My quest is to understand a few of the issues that plague Haiti, how to examine carefully how architecture can help with the devastation of Haiti and prevent the next disaster from being so costly in history, property and lives.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas. It has a per capita income of $790. To give an idea of what that is in relation to other countries are considered poor: Mexico, $10,212; Jamaica, $8,737; Dominica, $5,082; and Cuba, a country that still has a commercial embargo against it, $4,819. So, even to countries in the Americas that we commonly consider to be poor are much better off than Haiti. It is estimated that 80% of the population lives in poverty. Most Haitians are living on $2 a day or less. Illiteracy in Haiti is at a staggering 50%, and 80% of the college graduates of Haiti have emigrated to the United States, fostering a society that if you have a chance to make a life for yourself, you leave Haiti.

The picture is easy to paint, and the problem is just as easy to understand. A condition of extreme poverty and a natural disaster strikes, the ability to be able to overcome such a disaster is not as easy as it could be if a disaster strikes the developed world.

Why the outpouring of support?

When you look at the lifespan of a natural disaster, you look at a few of the components that make it an unpredicted disaster. But, when you look at the recovery efforts and support given, you look at how it most directly affects Americans.

January 17, 1994, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 hits Los Angeles, California causing $20 billion dollars of damage. 57 lives lost, 8,700 injured.

August 29, 2005, a category 3 storm with highest sustained winds of 175mph makes landfall on southeast Louisiana causing $81.2 billion of damage. 1,836 lives lost.

January 12, 2010, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hits