More on Haiti before and after the quake

Opinion | Comparing Haiti and Chile: 9.0 on the Poverty Scale | Seattle Times Newspaper:

"The desperation just to survive day-to-day means Haitians have been forced to cope by:

• Stripping bare many of the nation's trees to use the wood to make charcoal, and as a result, heavy rains or full-blown hurricanes cause mudslides and kill more Haitians than they should;

• Scavenging for food ...

• Building homes from wood, scrap metal, or other materials they can salvage...

And, regrettably, only half of Haitians over the age of 15 can read and write, two-thirds of Haitian children attend primary school, and less than 30 percent reach the sixth grade.

The result is that countries like Haiti are more vulnerable to all forms of natural disaster, including hurricanes, floods, pandemics, famines and earthquakes."

Good article. Read the entire thing!