Wednesday (January 12) marked the one year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. MTV News spoke to aid workers who have been toiling in extreme conditions in the impoverished country for the past year, as well as Tulane University medical student Alison Smith, who has made four trips to Haiti since January while providing us with periodic updates on what is happening on the ground.
Smith, 26, gave a sobering description of how things are slowly progressing in Haiti a year later, as the island nation struggles to resettle the nearly 2 million natives left homeless by the quake and deal with nearly 400,000 children orphaned by the natural disaster.
On Wednesday, Smith sent along a report from a friend of hers, Haitian-American Dominique Louis, who is the executive director of Green Children's House, an eco-friendly daycare center in Florida.
"One year after the devastating earthquake that left Haiti on life support, Haiti still remains in critical condition," wrote Louis of his experience in the country as it marked the grim anniversary. "The slow recovery process and the massive loss of life was enough to send the average human being hopeless. But as a Haitian-American and founder of Green Children's House, a non-profit Montessori School located in Pompano Beach, Florida, I have experienced the frustration of the recovery process firsthand. However, that does not discourage me from working to transform the country.
"When I look into the eyes of a Haitian child, I see hopes and dreams that are as real to me as my own children's. Currently those dreams are in jeopardy because basic needs are not being met. There are so many insecurities of living in a tent city, some with limited mobility and horrid conditions. I believe that all Haitian children will be connected to the world one day, but it is up to me to connect them. I dream of all Haitian children having an opportunity to make a difference in the world, but I need to make a difference for them.
"I believe that Haiti will be an amazing place again. It is already so rich in culture, people, heritage, and art. But it is up to us to make it right! We cannot stand in the sidelines and blame others for not moving fast enough or not voting, or for the cholera outbreak. Haiti will be transformed into an amazing place that has already peeked so much interest from around the world.
"Today I attended my first voodoo ceremony with a parent from our school who is exploring building a school with me in Haiti. It was an amazing experience and I could feel the energy and the spirit while the drummers conjured the beat and the dancers weaved their bodies to the movement of the spirits. Growing up in a Haitian, Roman Catholic, aristocratic middle-class family one could never talk about voodoo because it was taboo. Today I realize that this is part of the Haitian culture and it is a part of me.
"There is still a lot of work to be done in Haiti. As I walked past Haiti's General Hospital, I heard my name. I turned around saw one of the local Haitians that served as my aids [for] four days post-quake when the Haiti hospital was like a horror house. Tomorrow we will go to the tent city in Canapé Vert, where the gentlemen lives. In this seventh trip post-quake, parents have donated clothes, toys and personal items that may make someone's life brighter for a moment. There are over 500 women and children living in the tent city, the over-sized large bags that we have brought on this trip are not enough, but the people are still happy we came, and so grateful to see another day.
"As I visited the mass graves, my breath and thoughts were humbled. It was a grim reminder of my reason to temporarily neglect my family to make a change in a country that I love."