Haiti, a country under eternal reconstruction

It seems that nature has not been kind to Haiti. The earthquake on January 12 aggravated the chaos and th poverty in the country. According to the United Nations, up to January 23 rd the official number of dead was 111,000 and 200,000 had been injured. It has been estimated, however, that the final death toll could be 200,000. Thousands of houses have been destroyed or damaged, and hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless. Before being hit by the earthquake the country was struck by a hurricane in 2008. However, nature cannot be held chiefly responsible for the Haitians' suffering. In this country of nine million souls, over half are living below the level of extreme poverty, earning just a dollar a day. It is the poorest country in the Americas. The country is very, very underprivileged' there is a lack of schools, jobs, hospitals, transport, security, infrastructure, basic sanitation, and ' mainly ' political stability. In political terms Haiti has always been in conflict. From the second half of the 19 century until the beginning th of the 20 t h century, 16 Heads of State were overthrown or assassinated.

(Taken from Telegraph Newspaper)

GLOSSARY

injured = ferido

death tool = número oficial de mortos

struck = atingido

chiefly = principalmente

Heads of States = Chefes de Estado

to be overthrown = ser deposto