Four months after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the country struggles to rebuild. The University continues to do what it can to help. The earthquake was the worst to hit the country in the past two centuries, killing more than 300,000 people and destroying schools, neighborhoods, cathedrals, hospitals and the president’s palace.The earthquake couldn’t have happened in a more vulnerable place, according to Jay Edwards, anthropology professor. Haiti is known as one of the poorest and least-developed countries in the world, and the poorly constructed buildings exacerbated much of the damage, Edwards said. Typical Haitian homes are made of concrete frame posts with plates across the top and bottom, and open spaces are filled with cinder blocks, Edwards said. “There’s nothing holding those cinder blocks in there except gravity,” Edwards said. “Even if the frame doesn’t collapse, it’s very likely the blocks will.”For some University students, it hit home.Three Haitian citizens were enrolled students at the University during fall 2009. All were eventually accounted for after the quake, according to International Services.Myrtho Joseph, geography graduate student, said he waited two days before hearing his family in Haiti was safe.”It’s a big relief,” Joseph said. “It seems that when you are waiting for news, and you don’t know whether it’s good or bad, you can’t manage. I don’t have to worry anymore.”Immediately following the earthquake, geography graduate student Amy Potter formed Tigers for Haiti, a University response effort. Potter collected more than $1,200 in donations to go toward LifeStraws — portable water filters for prevention of common diarrheal disease. The Department of Residential Life created a campaign called “Geaux the Distance: Hope for Haiti,” which encouraged residence halls to raise $1,437 — $1 for every mile between Baton Rouge and Port-au-Prince. “We met and exceeded our goal,” said Jay High, communications manager of Residential Life. “We made it the distance to Haiti, and we’re on our way back.”The grand total collected so far is $1,576.46, which will be donated to the American Red Cross. In February, Campus Life joined TFH, combining many campus organizations into one group. “Instead of having different organizations competing, we would all be working together under one umbrella,” said Mallory Trochesset, assistant director for Campus Life. Student Government Vice President Martina Scheuermann, a member of TFH, said she was happy with the student participation. “After the tragedy in Haiti happened, I really wanted to make sure LSU formed some kind of response,” she said. “It’s been incredibly rewarding to see people supporting the cause.”Mimie Laurant, TFH chairperson, said all proceeds raised went to Partners in Health, a non-profit health care organization that’s been working in Haiti for the last 20 years.However, after its merging with Campus Life, TFH only raised a total of $700 this semester — significantly less than the organization’s original goal of $10,000, Laurant said. “In terms of everything that’s been done and all the work that’s been put into everything, all the events have been really top-notch,” Potter said. “But the campus response overall isn’t what we had hoped for.”Potter said people easily forget about the cause because the Haiti situation isn’t in the forefront of the media. “Some people aren’t interested anymore,” she said. “People’s attention changes, which is disappointing because the situation in Haiti is much like New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.”Potter said Haiti, like New Orleans, will require long-term attention, care and fundraising.”Parts of New Orleans are still not fully recovered today — look at the Lower Ninth Ward,” she said. “Louisiana knows better than most other parts of the country how long recovery takes.”—-Contact Sarah Eddington at [email protected]