News from Haiti
60 Minutes Report from 1/17.
Washington Post Coverage
Also Google CNN, Fox or other networks for news and video reports.
Optional Response for Periods 5 & 6
Possible topics to discuss:
What were your thoughts as you viewed the death and destruction in Haiti?
How do you view America's response during this first week?
What should our long term commitments be?
Should the US allow increased Haitian immigration?
You may comment on these, or any other aspect of this disaster you wish.
20 comments:
We are truly in a bad situation as far as dealing with the tragedy in Haiti. As a leading world power, we have the responsibility to respond when the world is in crisis. But, as we are in both a two-front war and an economic recession, we have to consider the right form of action. We have sent troops, as well as naval vessels to help deal with the destruction caused by the earthquake. But today was a reminder that keeping these troops in Haiti could be a bad idea. With a 6.1 magnitude earthquake following the first one, keeping troops in Haiti could cause more Americans to die, something that I know the American people don’t want. We should help with the initial aid of this destructed country, but as a country, we should seriously consider pulling out for the long term, because I don’t feel we have the resources to stay there long.
Erica Meister-
I can not imagine what Haiti is going through after this earthquake. They had almost nothing to begin with but now they literally have nothing. The death and destruction in Haiti made me think about how we are so lucky to at least have a country that can provide for itself when a natural disaster strikes. For example, with hurricane Katrina no one really helped us out but ourselves. Seeing the dead bodies everywhere, the collapsed buildings, the hospitals and their medical supplies, and many other things made me feel very sorry for Haiti and makes me want to help out. The dead bodies have to be buried in mass graves and they have little supplies to perform proper surgical procedures. I knew a little about what Haiti was like due to my cousin who was there during the earthquake. She is a missionary for one of the children's orphanages in Haiti. She described how there were dead bodies everywhere and how the Haitians have no food, water, or anything at all. What their going through is worse then we can imagine. Thankfully, my cousin got home safely from Haiti since they wanted her out of there.
America's response during the first week i think is that they are just trying to do their best. It's hard for them to spread out the supplies since some areas of the island are inaccessible such as their docking stations for the boats. I think we are trying to help out Haiti as much as we can even though our country has its own problems. I think our country should help Haiti short term, as in right now, and think later on about long term action because Haiti didn't have much before and they have nothing now. Their unemployment rate was way down and almost everyone in Haiti was living in poverty. After we help them up onto their feet, what are they going to do after that? I think it's best so far to focus on the present now to help the people of Haiti get back onto their feet and start their lives over again instead of trying to plan what to do in the future since our own country also problems that need to be dealt with. Overall, I feel sorry for the people of Haiti who had this natural disaster strike upon them.
After Haiti's earthquake i cant imagine what it is like over there. They have close to nothing to survive off. There are relief planes delivering supplies but because so much land is damaged it is hard to get the supplies to the parts of the land that need them the most. This situation makes me think how lucky we are with the way we live today and how we have a country that can provide itself when a natural disaster hits.
I do think it is our responsibility to help out with world crisis's because we are a leading world power. We sent many troops there to help but there is another earthquake following this previous one which is not good news. This means more American lives will be taken because they are stuck in Haiti. I believe we should pull out before the long term because i dont think we have enough resources to stay.
My first impressions of the Haiti Earthquake was tragic. While watching the news, I saw people looking for their loved ones buried underneath rubble. The looks on the people's faces told it all: devastation. I think the United States is doing the best that they can to aid the people of Haiti. The troops that were sent in are trying their best to help, but getting supplies to where they are needed, seems to be the difficult part. Because of the lack of medical equipment especially, they few doctors that are there, are resulting to using hack saws and other tools to perform amputations and other medical procedures.
The whole Haiti tragedy was the most horrific thing I have ever seen. It was very disturbing to see heavy machinery handle hundreds of dead bodies like their nothing, into a truck to be moved away, which I understand is needed for health reasons but still its horrific. It makes me want to fly down and help out even though I wouldn't be able to do anything to actually help. I believe we should keep troops in there as long as we possibly can to help restore the country.
After seeing what the earthquake left of Haiti, my views changed on the situation. As i watched distressed families looking for their children, husbands, and friends under cement, rubble, dirt, shack houses, and scrap metal, i realized how bad things got over there. I realized that this was a VERY poor country, that was just struck with an enormous earthquake, and they were in need of immediate help. And as I saw the American troops fly in to help the Haitians, I wondered where the other countries were, and if they were even considering helping this country in need. We are in an economic recession, and we cannot afford to spend millions more on helping a country alone, yet we are still sending food and help to Haiti. Are we the only country who cares enough to help out? Where's England? Where's China? And France? Why are all of these countries sitting still as another country is in need of help? Whether is be food, water, troops, or even rescue dogs, I do not see enough countries taking action on this. I think that America should pull troops out by early March at the latest. This should not be a long term commitment, because we simply cannot afford it. This should also not affect immigration at all. I already think we are letting too many immigrants in, and to further allow more Haitians to come in would give other countries (including ourselves) the wrong idea.
