(all images from time.com)
The death toll is estimated at this time to be somewhere around 70,000-100,000, and possibly higher. The population of Haiti is around 9 million. A "conservative" death count of 70,000 translates into about 0.8% of the Haitian population -- killed by a single event. To put it in context, there are somewhere around 300 million people living in the United States. If we were to experience a disaster on the level of the earthquake in Haiti (in regards to loss of life), it would kill 2.3 million Americans. Can you imagine? That's 465 times the number of people killed in the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina combined. And for the people of Haiti, the suffering will continue for weeks, months, and even years, as survivors bury the dead, mourn their losses, recover from injuries, and endure other unimaginable hardships such as disease and a lack of shelter, food, & water.
I've always known that Haiti is a poor country, but I learned just last week that it's actually the poorest country in the western hemisphere. About 12% of children die before their first birthday, and one-third before their fifth birthday. The unemployment rate is around 60%. Half of Haitians are illiterate. 80% of people live in abject poverty, and half live on less than $60 per year. (source)
Wow. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around numbers like that.
Brad and I sponsor Clernitha, a little girl in Haiti, through Compassion International. So far, we've received no word on her or her family, but Compassion is working on getting that information to sponsors (although they obviously have more pressing matters to deal with first, we realize). We were able to locate her Child Development Center on Compassion's map and were very relieved to find that she's not too near the epicenter. It looks like she's about 60-70 miles away. We continue to pray for Clernitha and her family, heartbroken over what they are experiencing.
There are so many great organizations sending aid of all sorts to Haiti; I encourage everyone to make a donation to one (or more!) of them. If you're looking for a way to give, I highly recommend Compassion or World Vision -- and I know there are lots of other great organizations too. With wealth we enjoy here in America, I really can't imagine any reason for not giving to the people of Haiti. They desperately need us!
In closing, I know that natural disasters and other tragedies often cause us to question Where is God in this? A couple of years ago, Brad preached a sermon entitled Why, God?: The Problem of Evil that addresses this question and others. Click the link and scroll to the bottom for the mp3 file, notes, and slides.
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