The world's attention turned to Haiti on January 12, 2010. In the aftermath of the "goudougoudou", the local term for the earthquake that left 220,000 dead, governments and organisations around the world pledged aid and assisted with Haiti's many urgent needs.
Exactly one year on, however, the nation is suffering. Thousands continue to live in makeshift camps and subsist on handouts. Only five per cent of the rubble has been removed from the capital Port au Prince.
Last week, Oxfam said that the former US president Bill Clinton, the UN's special envoy to Haiti, had failed in his task to organise the delivery of aid to the country. It is hard to disagree with those who say that the effort is languishing. Only half of the support that donors pledged has arrived. The aid that has been delivered has not been used to stimulate economic growth in Haiti. The Associated Press reported that out of 1,500 US contracts given out in the last year, a mere 20 went to Haitian-owned businesses.
There have been a few, however, who have remained committed to the effort. Sean Penn, for instance, turned down an invitation to attend the Dubai Film Festival to continue working at a refuge camp in Haiti. "There's no end point," he said last week. "This is where I'll be when I'm not working, for the rest of my life."
