Some acts of violence in Haiti have hindered rescue workers trying to help earthquake victims, a top official leading the US government’s relief efforts said.

General Ken Keen of the US Southern Command. “We’ve had incidents of violence that impede our ability to support the government of Haiti and answer the challenges that this country faces,’’ he said.

All those aboard were found dead after Spanish and U.S. military teams reached the site, U.N. peacekeeping mission spokesman George Ola-Davies said.Spain’s Defense Ministry said the chopper was one of four based on a Spanish navy amphibious ship, the Castilla.

Spain has about 450 soldiers in Haiti helping with aid and reconstruction after the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake that the Haitian government says killed about 230,000 people.The Spanish troops are not attached to the more than 9,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission.

The crash site is near the mountain where a U.N. surveillance airplane crashed in October, killing all 11 Jordanian and Uruguayan peacekeepers aboard.

The day after the quake, Haiti’s president, René Préval, called the destruction “unimaginable.” The quake left the country in shambles, without electricity or phone service. Governments and private groups from Beijing to Grand Rapids pledged assistance, but the extent of the destruction — and Haiti’s shaky infrastructure before the quake — meant aid efforts faced steep obstacles. With little food and water to be had, thousands of residents of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where the destruction was centered, fled the city to seek refuge with relatives in the countryside.Dead bodies and big divets ruined the roads.

BET held a live telethon in support of Haiti. Help for Haiti (S.O.S.) featured performances by Wyclef, Chris Brown, Justin Beiber, Mary J. Blige and a host of other artists, with appearances by Mike Tyson, Bill Clinton and more.

Haiti occupies an area roughly the size of Maryland on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Nearly all of the 8.7 million residents are of African descent and speak Creole and French. The capital is Port-au-Prince.The country is, by a significant margin, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, with four out of five people living in poverty and more than half in abject poverty.Haiti needs jobs, a particular challenge in the current economic climate. Haitians often seek work in the United States, but that safety valve has been squeezed given the recession. With some 900,000 youths expected to come into the job market in the next five years, dismal prospects are the main threat to stability.

President Obama told U.S. House Democrats at a retreat that he “will not put up with any excuses for us not doing the very best in this time of tragedy” in Haiti. The initial $100 million in aid to Haiti would be “for the basics” like life-saving equipment and food, and the U.S.’s investment will grow as Haiti rebuilds, Obama said.

A devastating earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale struck Haiti on 12 January 2010, killing an estimated 50,000 and affecting at least one million people. There has been an estimated 380,000 orphans. Redcross is accepting donations, for more info you can visit  http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029 

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and the quake has had a massive impact on a population already reeling from other recent disasters.

My heart goes out to Haiti. 

On Jan. 12, 2010, a massive earthquake struck Haiti.  It was the worst earthquake in the region in more than 200 years, with as many as 50,000 feared dead. The disaster created serious obstacles to those trying to deliver  foreign aid. Before the earthquake there was an estimated 380,000 orphans. There are still people covered in the debree.