On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we talk about the devastation, death, deceit, and clean up surrounding the Haiti Earthquake from 2010. On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti, and the results were epic. Estimates are that 250,000 lives were lost and 1.5 million people were displaced. 80% of schools, 60% of government buildings, the majority of roads, the bulk of medical facilities all collapsed. In all, roughly a quarter of a million homes were destroyed. International aid gathered billions to help Haiti recover, but corrupt government and even more corrupt charities kept anything meaningful from happening to help this island that is still suffering ten years later.

Before the quake hit, Haiti was one of the poorest countries in the world, with 70% of the population living under the poverty line. Most Haitians lived on about $1.25 a day, and they relied on small time agriculture which is constantly damaged due to tropical storms. To make things worse, the government has no sense of a plan for the urban centers such as Port-Au-Prince, and there are no regulations or building codes. If there is space to build a structure, you can pretty go for it and squat and throw up a house or building.

All of this led to the perfect storm of devastation for Haiti. In the days after the quake, they were using dump trucks and earth movers to haul off the thousands of bodies lining the streets. Destroyed roads, docks, and airports made aid impossible to get into the island nation. But, in the aftermath, aid organizations, celebrity concerts, and social media gathered billions of dollars.

However, as one group of journalists reported, the American Red Cross lost roughly $500 million in aid that never made it to the streets, and even some of the biggest celebrities who raised money were busted for graft and taking the money for themselves (we’re looking at you Wycliffe Jean). So, if you want to hear about the worst quake in modern memory, get ready to listen, laugh, learn.

Visit Our Sources:

https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2020/01/12/794939899/haiti-in-ruins-a-look-back-at-the-2010-earthquake

https://www.worldvision.org/disaster-relief-news-stories/2010-haiti-earthquake-facts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake

https://theconversation.com/a-decade-after-the-earthquake-haiti-still-struggles-to-recover-129670

https://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/wayoflife/01/13/haiti.charity.scams/index.html

https://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/independent-review-us-government-response-haiti-earthquake-final-report

https://www.npr.org/2015/06/03/411524156/in-search-of-the-red-cross-500-million-in-haiti-relief

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1690716-lamika-factsheet-from-red-cross-website.html

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/wyclef-jean-faces-criminal-probe-over-haiti-charity-8209814.html

https://www.lessonsfromhaiti.org/lessons-from-haiti/key-statistics/

https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/11/americas/haiti-dominican-republic-visual-explainer/index.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010s_Haiti_cholera_outbreak