Haiti’s next five years

Five years ago, I traveled to Haiti to assist in the earthquake-recovery efforts.

Having represented so many Haitian clients in immigration matters and having heard so many horror stories of the violence and problems in the country, I thought I’d seen and heard it all, but the destruction and devastation I saw is something I will never forget.

The smell of death, combined with the dust, remnants and rubble, is something you can’t forget. We were able to assist many people, including a baby who had been found in the rubble four days after the earthquake. He was able to obtain surgery through the help of the actor Sean Penn. I learned he survived the earthquake and the surgery only to die after returning to his village outside of Port-au-Prince.

And that’s the story of a country that has endured an inexplicable history of suffering from natural disasters, violence from coups and regime changes, political and economic instability and corruption. Let’s hope and pray for a real recovery for Haiti within another five years.

This story was originally published January 17, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Haiti’s next five years."