BY LAMAR THAMES

What to do about Hait? The real question is what CAN we do about Haiti?

Of course, immediate aid in the form of food, water, medicine and shelter is the primary concern. The United States and the rest of the  nations of the world are already seeing to that. The Red Cross and Salvation Army, among others, are gearing up phone banks, emails, Twitter accounts and what have you to ensure a continuous flow of cash to help with the recovery as soon as immediate needs are satisfied.

Churches, too — Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh notwithstanding — already have or will soon gear up their massive humanitarian efforts to assist the starving and needy. Missionaries will continue their treks to the destitute nation in hopes of making a difference in some small way.

Of course, major obstacles stand in the way of some of the more immediate needs of water, food and medicine. The Jan. 12 7.0 earthquake that hit 10 miles southwest of

Port-au-Prince left the country’s few roads in shambles, the airport lacking a control tower, the port usable due to damage — meaning relief supplies are having a difficult time being delivered to areas that need them most. And with most of the population living practically day by day wondering where their next meal is coming front, even a few days delay can be catastrophic.

Just look what happens in Florida after a hurricane. After a few days without electricity, people become outraged at the delay in restoring service. At least Floridians usually have enough warning so that we can stock pile food and water. Earthquakes don’t give warnings. And if they did, it wouldn’t have done most of the residents near the quake zone any good. They probably would not have had the money or the resources to stockpile anything. Now there are wounded men, women and children roaming the streets of the capital city searching for answers to their immediate cries of help.

But once the country is stabilized, what then? Where does a nation that has 80 percent of its people living below the poverty level go from here? It has been devastated in the last two years, having just started to rebound from being slammed by four hurricanes in 2008. And now it is facing major efforts just to survive in the face of an earthquake that may have already claimed more than 40,000 lives.

As the only country in the world to successfully stage a slave revolt, Haiti has a rich and intriguing history, full of uprisings, assassinations, lawlessness and dictatorships. Still, progress has been made since the overthrow of the Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier regimes in the 1980s and the economy was showing signs of a rebound until the latest disasters. Once the country is back on its feet, it will be up to to people of Haiti continue the progress that has been made in the past decade. Let’s just hope they are up to the task. Until then, we will continue to offer what help we can.