There is no doubt that the recent earthquake in Haiti has devastated the already poor nation and caused horrible suffering for its citizens. One must speculate, however, how long the United States public will remain interested in providing aid to this war-ravaged, and now earthquake-ruined, country.  From Facebook groups claiming, “For every person that joins I will donate 25 cents to help Haiti,” to the Bush Clinton Haiti Fund, the American public has been inundated with appeals to “Save Haiti.”  How long will these passionate appeals for aid continue?
My guess is that they will not last long.  As expected, countless celebrities and well-knowns have made an appeal for Haiti.  Brad Pitt, Madonna, Angelina Jolie, Sandra Bullock and Lance Armstrong have each pledged hundreds of thousands of dollars to Haiti.  I have no doubt that these celebrities are donating out of the goodness of their hearts, but my question is: Will any one of these individuals continue to support Haiti for the countless years it will take the country to rebuild?  Most likely not.  And they should not be blamed for their one-time donation; it is the American way.
Americans tend to support a cause one day and then forget about it the next.  When asked about how long he thinks Haiti will receive attention, sophomore Eric Scovill said, “Haiti will stay in the news for no longer than a month.”  This exact situation was exemplified with the Iranian election in 2009.  In June, there were groups on Facebook, funds asking for donations and countless American citizens who changed their Facebook profile pictures to green.  Then, poof!  By mid-July Iran was forgotten.  But it wasn’t over in Iran.  Mahmoud Ahmedinejad continues to rule Iran with an iron fist.
The short-lived support and passion shown about Iran is the same attention that Haiti will receive.  Money will flow in for a short time and Americans will pat themselves on the back, knowing that they saved Haiti.  But the truth is that just like New Orleans, Haiti will not recover in a matter of months; it will take years to bring any sense of normalcy back to Haiti.  
Except normalcy in Haiti is incessant civil war and rampant starvation.  Why were Americans uninterested in saving Haiti from civil war and starvation?  A devastating earthquake is more dramatic.  That is the simple truth.