How is Haiti doing?

People ask me how Haiti is doing? And it is a good question. First, I'm always glad to hear the question itself, because I hope it means people are interested in Haiti. You know I think that Bill Clinton has said, not in so many words exactly, that Haiti is a chance for himself personally and maybe the international community to make up for past sins. In particular Rwanda. Of course the circumstances of Rwanda and Haiti are dramatically different, but whereas we as a world community turned a blind eye to Rwanda, we are so far, not doing this in the earthquake response in Haiti. So I'm glad for the question.

However, it is not an easy question to answer. In someways, I don't even think that any answer will do. Not for several years. It may be a bit like asking how a complicated surgery is going. One could say it is going well, but until the patient is out of the operating theatre, and off the anesthetics, and up and walking around, any answer one might give will not really answer the question. Still, the question is worth asking, even if only as an expression of concern.

So to answer the question for now, I think it is going pretty well. Really well in someways. It is just that the scale of the situation is so mind-boggling that going-pretty-well still means we have miles to go before we sleep.