408: Island Time
May 21, 2010
Unprecedented amounts of money have been pledged to Haitian relief in the last few months. American households have given over $1 billion and in March, 120 countries pledged over $9 billion(!) to rebuild. The only problem is that—historically—blanketing a country in aid and money has never really worked so well. Is there a chance this time things could be different?
Stories from Adam Davidson and Chana Joffe-Walt of Planet Money and from Ben Fountain.
- Short story writer Ben Fountain tours Port au Prince with his best friend—one of the few eye doctors in the country—and glimpses a cautionary future for us all. Ben Fountain is the author of the short story collection Brief Encounters with Che Guevera. (13 minutes)Song: "Exhibit H", Joell Ortiz
Photo
Chana Joff-Walt
