Haitian-led Response to Earthquake Featured in Fault Lines

The catastrophic earthquake that shook Haiti in 2010 revealed two parallel stories, although only one has made it into the mainstream. The story most people are familiar with is how the international community swept into Haiti, some with the best of intentions, to deliver disaster aid amid a flurry of chaos. As those who followed that story know, the promise to “build back better” has led to disappointment, bewilderment, and handwringing as the nation still bears the scars of the earthquake, and millions in aid has yet to reach its shores.

Now Beverly Bell is telling the lesser known story. Acclaimed author, Haiti expert, and ally of Grassroots International, she has brought to the fore in her new book Fault Lines: Views Across Haiti’s Divide. In it, Bev describes how Haitians themselves responded to the earthquake and how that response, despite receiving little attention or resources, has fared much better.

Bev also notes that not all international aid has been the same. Some, like that from Grassroots International, reached the people most affected and supported Haitian-led responses on the ground: “Promoting an agenda of justice, whether in Haiti or the U.S. or elsewhere, is hard work. It has been an honor and a source of strength, decade after decade, to collaborate with Grassroots International in our joint commitment,” she told us.

For more information about Fault Lines, see below or visit www.faultlinesbook.org. If you’re in the US, you can order books from the same site. International customers please contact info.otherworlds@gmail.com.

View the press release from Other Worlds offering more information.