When I first saw the earthquake on the news i was in shock, well for many reasons actually. The main reason I was shocked was because I heard how many people were killed, it was hard to comprehend that many people. Another main reason I was shocked was because they were picking corpses up off the street with machines and dumping them into a hole. I thought it was horrible that the families will never know what happened to their own family members. I wasnt too pleased in americas response because there was so much more we could of done and supplys thast could of been sent to help people. I believe that our long term reaction to this quake should be to continue to help the people in need and maybe help rebulid if possible. In the long term effect i think that we should allow a higher amount of haitians into the country just because they will most likely die with no home or money. I do think though that we should limit the amount so there can't be an abnormally large amount of immagrants into the country.
The Earth quake that happened in Haiti is a tragedy.
When I first heard of the earth quake I didn’t think much of it. Not in a way where I wasn’t concerned but in a way that I didn’t fully understand the exact aftermath of it.
The Haitians are stuck in imaginable situations. As a country we took it on as a responsibility to help out and send aid. I think this is a wonderful thing! It truly backs up the nickname of our country "America the Great" Though it dosen't help out our country since we are in a two front war and are in a recession, as an American we take more pride in ourselves and our troops knowing we are helping out!
Based off of the clips that we watched in class, I have come to believe that the tragedy in Haiti is one that will take a great deal of time to come out of. In terms of the US's involvement in the situation, I feel that we must contribute as much as we can to help such a poor country. However, I feel that we must not get carried away with the situation as well, for we are facing our own econmoic problems. We have to focus on our own issues first, and then we can truly become dedicated to helping the people of Haiti and their government recover from the earthquake.
When I found out that Haiti had just experienced yet another earthquake, I began to think that having our own troops there to help may not be such a good idea after all. Unsure of what could happen next, we may want to think twice about our "plan" on being present in Haiti. By keeping our troops stationed in Haiti, we are putting all of their lives at risk, and I gurantee that the people of this country don't want to see anymore of our troops die. I feel that we as a country should help aid the Haitians for right now, but in the long run, I think it is in our own best interest to pull our people out of the country.
Lastly,I feel that our presence in Haiti is only doing so much good. We are saving lives, but there are so many lives to be saved, and only so many supplies and doctors present to perform operations. I think that we must seriously think about our future actions, because even with the small landing area for planes, we aren't even able to fill up all of the airplanes to send back to where they came from. I also think that it is very nice of people who volunteer to help the Haitians in their time of need, but at the same time, we must not forget, that the more people we send, the more supplies we will need to feed everyone. As of right now, I feel that we are doing a good job of taking care of the disaster that struck Haiti, and the footage that I saw in class are ones that I could never imagine going through. They are grueling, and I give each U.S solider and doctor there the upmost respect for their contribution.
I was devastated when I saw and heard what happened in Haiti. I felt so terrible for all the people who were affected by it. America's response to the disaster was very helpful. The amount of supplies that we had sent over, and the men, is very generous. We're almost trying everything we can to help out over there. The problem is, is that the supplies can't get anywhere fast and efficient enough. After all the people who need to see doctors, all the bodies that are buried, and all crumbled buildings are cleaned up, then we should start making our way home. We can't stay there for the next 10 years and try to help these people. We have our own problems to fix and there's only so much we can do. Lastly, we should absolutely not let Haitian immigration increase at all. There are other countries that are closer that they can live in, and the amount of illegal immigrants that come to the U.S. each year is ridiculous. We don't need any more people to be entered into the U.S. So in conclusion, I'm happy the U.S. is there now to help them out and it is such a sad event that happened, but we definitely shouldn't stay there in Haiti for too long.
I was distracted when I first heard that an earthquake had hit Haiti so I didn't pay much attention to it. The next day, I switched the channel to news and was bombarded with images of disaster in Haiti. I was brutally reminded of Hurricane Katrina and the Tsunami, natural disasters that had left everyone in the world in shock.
For a while, we've moved on to other issues but the damage never really went away. We were always reminded of how many people and homes were lost on those days.
I remember seeing the scene in the video where the corpses that were pulled out from the rubber and debris were scooped up by huge trucks like the one used in construction. I didn't know what was in it at first until I saw a limp, dangling leg. I was horrified. I then thought of the bodies that would remain unidentified and buried in a mass grave. Sure, I know this is the only solution--to prevent the spread of any disease and cause even more disaster--but then I think about the victims' family members and how they would never know if their daughter, son, mother, father, or etc. had died. They might continue to search after everything is done, and never know that their efforts are futile.
