Haiti update

Since my first blog posts were about Haiti, I thought I should come full circle and talk a bit more about the earthquake that happened on January 12. I was in Haiti the first week of January for work and left on January 9. I feel very lucky to have been in the US when the earthquake happened.

I have filled my days since the quake reading more Twitter and watching more CNN than I thought was possible. First I focused on making sure the staff from the organizations we work with were safe and then I just tried to gather information about what buildings were still standing in Port au Prince. Of course I provided information to a former classmate who lives in Haiti and tried to keep up-to-date information on hand for my colleagues.

Now for selfish insights: the earthquake really freaked me out. To have been in Port au Prince just a few days before was too close and personal. I'm not sure when I'll go back to Haiti for work, but I can't imagine flying into the city right now and seeing all of the destruction. That's all I will write right now, but know that my thoughts about the situation are complex and change constantly. I hope the aid pouring into Haiti will be used to reconstruct Port, Jacmel and Leogane into sustainable cities that are far nicer than they were before January 12.

This blog is from the Livesay family living in Port au Prince. I read their blog regularly beginning in October when I found out I would be managing our projects in Haiti. The earthquake posts/updates are incredibly detailed.

http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/