It is just a suggestion, but while the attention of the world and particularly that of the US and the UN are focused on Haiti, a long term project involving the construction of a new capital city and training a new generation of Haitians is something that should be done.
We can engage in huge construction projects in Iraq and we claim to be able to do the same in New Orleans. The US rebuilt the Tennessee Valley with the TVA and the world rebuilt cities in Germany and Japan after WWII.
How about doing it now, in Haiti?
We have thousands of unemployed and underemployed construction workers and supervisors in the US and plenty of skilled architects and engineers.
The training programs for the thousands of Haitians hired for the project could provide a huge economic engine to help address the systemic poverty there. A truly safe, sanitary and functional capital city could do for Haiti what similar projects have done around the world.
Haiti's capital city is small compared to other new capital cities that have been built in our era:
Brasilia is one:
Brasília was built so that the federal capital of Brazil could be transferred from the coast to the Midwestern interior of the country. Previously the capital of Brazil was situated in Rio de Janeiro (1763–1960) and before that in Salvador (1549–1763). Brasília was not the only federal nation to plan and purpose-build a new capital city: Washington D.C. started to be built in the late eighteenth century, becoming the capital of the United States in 1800, and Canberra was declared capital of Australia in 1927.
By relocating the capital city to the interior, the government intended to help populate that area of the country. People from all over the country were hired to build the city, especially those from the Northeast region of Brazil. These workers would be known as candangos. Brasília is known, internationally, for having applied the principles established in the Athens Charter of 1933.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
And then there is Canberra where the country decided to build a new capital city, as explained below:
Canberra (pronounced /ˈkænb(ə)rə, ˈkænbɛrə/[3]) is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth largest Australian city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, 280 km (170 mi) south-west of Sydney, and 660 km (410 mi) north-east of Melbourne. The site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nation's capital in 1908 as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's two largest cities. It is unusual among Australian cities, being an entirely planned city. Following an international contest for the city's design, a design by the Chicago architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected and construction commenced in 1913. The city's design was heavily influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title "bush capital". Although the growth and development of Canberra were hindered by the World Wars and the Great Depression, it emerged as a thriving city after World War II.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
New Delhi is yet another:
New Delhi was laid out to the south of the Old City which was constructed by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. However, New Delhi overlays the site of seven ancient cities and hence includes many historic monuments like the Jantar Mantar and the Lodhi Gardens.
Much of New Delhi was planned by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, the former of whom was a leading 20th century British architect, and contracted to Sir Sobha Singh. Lutyens first visited Delhi in 1912, and construction really began after World War I and was completed by 1931, when the city later dubbed "Lutyens' Delhi" was inaugurated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
There is no shortage of construction workers in the US as shown by the 22 % unemployment rate in the December 2009 US Department of Labor figures:
Unemployment rates in construction per the Dept of Labor:
Economic News Release
Table A-11. Unemployed persons by industry and class of worker, not seasonally adjusted
HOUSEHOLD DATA HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-11. Unemployed persons by industry and class of worker, not seasonally adjusted
Number of unemployed Unemployment
persons rates
Industry and class of worker (in thousands)
Dec. Dec. Dec.
2009 2008 2009
Total, 16 years and over (1).................... 14,740 7.1 9.7
Nonagricultural private wage and salary workers........ 11,997 7.5 10.2
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction........ 89 5.2 11.8
Construction......................................... 2,044 15.3 22.7
http://www.bls.gov/...
A small percentage of those unemployed construction workers from the US could be hired, CCC style and moved and housed for the project to not only build and supervise, but also train Haitian workers.
And, of course, construction teams from all over Central and South America and other parts of the world could join and make this a truly international exammple of long term change under the United Nations and other world bodies and make the US proud of a truly significant help to Haiti.
Just a suggestion.