Caught in the Middle

Living in a developing world nation, we need to be aware that our lives can be disrupted much quicker than they otherwise would be if we were back in Canada. We've been reminded of this fact with the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti on Tuesday. Haiti's plight has been well documented, but it's hard to imagine such a poor and directionless country suffering even more.

During my MA I was a Graduate Assistant at Ryerson. Both terms I led tutorials for the Poli Sci course Third World Politics. It was impossible to ignore Haiti and it's unfortunate history. Commonly known as the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has a unique colonial history, but has suffered serious abuses by developed nations. I'm including a link to a study on Haiti, which will help explain how poor the country is, and why "Shanti Towns" that cannot withstand even a minor earthquake proliferate the countryside. Here it is:

http://www.newleftreview.org/?page=article&view=2507

Also Montserrat, which is located approximately 100 miles South of Saba, has recently experienced some volcanic activity. The last time a significant eruption on Montserrat occurred was in 1997. It killed 19 people and displaced thousands. The Soufiere Hills Volcano has continued to remain active, spewing a significant amount of ash in the air that affects the air quality on neighbouring islands. Soufiere Hills experienced a minor eruption at the end of 2009. The air quality on Saba and other Netherlands Antilles islands were reduced. In fact, Airlines flying to Sint Maarten canceld flights because too much corrosive ash was found in the air. We haven't been affected by either of these seismic events; however, Saba officials have called in Geologists and Volcanologists to see if Saba's dormant volcano has been disturbed. It hasn't shown any peculiar activity so we are clear, but we are certainly more alert and we recognize how fortunate we are. Oh incidently, the mouth of Saba's volcano is located where Sue goes to school. It has been inactive for hundreds of years, but we'll be filling the '94 Cronos with premium for now on....