Haiti Quake: The Fall of the Voodoo Kingdom

Survivors of a collapsed building in Port-au-Prince courtesy LA Times

The Port-au-Prince earthquake injured, killed thousands of people and shocked the world. The Republic of Haiti was not a lost kingdom but an island in the Caribbean Sea that was neglected by the outside world, before its worst quake in over 200 years.
Survivors
A lot of buildings including the UN Headquarters and Presidential Palace collapsed but Haitian President Rene Gracia Preval survived. The on going evacuation and treatment of survivors is devastating as thugs continue to loot, fight for food and water.
Rescuers recorded victories by pulling out survivors from the rubble as TV viewers worldwide felt sighs of relief. When Baby Winnie was pulled out of cracks and crevices by the Australian TV crew, it was a moment of joy. How did Winnie manage to hang on to life since last week, January 12, after the earthquake? A man poured water on her and she drank some…
Several countries sent equipments, food, water, medics, medication, troops, firemen and relief workers. According to Sky News, about 80,000 people were buried alive and trapped while 121 have been rescued from destroyed buildings after the quake. The United Nations and the United States were at the forefront of the rescue mission. Israeli IsraAID/FIRST medics have set up a clinic in Haiti.
First Black Republic
Can you believe that Haiti became 206 years old on January 1? It is the first Black Republic to gain independence in 1804 and 'the second independent country in the Americas (after the United States)', yet it was so poor and dubbed 'the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere'. Haitians are descendants of African slaves and the main languages are French and Haitian Creole. Dominican Republic shared the same Island with Haiti until it ‘declared independence’ in 1844.
James Bond in Haiti
Many fans of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels and films became familiar with Haiti in Live and Let Die (1973) and Quantum of Solace (2008). The audience is introduced to the mystic world of Voodoo. It is very difficult to dissociate Haiti from Voodoo, which is the major religion of the country; doomed by external debt, bad leadership, hurricane and earthquake. In Haiti, zombies are the living dead that are believed to exist and invoked during festivals of Haitian Vodun. At a dead man’s final passage after the earthquake, a Voodoo funeral rite was displayed with alcohol and incantations on CNN. The Voodoo Priests opposed mass burial without preternatural rites.
Wyclef Jean cries for Haiti
Haitian-born Musician, Wyclef Jean wept during a press conference on his ordeal in Haiti and allegations of fund mismanagement. He earlier helped to pick up some dead bodies after the quake. He runs a charity organisation, incorporating Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund and is presently seeking funds to help Haiti. He denied making personal profits from the fund but there are different charities collecting donations for Haiti worldwide.
Nigerian Senate: Haiti debate on NTAi
It was a national disgrace for Nigeria to first of all debate Haiti quake in the senate before accepting to help, when most countries were already helping survivors. How can Nigeria play the role of the most populous black nation and 'big brother' to major black countries when it was not immediately useful to Haiti as soon as disaster struck? Senator Jibril Aminu felt that Nigeria should help Haiti but Nigerians should not criticize Nigeria because Nigeria is generous.
Senators disagreed on which part of Nigeria some Haitians were enslaved from. Senator Victor Ndoma Egba said it was Yorubaland while Senator Bode Olajumoke said it was Igboland. Does it really matter and shouldn’t historians be left to determine where? Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora said the Senegalese Government has offered to harbour Haitians and Nigeria should help too.
Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, the major 'mover' of the motion, initially asked for voluntary donation from his colleagues e.g. money and necessities. He also called for an official condolence to the people of Haiti and planned to send the Nigerian Red Cross to help survivors.
However, the senate president, David Mark claimed that the Federal Government had already sent one million US dollars and Aids to Haiti but why was it not reported in the news? He said that was what the Vice President told him although it was in the news that Sierra Leone donated US$100,000 to the United Nations Haiti Disaster Fund. It will be recalled that United Kingdom donated £20 million; Holland – €2 million; Germany – €1 million; EU – €3.0 million. The United States, International Monetary Fund and World Bank each donated $100 million to Haiti etc.
It must be emphasized that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is 'outsourcing' his duties from Saudi Arabia on a sick or alleged deathbed and refused to resign. Senator James Manager called for a one minute silence for the people that died in the Haiti quake and it was observed.

Baron Samedi in Live and Let Die