Leid Stories—Haiti Earthquake: After Hell, Eight More Years of Hell—01.11.18

Tomorrow marks the eighth year after a catastrophic 7.0-magnitude earthquake with an epicenter just west of Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince, shattered the afternoon calm with the strongest tremors to strike the region in more than 200 years; at least 52 significant aftershocks were recorded by Jan. 24.

The disaster pushed Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, beyond the brink, compounding the political and economic crises that had dogged it for decades. The quake left some 3 million people affected; a government-estimated 316,000 dead; almost 300,000 homes and commercial buildings collapsed or severely damaged; and the entire nation gripped by sorrow and wondering whether they could survive the hell they were living in.

After the hell of 2010 came eight more years of hell, as Leid Stories discusses today with Dady Chery.

Chery is a Haitian-born journalist, poet, playwright, professor of biology, and co-editor in chief of the news site, newsjunkiepost.com. She writes extensively about Haiti. She wrote the first story uncovering Haiti’s hidden mineral wealth, and revealed that U.N. peacekeeping forces were responsible for two strains of cholera outbreaks that killed thousands of Haitians and sickened thousands more—which the U.N. finally admitted. She has followed closely the deeds of corrupt Haitian leaders as well as the deeds of Bill and Hillary Clinton in Haiti. Her recently published book is titled We Have Dared to Be Free: Haiti’s Struggle Against Occupation.