The devastation in Haiti right now is terrible.  70,000 people (and counting) are dead, there is no water, no food, and very little in the way of safe shelter or medical support.  It is truly a sad thing, yet perhaps out of all this pain and suffering happiness can result.

Haiti has always been a poor country that was long ignored by the world.  The people suffered through the Duvalier regime and various unstable governments after the dictators were finally ousted.  Yet up until now nobody has ever given a damn about the Hatian people.  Ordinary people, celebrities, nor foreign government have ever taken up the Haitian cause.  It just wasn’t a cause celebre.

Hopefully the world can pitch in and not only rebuild Haiti, but invest in the country.  Put her citizens to work, train them.  Give them new skills by which they can be productive.  It’s the only way that the country has a hope of surviving.  Providing aid is a short term solution.  Investing in the country is a long term strategy that will eventually pay dividends.