The Republic of Haiti is located in the NE Caribbean between Puerto Rico to the east and Cuba and Jamaica to the west. It shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic and has  population of about 9 million people with almost 3 million in the capital of the country. It is  poorest country perhaps 80% of the population living below the poverty line. The country has experienced natural disasters, primarily from hurricanes. There were also political instability  in the country. The country was not well prepared for the effects of a strong earthquake which resulted  in about 230,000 deaths and about 300,000 injuries. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to live in temporary shelters after the earth quake. Both governmental and non- governmental relief organizations continue to be challenged by the enormity of the destruction.