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OTTAWA—After learning about the unprecedented magnitude 7 earthquake that rubbled Haiti and killed about 300,000 people on Jan. 12, the Canadian government responded immediately. Canada went fully equipped—without being asked—to rescue Haitians.
I was born in Haiti, and although I have lived in Canada for 38 years it hurt to hear about the devastation occurring back home.
In the past, Haiti has helped other countries. For example, the cariocas rouges helped the Americans against the British army in Savannah, Georgia, and in 1816, Haitian Dahomets, along with Simon Bolivar, brought freedom and peace to humankind throughout Latin America.
Now, it’s Haiti that needs help to rebuild and rise from the ashes. It may take something similar to the Marshall Plan initiated by the United States in 1947 that rebuilt Western Europe to get Haiti back together.
Canadians responded quickly and generously in the early days after the earthquake. An aggregate of other countries including the U.S., China, France, Russia, Cuba, and Brazil also sent aid.
Accordingly, I would like to say many thanks to Canada and Canadians, those devoted governments like ours, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the news media at large, and the good Samaritans of the world. These include Oprah Winfrey, Mohammed Ali, Céline Dion, Larry King, Tiger Woods, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga, Wayne Gretzky, former American President Bill Clinton, Sanjay Gupta, Sean Penn, Shakira, Beyoncé Knowles, Barbara Streisand, Rihanna, André Agassi, Bono, and George Clooney, just to name a few, for their generosity of spirit and for helping Haiti in its time of need.
