The images from my trip to Haiti will always stay with me. In both urban and rural areas, I saw children playing atop trash heaps and splashing around in smelly, green puddles. I talked to mothers who spoke of awaking every morning and worrying about how they will feed their children that day. I stood among fathers who questioned how they are to support their families when there are no jobs. Throughout most of the trip, soot and dust covered me. It hung in the air, and it coated the walls of every home and every building.

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians were going to bed the way they were awakening: hungry. Today, the situation remains the same.

The people of Haiti need support and encouragement. But the international community seems to be turning its back. Out of frustration with the Haitian government, U.S. aid has been cut or put on hold, severely stretching the ability of humanitarian organizations like CARE to help Haiti's desperate poor. For many, the only barrier between survival and death is the safety net that humanitarian organizations provide.

And despite the grim pictures I took away with me, there are glimmers of hope for development in Haiti. Many Haitians work in grassroots self-help development activities in agriculture, education, micro-credit and other programs like the ones I describe in this report that are designed to improve the everyday life of the people. But without continued support and resources, any progress that has been made surely will be lost.

In the long term, development in Haiti requires good governance, a strong civil society, political stability and appropriate policies. But in the short term, Haitians need help now. Turning our backs on them should not be an option.