Haiti's devastation

The earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, has more than devastated the landscape and its people.

I have been in countries affected by natural disasters such as quakes, storms, floods, and tsunamis, but this earthquake must be one of the worst, if not the worst, in history.

Last year I was in Banda Aceh in Indonesia to assess the rebuilding efforts after the 2004 tsunami - 5 years had made a significant difference in the area's reconstruction. However, the local government infrastructure in Banda Aceh had not been affected.

In Haiti, the local government structure of many towns has been totally gutted - completely devastated - to the point where they are no public services available.

The foundations (physically and socially) were not strong to begin with -Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. This will inevitably lead to an exceptionally long process of rebuilding. But before rebuilding can start, there needs to be a great deal of emergency care first.

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