The latest estimated death toll from Haiti’s recent earthquake is
212,000, according Haiti’s prime minister. The United Nations has
reported that more than 300,000 are injured and three million have been
affected worldwide by the earthquake.
As the Haitian earthquake approaches its two-month anniversary, the
world’s attention has shifted, burying the country’s continuing crisis
in our minds deeper than the rubble covering its streets.
It is important that not forget about Haiti because the hardest work
usually starts after weeks or months, when “most of the news crews have
left,” according to UNICEF.
Paul Thompson, a disaster man- agement expert from InterWorks, said
although there are hundreds of NGOs supporting emergency shelter in
Haiti, the international media cov- erage on Haiti has already declined.
“It used to be on the front page every day for two and a half weeks, and
now it has shifted to the inside. It’s not even a daily news story
anymore,” Thompson said. “But in fact,
the crisis will continue for a long time and get worse in some respects
because the rainy season is now starting.”
Thompson said the hurricane season in Haiti usually lasts from June
through October, which could bring another disaster to Haitians living
under streets and parks that became flooded and turn into mud.
Some UW-Madison students are worrying that so many Haitians in need will
be forgotten once again.
UW-Madison graduate student Gergens Polynice, whose home country is
Haiti and who was in Haiti hours before the earthquake, said he felt
news coverage on Haiti has become less prominent and that Haiti will
have to manage the country on its own.
“Every news story dies down at one point. It’s now up to the Haitian
leadership to take matters into their own hands,” Polynice said. “Having
hope in other people and other countries, I really think, is a false
hope because peo- ple’s emotions will die down when Haiti is not the
headline news.”
According to Thompson, the decline in awareness after a natural disaster
is a result of the media’s attention turning to other news stories.
“It’s pretty universal that a community at large, or international
community, forgets about the disaster,” Thompson said.
Thompson explained it is expensive and inconvenient to rebuild more
stable homes, even if that means families must live for years in houses
that have been destroyed by the earthquake.
“But even local people do not learn the lesson from the past disaster,”
he said.
A Turning Point
Polynice said although the earthquake was a terrible tragedy,
it may serve as a turning point to bring the country toward a better
education system, alternative energy sources, infrastructure
improvements and international policy discussions. But he is worried
people will soon hear nothing about rebuilding the devastated island and
forget his people.
“Overall [the support] has been positive but I’m hoping there could be a
consensus where all of these efforts are not vain and some of these
[Haitian’s] lives could be changed for the best,” Polynice said.
Polynice currently works on a small water purification plan with a group
called Polyultra. He sees this as a way of helping Haitians in the long
run because he said the water purification program is more cost-
effective than transporting water from outside of the country.
Moreover, some of the profits from the project go to education
scholarships for Haitian children because the majority of schools in
Haiti are private even though most people live in poverty.
Polynice’s family members are all safe, but he is planning to go back to
Haiti next month to give more support. He hopes to bring clean water
and provide irrigation systems to Haitian farmers.
“While the headlines about Haiti go away, which is expected, there are
caring people who are still very much involved in helping the Haitian
community,” Polynice said. “I appreciate all the UW students for their
overwhelming response to the earthquake in Haiti.”
To Haiti, From Wisconsin
UW students and community have responded to the destruction in Haiti by
raising awareness of Haitian relief efforts and donating thousands of
dollars to the Red Cross through various individual efforts and student
organization events.
“It’s just terrible and sad that sometimes it takes something of this
magnitude to encourage people to want to help,” UW- Madison senior
Lauren Cohen said. “People need to continue or this story is going to
die. I feel like it already has.”
Cohen and three other UW- Madison students, Anna Misheev, Molly Bennett
and Brittney Green, organized a Haiti relief bake sale at Lucky
Apartments on Jan. 28.
“When tragedy strikes, it is every person’s moral responsibility to get
out there,” Misheev said. “It may be hard sometimes to do something on
your own, so to recruit your friends and do some- thing as a group is an
ideal way to help others.”
The bake sale was a collabora- tion among friends, residents and local
businesses. Fresh Madison Market, Starbucks and Einstein Bros. Bagels
also donated cup- cakes, coffee and bagels to the girls’ bake sale. In
total, they raised a total of $775 for the Red Cross.
Another way the campus joined relief efforts was through the Haiti Day
of Action. The event took place on the same day as the bake sale. It was
arranged by the Associated Students of Madison along with the Wisconsin
Student Public Interest Research Group, and included several student
orga- nizations as well as a local busi- ness, Zander’s Capitol Grill.
The day was an opportunity for the campus to work together and show
support for Haiti. Zander’s, located on State Street, placed a donation
box in the restaurant to raise money.
Following the daylong event, the university’s student radio station,
WSUM, hosted a dance party with a $5 donation for the Red Cross at the
door.
According to ASM Vice Chair Tom Templeton, the event raised over $7,000
throughout the day.
“I thought [the Haiti Day of Action] was great. I think we showed that
students are con- cerned and interested in giving back and being able to
aid a country in need,” Templeton said.
Colleen Rooney, a WISPIRG coordinator who participated in the Day of
Action, said student organizations’ support for Haiti has declined but
WISPIRG and ASM are still trying to raise awareness to keep up the
relief efforts.
What’s Next?
Rooney said ASM and WISPIRG plan to form a committee that will work
toward Haiti relief efforts and that anyone can get involved in.
Students can also get involved by donating money to the UW-Madison
Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Haiti Program, which is dedicated to
improving Haitians’ lives by repair- ing bridges, roads and water pipes.
Several EWB members went to Bayonnais, a city in Haiti, prior to the
earthquake for an assessment trip to build a pipeline to provide
drinking water. They had to escape when the earthquake hit the country,
but the team is planning to go back to Haiti sometime in June.
Eyleen Chou, president of EWB, said it is understandable people are
paying less attention one month after the catastrophe, but she hopes
that people will still try to learn about Haiti.
“I hope that people try to con- tribute to some recovery effort proj-
ects to help the country to recover from bottom up,” Chou said.
“[Engineers Without Borders] will be supporting the community in any way
we can, especially in rural villages and we will be supporting them
with sending money.”
Thompson said continued support is “indespensible.”
“[Student participation] is extremely important, because this campus is
huge,” Rooney said. “There are over 40,000 students that go here, and we
have an opportunity to get so many students involved. The more students
we can get involved, the bigger difference we can make.”
