One year later, Haiti still is a mess, and too many of its people continue to mourn. The anniversary this month of the devastating earthquake that killed perhaps a quarter of a million people or more is a good opportunity for the world, including so many Utahns who donated generously, to rededicate themselves to bringing the nation back to a normal sense of civilization and an opportunity to progress.
Few places on Earth would have had as difficult a time emerging from an earthquake. Chile, which also suffered a devastating temblor in 2010 has, according to media reports, made considerable progress toward recovery, although much remains to be done. In Haiti, however, only 5 percent of the rubble has been removed. At least 810,000 people still have to sleep outdoors, and more than 1,100 tent cities still house victims, according to the New York Times. A cholera epidemic has infected hundreds of thousands.
Much of this has to do with how Haiti, even before the quake, was a dysfunctional nation filled with extreme poverty. But those conditions were exacerbated by the fact that 40 percent of the nation's civil service employees died when government buildings collapsed. The resulting leadership chaos, followed by a disputed presidential election that led to riots, slowed the world's relief efforts, including that of a highly publicized commission led by former President Bill Clinton, to a frustrating snail's pace.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns this newspaper, has done much good and is committed to helping Haiti for as long as necessary, but it, too, has been hampered by Haitian bureaucratic problems and mountains of rubble. Still, the church has placed hundreds of people in employment and moved many more from tents to more permanent shelters, following on the initial emergency medical aid it helped provide. Many Utahns volunteered through these and other efforts to provide relief, and others succeeded in adopting children made orphans by the disaster. But so much more remains to be done.
The New York Times recently quoted the British charity organization Oxfam as saying only 15 percent of the needed transitional shelters have been built during a 12-month period it called a "year of indecision."
The good news is that 2011 promises to be better. Once the Clinton commission is given total authority by the government to coordinate the efforts of government and non-governmental relief agencies, real progress can begin. Haiti has many long-term problems that have plagued its government and economy for years. But it cannot hope to address these until it first recovers from last year's devastating earthquake, and it can't do that without the world's help.