I feel very proud of everyone who has donated. No matter how small the amount, the money will help. Hopefully the relief workers and organizations will be able to afford medical doctors and supplies because that's what is severely lacking. The Haitians really need help. To see everyone making an effort to ease their pain is the greatest thing about humanity.
Earthquakes are a natural devestating disaster that cannot be prevented. But when you hear about the destruction it caused in Haiti, you cant help but feel sorry for the people. Yes, Americans should help out by sending troops over, but we shouldnt stay there for a long period of time. At the moment a economy is at a low and there is still a war in Iraq. Finalcially, helping Haiti rebuild itself would be time and money consuming that we dont have. With the follow up earthquake, there are chances that more Americans could have lost they're lives, which we dont want at any time or point.But in then end, getting out of Haiti for the long run would be more benificial then staying.
The earthquake in Haiti was an absolute tragedy. Hundreds of thousands of people are either dead, hurt, or without a home. Being a world power like we are we should help aid this nation as much as possible. These people need us more than ever. On the other hand because of the magnitude of the earthquake there are still aftershocks. By putting Americans in this situation it jeopardizes their own lives. As a nation we are stuck in a hard situation but I do believe we should help them as much as possible. We should help this troubled nation get back on their feet.
My thoughts on the situation in Haiti were that everyone should be doing whatever they can to assist them after the devastation that country has been through. It seems as if not as many countries are helping out as much as they should be and until that happens the situation wont improve. The medical care has not yet been up to standards and they have had to improvise way too much. It has been a very devastating experience for all the Haitians and people around the globe should be helping out.
My thoughts as I viewed the destruction and death in Haiti is that many of these people do not need to be dying. Many are dying because they do not have antibiotics to treat infections due to broken bones. Also it is gross how they were using anything they had to amputate legs and things. I found this disgusting but I also realize doctors need to be doing anything to save the lives that they can.
In response to the how I view America’s response during this first week, I think we have done a lot to begin raising money and buying supplies that can go down to Haiti. However I think once it gets down there, the supplies are not being effective and I think a lot more could be happening with the supplies we have, but they are not getting out to those who need it. I also feel like because it just happened people are saying we should help, we need to raise money, but I think it will be interesting to see if we have forgotten about it a couple of months from now. When disaster strikes we tend to keep it in our minds for a very short amount of time. Its how American’s are. But to really be effective in helping we need to raise money now like we are, but also continue raising money in the future if we truly want to make an impact and help out.
At this time I do not think the US should increase Haitian immigration. We are already having a job shortage so having them come to the US will not help anyone. However I do realize to rebuild all of Haiti would take a lot of work and money and I do not think that this is effective either. I think a strategy needs to be planned out to make sure Haitians are either immigrating to all different countries and not just the US, or we need to find an effective and cost effective way to get Haiti rebuilt.
After seeing the video in class, it was sad to see what the Haitians are going through. So many people have died and are injured due to the earthquake. With that there are so many other problems like there are no resources, no medical aid, and no government that can support the country and help them what they are going through. I think that we should do our best to help Haiti because it is a good thing in helping another country. I think that saving as much lives as possible is a good thing. Donating money is the best we can do, even if it is a small amount it will make a big difference. We can only see the disaster and help them as much as we can. I feel sorry for the Haitians and what they are going through.
The earthquake in Haiti is very tragic. Many people lost their lives and survivors may never know what happened to their family members. I think America has been trying their best by doing every thing they can to raise money, get supplies and medical help to Haiti. America is trying their best to get all the supplies and help to Haiti, but it has been difficult due to only one runway in Haiti. I think the U.S. should continue to help Haiti by doing everything they can do to help the country begin to recover. It is going to be a very long process because they basically need to rebuild everything. I don’t believe the U.S. should allow increased Haitian immigration because many of the survivors can have sicknesses and infections due to being outside with very limited food and water.
to start, the devestation of this small nation is one of those events that will effect the way we prepare for earthquakes forever. The images of all those dead bodies just being shovled out of the street is an image that i will have to work on getting out of my head.
I do not think that our government should allow hatiants to immigrate to our country because Haiti needs all its citizens to help rebuild this nation and having all those people leave the country might be more devestating then earthquake itself.
I also feel that we should stabalize the country, but we should not stay to commited to helping them in order to prevent the forever effect that this would have on the cofidence the people have in their own government.
no mas!
i couldnt imagine what it would be like in haiti right now they have the bare minimum to survive There are relief planes delivering supplies but because so much land is damaged it is hard to get the supplies to the parts of the land that need them the most. I feel very lucky to be in this country and to be able to support haiti.
I do think it is our responsibility to help out with world crisis's because we are a leading world power but i dont think we should stay long term. We sent many troops there to help but there is another earthquake following this previous one which is not good news.
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