Haiti: Where Did the Money Go? (Enhanced DVD)

In January of 2010, a 7.0 earthquake shook Haiti to its core. In response, Americans donated a staggering $1.4 billion to leading charities to help the natural disaster-hit country get back on it feet. Filmmaker Michele Mitchell went down there twice, in ten month increments, to follow up on the progress of the devastated Caribbean nation, witnessing that half a million people lived in squalor, with cholera on the rise. The ensuing, award-winning documentary asks questions like What happened to the donations? Have the earthquake victims also been victims of these large aid organizations? Why are such a large number of people still suffering? Ms. Mitchell dives into finding these answers by interviewing people at the poorly funded camps, Red Cross representatives, human rights workers, officials with Catholic Relief officials, health professionals and many others. The film is often from the perspective of weary, disillusioned Haitians, but, on a larger scale, touches on how disaster zones combined with poorly run organizations, greed, and good intentions mix to form a poisonous cocktail that ultimately harms many of the victims instead of helping them.  Winner of the 2013 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Television Documentary, the film contains mature themes and disturbing imagery.

ISBN: 978-1-61753-714-1

Length: 52 minutes

Copyright date: ©2011

Closed Captioned