Photo Wednesday 01/13/10 : Can the earthquake disaster in Haiti cause a substantial rally round their flag?

By now you've probably heard that a massive earthquake struck the capital city of the nation Haiti. My best wishes for rescue and repair go out to the Haitian people and to my friends many of whom have roots in and around the capital Port-Au-Prince.

(above Haitian flags and pride fly in Brooklyn during the 2009 West Indian Day Parade)

If you'd like to offer support to the earthquake relief effort in Haiti, here's two suggestions:
The Red Cross and Mercy Corps

The photos from Haiti show hundreds if not thousands of structures including the Parliament Building were gravely damaged. Here in Brooklyn, where many of the over 200,000 Haitians living abroad call home, there is an understandable thirst for the lastest information on the devastation. I imagine there's an increasingly pent up desire to be active and helpful in the aftermath. And that's what came to my mind after glimpsing the destruction in Haiti.

Before yesterday Haiti was arguable the poorest of nations in the Western Hemisphere with a host of additional problems to boot. Yet consensus on how improve conditions in Haiti have been as varied as they are to act on. Haiti has suffered for decades.

My question is to the world community in general and the Haitian community abroad, especially those who've found better financial situations. Will this disaster fuel the moment when Haiti, clearly damaged in an apolitical way, and undeniably deserving of rescue is rebuilt better than before? Or will this be the final strike that allows Haiti to completely and totally disintegrate?