(Thumbnail image:  The New York Times)

“A lot of car damage, a lot of people with no help, people bleeding, there’s no electricity, there’s no phone working.” (BBC News)
 
The world is rallying an immense recovery and relief effort aimed at aiding the nation of Haiti after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the poorest country in the western hemisphere.  It would be a devastating natural disaster in any part of the world, but for a nation wracked by extreme poverty and unrest the extent of damage to Haiti is massive.

We’re looking at perspectives on the relief effort and obstacles facing Haiti from CNN, CBS, The Wall Street Journal, and Sky News.
 
First, CNN details the problems facing recovery efforts in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
 
“All these people jammed into an area that was meant for maybe a quarter million people. Now they have two to three million living here and that brings up the human layer of this catastrophe. The economic layer of this problem, look at this – it’s the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, 80 percent below the poverty line, 50 percent of the people are in abject.  A lot of people living on less than $2 a day, that’s a very, very tough way to live, even in the best of times.  Obviously now, not the best of times.”

U.S. President Barack Obama asked Americans to donate money to the relief effort through the White House Web site.  And Americans have helped Haiti before, as Haiti's ambassador to the U.S. tells CBS’s Katie Couric.
 
“The U.S. came to our help in 2008 when we had four hurricanes that hit Haiti in the matter of three weeks and the United States dispatched the U.S.S. Comfort to Haitian waters...
Now I suppose the same thing can be done. I’m quite sure we will need everything.”
 
The Wall Street Journal reports on the world’s response, compared to that of other natural disasters.
 
“There seems to have been a much faster response than there was to the tsunami, where it took several days before Western nations really woke up to the scale of what this was. Now an earthquake obviously, it’s more overt so you can see it.”
 
Haiti, sadly, is familiar with disasters. Hurricanes, political turmoil, and overall poverty keep Haiti on the radar of many international agencies.  Sky News looks at how that attention might affect the recovery.
 
"The only plus side is that it is such an impoverished country and has such desperate need most of the time that a lot of international aid agencies have permanent presences in Haiti and for that reason will be able to deploy reasonably quickly.”
 
For some, the latest earthquake has become Haiti's worst nightmare, in a nation that has had a history of some of the worst tragedies life can offer. 

 
“It was absolutely the most fearful thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’ve been in Haiti as a missionary for 34 years.”
 
So what do you think? How can international relief help Haiti recover? And how long do you expect it will take for Haiti to recover?

Writer: Jennifer Herseim

Producer: Newsy Staff