No, the f&^king problem is the U.S politics getting in the way. Cuba had thousands of doctors turned away when they offered to send them to Haiti and I'm sure they'd send them again. What the headline should say is "doctors and nurses wanted....as long as you aren't Cuban".

Say or think what you want about Cuba, but they are always ready and willing to send doctors to the aid of other countries, even the U.S after Katrina (they were turned away of course)

http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/01/19/cuban-doctors-in-haiti-are-they-there-can-american-media-see-them

http://links.org.au/node/1469

Are just two of the posts and new articles I've found about Cuban doctors being there. U.S politics aren't getting in the way so please don't blame them, I can't imagine any doctor being sent away when they are so needed.

I won't argue with the Katrina statement though, that was a travesty and quite frankly a lot of Americans are still angry with the governments pissing contest over it.

I was there in April, went to various locales and camps, went into the Champ de Mars camp at night to record flooding from the rains, walked through the huge Iron Market in Port-au-Prince, the only White in the whole area that I could see at the time and never had a problem. This is a myth that somehow Haiti is this horribly dangerous place. If you walk into a political protest in the heat of the moment while UN troops are pointing their guns, you may get mistaken for UN personnel who are not liked much, but generally Haitians are friendly people. New York City actually has a higher crime rate I have read.

I was in St Marc, a relatively stable area before the epidemic hit... and was treated with the utmost respect and found the people to be wonderful. We were without security of any kind, but even our Hatian handlers knew the risks and took great pains to make them clear to us; drive fast to prevent car jacking and stop for nothing, only go on the street with a clearly marked NGO plackard or t-shirted worker of our NGO, don't go out at night and always keep moving, never let a crowd gather around you.

In a compound like the hospital where we worked, these guidlines were obviously not nessesary, though we were discouraged from wandering into the darker isolated corners of the hospital compound.

Have you ever wondered why every house in Haiti is surrounded by a 10 foot wall and topped with razor wire?

What a hateful statement. Nature has nothing to do with this. Even the earthquake could not have done nearly so much damage if earthquake construction codes had been in place. Corruption, hatred, cynicism, racism, and exploitation instead have everything to do with this. How many of those do you subscribe to? Economic and political forces have been trying to maintain Haiti as first a slave plantation and now a sweat shop plantation for centuries. When Haitians finally elected a popular leader, Aristide, he was overthrown not once but twice by the forces of greed, inside and outside the country.

Your desire to help is admirable, but education is now, and has always been, a low priority for them if it existed much at all.

Their needs now are for immediate gratification.... things such as health care, food, clothing and housing.

I felt that way, too, but the more I read, the more I'm beginning to think they may have to actually move the people off the island in order to clean it up.

I once had a hand-held puzzle where you had to put the letters in alphabetical order and there was only one open slot to use to try and rearrange them. That seems to be Haiti right now. There is no place to move the people while they clean up the mess, rebuild, and move the people back.

Plus, the land the government bought to build on (with money donated by the U.S. and other countries) is a flood plain; it can't be used for building. It belonged, by the way, to a consortium with a board of directors, and one of the members of the board is also the same government agent who "negotiated" the purchase of the land.

Right now, the cleanest and most successful "tent city" is erected on this flood plain. I'm not sure how much damage it sustained during the hurricane. The people were told to leave when the hurricane was forecast, but they just had no place to go and didn't want to leave what few possessions they had managed to accumulate since the quake.

You need to visit a camp in Haiti, randyr1. You are suffering from Colonial Bwana mentality, thinking that all the natives are shiftless bums with no initiative, and if they could just be responsible like us, they could make something of themselves.

But Haitians are normally very hard workers when they have a chance to work, but unemployment is exceedingly high. There is nothing more that every able bodied man wants to do than get out and work. I have interviewed them personally and they all say this, that they are frustrated that they have to be so dependent on often dishonest NGOs, trapped in camps with nothing constructive to do, because guess what? There is little to no work available for them other than trying to sell trinkets on the street, sawing rebar iron out of collapsed rubble and selling that, or some cleanup details at the government-run camps. Many of these camps are also miles from anywhere, so to even get to a job requires transportation that is often exceedingly difficult to come by, or even afford when you have nothing. The best the government can do overall is offer some work for food and dollars programs that gives Haitians a few dollars a day doing menial clean-up in Port-au-Prince. Haitians do what they can to keep their camps clean, but guess what else, the municipal sewage systems are poor to non-existent, and there is usually no running water, only water bladders that may or may not have clean water. Actually the government-showcase Camp Corail is very clean.

Despirado, it doesn't really matter if it's from the bible, it's a good principal for anyone. Learn to help yourself before you expect help of others, if you don't you'll never learn and be dependent on someone else for the rest of your life.

However....a majority of Haitians are TRYING to help themselves, but with the lack of assistance from their own government (money to be used to get heavy machinery, supplies, food, clean water) what can they do? The news articles pretty much always cover the bad, because that's what sells. People get angry that no one is helping them or that they aren't helping themselves, but it's just not true.

There is a short supply of doctors...and in this article alone you see multiple posters (presumably nurses and doctors) trying to find a way to offer their assistance. Haitians are trying to get their life back in order, and MOST of them appreciate the helping hand. Sometimes you need help standing to walk. It's frustrating to see those you love and care for, and to hear cries and pleas and not be able to do something, so I can understand a little of their dismay. Their government sucks, and in a time of crisis is out to make itself richer instead of helping the people, that's a huge slap in the face.

For the most part I'm a libertarian; be responsible for yourself and try not to negatively impact those around you. However, with that comes the moral imperative that when you can, you should try and help those who need it and who cannot help themselves. This is the Haitian people..

There is a reason why missionaries and movie stars and ex-presidents continue to go the Haiti and try there. Once you go and immerse yourself in Haiti, you will know. They are the most grateful caring and willing people I have ever met, beautiful really... They have by virtue of geography, history and fate been epically f*cked.

Are we our brother's keeper, even if he's a hopeless drunkard and reprobate? I think yes. I don't have the answers only some thoughts and observations. We should not pour good money after bad but we need to do something, are morally obligated to do something.

Outside of sending 10 bucks into the void, putting your ass on the ground is the next best thing if you're willing. The best aid organizations I have come across while there are; Partners in Health (http://www.pih.org/) who I was with and Médecins Sans Frontières (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org) Both have a huge footprint on the ground there and are actually the de facto government. I suggest seeking to hook up with them first. I also suggest you do not go there on your own.