fish and let them be
Haiti needs aid for recovery, and rebuilding, not military occupation. The UN occupation of Haiti must end.
ReplyDeleteThe international community must end indirect aid to Haiti.
Foreign Aid/loans should go to Haiti directly to build its infrastructure, not the churches and the NGO false charity industry imposed on Haiti. They must support and respect Haitian sovereignty, not boost NGO profits and power in Haiti.
They must support community organizing, community policing, transparency and participatory democracy.
Haiti's largest political party can’t continue to be banned from participating in elections as has happened in Haiti ever since the 2004 Bush Regime change and UN/US/Canada/France occupation began.
Respect Haitian human rights and dignity. Stop criminalizing the poor in Haiti.
NGOs like charities and international aid groups are extremely powerful in Haiti - they too must respect the human dignity and human rights of all people.
Relief, rebuilding and redevelopment should be designed by Haitians and their collaborators, not USAID, the UN or the “international community.”
Reform USAID policy, international agencies and the over 10,000 NGOs over Haiti. Their grip must be loosened if a new paradigm is to be installed for the people of Haiti that promotes Haitian self-reliance not Haitian dependency
USAID has a history of mistreating the Haitian majority, feeding dependency, starving democracy, promoting the neoliberal death plan that contains-Haiti-in-poverty and creating and financing the anti-democratic sector that excludes, impoverishes and terrorize Haiti's majority.
End free trade, began fair trade.
Support domestic food production, indigenous Haiti manufacturing and job creation. Stop IFIs policies that limit social spending, require that Haiti remove tariffs on food and other imports, privatize public enterprises, exempt foreign investors from taxes on their profits. Support grassroots, indigenous Haiti capacity building organizations.
Read more: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/haiti/talk/#ixzz1pC
The Haitian government and citizens need to stop reling on other peope/organizations outside the country and come as one. NGOs must stop giving direct help to haiti. They need to stop giving Haiti "the fish" and start teaching them HOW to "fish". Help Haiti build jobs for haitian citizens, fix the currupt government, ect.