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THE Haitian earthquake has produced a catastrophe of biblical proportions. The enormous loss of life being predicted by officials would make it the worst natural disaster of its kind in centuries in the western hemisphere.

The images on television show hopeless people with cement dust caked on their faces. We can pray the world will be moved to generosity. However, those who know Haitians know them to be remarkably resilient and industrious. The cruel reality is that if you are poor in Haiti and you do not hustle, you die. Haitian migrants in Brooklyn, South Florida and elsewhere are extraordinarily hardworking, clever and kind. The trouble is, in their homeland they are not given half a chance to prosper.

Before the hurricanes, flooding, mudslides and earthquakes that...