Humanitarian aid is something that has been going on for a long time. Everyone seems to be involved with it for some reason or another. Many people are involved in it for selfish reasons, and many have pure motives but will stick hurt things and others still may actually be helping. The situation in Haiti is very unique because of the lack of infrastructure here to accommodate the type of aid that is available. Chris and I are running into walls left and right simply trying to get our hands on some of the craploads of food that we know is here and some trucks to get it to the right people. So we’ve been doing some reading and researching, here are some of the links and helpful resources I have found so far in helping better explain what is happening.
Aid Worker Daily Friendfeed – list of links and articles
This article was excellent and perfectly explains all the problems we are running into The unique challenges of #Haiti’s emergency logistics. Her understanding of the whole process is great, here is how she starts.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and ranks 148th of 179 countries on the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index. Prior to the disaster, out of approximately 8.5 million Haitians, one million was already dependent on foreign aid.
and
The speed and scale of the US’s response to the disaster in terms of funds, goods and military support is unprecedented. This is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing as the US military will have the means to reestablish a safe and secure environment for humanitarian organizations to operate in and bridge the command and resource gap left behind by the Haitian government. It is a curse as with its huge resources it will dominate the relief effort, overshadowing others, and monopolize the use of the limited logistics assets as exemplified by the current ‘exclusive’ use of the Haitian airspace.
Dan linked to this article a few days ago, which speaks into a lot of the politics about while USA and other countries are getting so involved.
I don’t have much time on the internet here, mostly limited to my status updates occasionally, so if you have read anything else or have access to information that might be helpful for us, send it over, I’m sure there is lots I’m missing.
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