Environmental Issues

It was on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, at exactly 453pm when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck in Haitian coast which is off the countrys capital of Port-au-Prince. Estimates according to International Red Cross put the figures of the number of people affected by the quake at a third of the Haiti population and the estimated number of deaths at 200,000 people. Weak structures and thousands of homes have been destroyed in the country. These include places such as major landmarks, hospitals, schools, and even the presidential palace has not been spared by the quake.

This disaster has swept the world almost the same way as the 2004 earthquake that struck Indonesia and leading to a series of Tsunami which raced through the Indian Ocean and affecting millions of people. A lot of money has been donated to several Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs) and this aid is being used to bring emergency food, medical aid, and temporary shelter to the people of Haiti. It is going to take millions of dollars to help save life of the affected population in the country. It is evident that material solution is necessary for Haiti, but people should not ignore that money alone can be the only solution to the problems of Haiti.

The first solution to the problems of Haiti could be development of a broad agrarian acre and this is what could take them to their final destiny. When NGOs and churches come in, they will only build the same structures that existed before and this will not help these people. Many people living in the cities are moving to the country side where is less destroyed and populated. This is where people can get the solution where there are hills and valleys. This wide land is suitable for agriculture and is also self sustaining agro-ecosystem and this could bring self reliance and empowerment to the people of Haiti. Haiti had an agrarian society before and this could make the citizens live in a paradise once again. The country has lived from slavery to a capitalist colonization and this has made the island to live under siege for many centuries and even though this agrarian culture may be long gone, it can be reinstituted within the culture since the knowledge is still there and it can also be redeveloped. This will help in rebuilding a society that can depend on its locally supplied foods and sustainable agriculture. These small scale individual farming within the community could support restoration of agriculture. The country can restore its soil by stopping soil erosion while at the same time reclaim its culture from destitute to sustainable independence (Jeffery 2010).

There is another solution that is going for further research by students who are developing a solar power with the aim of creating a sustainable solution for Haiti. These students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are returning to Peru where they are going to continue their work on designing and creating a milk pasteurization system that is solar-powered and this will help communities in the rural settings with preservation of milk (Tracy 2010). This will help the population in preserving milk and this will ensure that there is food security in these rural areas especially the rural south country.

Another solution to the country is the foreign aid. Currently there are more than 10,000 PVOs working in Haiti. Lots of money is coming into the country for the help of these millions of destitute in the country. Large amounts of aid are also coming from national embassies around the world with the aim of helping people who were affected by the quake. The world has increased the amount of aid to Haiti in the recent years and the aid to Haiti by 2009 912 million from 580 million in 2006.Haitians living abroad is also at the forefront of helping their people in Haiti. Despite this large numbers of NPOs in Haiti and the billions of dollars being donated to these people, the country is still very poor and can not support itself.