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But given the magnitude of the disaster, these efforts by ordinary Haitians have not been enough to help everyone. Neither has international aid, which, according to hundreds of interviews and months of observation, has yet to significantly address any of the needs of vast swaths of earthquake-hit populations. Although a remarkable $9.9 billion in aid has been given or pledged by individuals and organizations throughout the world, there is a huge gap between the dollars and international posturing around aid, on the one hand, and the population in need, on the other. As of early June, hundreds of people in refugee camps reported that they had received little—some rice, perhaps a tent—to nothing at all.

Despite their advocacy, the Haitian people, together with their government, have been bypassed in the planning and oversight of how aid money is spent and in reconstruction policies. The international donors’ forums in Montreal (January 25), Santo Domingo (March 17), and New York (March 31), where the large-scale plans were developed, were led by foreign ministers and international financial institutions. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has touted the process as “a sweeping exercise in nation-building on a scale and scope not seen in generations.”2 But Haitian voices have been lost amid the declarations of the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, the U.S. government, and others.

The agenda for a just Haitian future is monumental in the best of times. Today it is being shaped by people who still may be accommodating themselves to the fact that their child or mother, not seen since January 12, is dead. It is being shaped by people who are living in tents in squalid, dangerous camps. It is being shaped by people who are profoundly traumatized and have no access to mental health care.

It may be that their suffering sharpens the determination to have their needs met in a context of social and economic justice and democracy. That is the perspective, at least, of Ricot Jean-Pierre, director of advocacy for the Platform to Advocate Alternative Development in Haiti (PAPDA). “Sadness can’t discourage us so that we stop fighting,” he said. “We’ve lost people as in all battles, but we have to continue fighting to honor them and make their dreams a reality. The dream is translated into a slogan: Another Haiti Is Possible.”

Haiti's turbulence began last week when food riots broke out in the southern city of Les Cayes. It's hard to know what sparked Tuesday's explosion in the capital — protests in the countryside have been simmering for weeks, and have only recently trickled into Port-au-Prince, where nearly a quarter of the population lives. It's also difficult to know if the protests were organized or spontaneous. If Haiti's history is any example, whenever riots break out its weak security system collapses, giving way to a free-for-all that allows anyone with a vendetta an opportunity to settle scores.

One Roman Catholic priest in Port-au-Prince, who called Haiti's situation a "near-famine," told the Associated Press this week, "Some can't take the hunger anymore." If "some" turns into many or most, as seems likely, the world may once again have to watch the hemisphere's poorest nation be reduced to one of the most violent.