There is something tragically wrong when the distress of almost 10 million people is overshadowed by a pair of celebrated egos. No doubt, despite their recent sniping, Sean Penn and Wyclef Jean both mean to do well by Haiti, but when a columnist feels it just to write that "Wyclef Jean gave indispensable world attention to Haiti's incredible misfortune" one wonders what, in this age of international satellite television, does it take to arouse compassion? Are people still starving in Karachi because there is no Busta Rhymes to take up the cause of Pakistan?
Beyond what it says about our media/infotainment complex, this 21st century phenomenon points to the ineptitude, if not utter indifference, of our collective governments and institutions. Like New Orleans, Haiti's pain continues largely forgotten and those on the ground fear that the worse is yet to come.
Aid Fatigue?
It is almost impossible to believe but despite the horrendous images that followed the earthquake, James Dobbins, a former U.S. special envoy to Haiti and director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center claimed surprise at the scale of the damage.
"We (were) also somewhat surprised at the Haitian and international response. — so little of the rubble has been cleared, and so few of the basic decisions have been made."
It's hard to blame the Haitian government when you consider all the broken promises. As Jean Renald Clerisme, a presidential adviser, explained: "the Haitian government hasn't received the money it was promised by the donors, which it would need to buy land and reconstruct. 'At a big donors' meeting in New York, we were promised $10bn, but we haven't received even 2% of this money?"
So while the celebrities squabble and consume our attention, the suffering Haitian people are left to hold their breath and hope for the best.
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