Ian Birrell wrote this article on the Haiti relief effort.

Excerpt:

“The reality is rather different — and shines a stark light on the assumptions, arrogance and deficiencies of the ever-growing global relief industry. As promises were broken, mistakes were made and money was wasted, prices of food and basic supplies for local people soared, sanitation deteriorated, there was less safe water to drink and well-meaning interventions made matters infinitely worse.”

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Molly Paige and Jay Allen from The Drive Home interview Michele Mitchell on the second anniversary of the Haiti Earthquake

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The New York Times published an article on Haiti’s slow recover and points to the commission created to help rebuild and create sustainable programs.The New York Times recently published an article on Haiti’s slow recovery and points to the commission created to help the country rebuild and create sustainable job programs. A United Nations analysis showed that while many donor nations have been generous–particularly the United States, Brazil, Canada, Spain and France–almost all the money has gone to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)and private contractors.

This is not how aid works only in Haiti. The same situation has happened in disaster zones all over the world, which is just one reason why donations don’t always reach the intended destination.

We urge you to follow your donations that you give to relief efforts, and what they are used for. Read more about how you can hold NGO’s accountable and what political movements surrounding relief efforts.

There have been, at last count, more than 80 aftershocks in Japan. The Twitters have come fast, and a few translations are available via Global Voices.

From @endamamicky: “Victim of tsunami here. Am at residence 2F with my mother, brother, and a neighbor waiting for rescue. No injuries. 1F is flooded and we can’t get out by ourselves. Also phone is not connected.”

Chilling one from _mego, who is in Miyagi prefecture, the worst-hit city: “A tsunami just hit. I am taking pictures from the second floor of my house. The flooding continues and I am afraid of being left behind. Please come to my rescue!!”

An up-to-the-minute live ustream from Japan can be found here.

It’s November 2010. Hurricane Tomas finally hits Haiti, and millions of people have only the land their tents stand on – except they don’t even have the land.

In the final part of out Haiti series, we take a look at the country’s complicated land rights issues that prevent even the most organized NGO’s from providing the population weather-proof housing. We also hear experts’ concluding thoughts on why global relief efforts in disaster areas like Haiti are so often left in shambles. (You can also watch episodes 1, 2, 3, and 4.)

Ten months after the January 12th earthquake, we traveled to Haiti to see what was being done with the $1.4 billion dollars US citizens had donated to help the Haitian people rebuild. Upon our arrival, we learned Hurricane Tomas was scheduled to hit Haiti that week and an outbreak of cholera was just starting up. In the first episode of this 5-part series, we take you into the Canaan II displaced persons camp outside Port-au-Prince. We’ll let the footage speak for itself.

Tune in here this week and next to see the struggles of everyday people left defenseless in the path of a hurricane and cholera. (You can also check out episodes 2, 3, and 4.)

Haiti has never made a most-stable list, so the 7.0 earthquake that left Parliament, the presidential palace, schools, hospitals and the tax office collapsed–among other scenes of devastation–is crippling.

Security expert and author Robert Shepherd points out to us that “[the] first and most important emphasis should be on security, simply as the city and UN HQ there has lost it’s infrastructure. If there’s no security, there’s no aid!”

Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince (United Nations Photo)

The natural go-to nation is the United States, Shepherd says.

“Even as we speak, the world’s developed nations are sending humanitarian aid. Europe and UK are on their way having fought through snow to get to their respective airports. By the time they arrive in Haiti or DR next door, the US could already be up and running with a security plan established.”

So what happens now? We start by asking Tom Squitieri, who has spent years in and out of Haiti first as a prize-winning war correspondent for USA Today and then as founder of TS Navigations in Washington, D.C. Check out the interview here.