Terremoto En Haiti

Haiti is in the thoughts, prayers of Ecuadorians here on the coast. The tragedy of the earthquake--terremoto--is covered 24/7 on CNN en español and the local paper.

I ran across NYT journalist, David Brooks' op-ed, "The Underlying Tragedy." A thoughtful article, it points out the central role of poverty and lack of infrastructure in this disaster. In light of the article, NPR's radio expedition "Voodoo and West Africa's Spiritual Life" is an interesting background on voodooism in Africa today.

I first gained a bit of a closer look at Haitian culture through a memoir and film last year:

• Brother I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat--In her memoir, Haitian born Danticat tells the story of her uncle's flee from Haiti in 2004 and subsequent death while detained in Florida and begging for asylum.
• The Agronomist--"A profile of Haitian radio journalist and human rights activist, Jean Dominique....includes footage before Dominique's assassination on April 3, 2000."

I highly recommend taking the time to read Danticat's memoir and watch the profile film to gain a closer look at the central role of poverty, dictatorships, oppression, and lack of infrastructure in the current Haitian tragedy.