CNN 2010-01-18

Today, we are exploring the connection between your education and your community's economy. Thank you for spending part of your Thursday with CNN Student News. I'm Carl Azuz. Let's go.

Massive devastation 1, severe loss of life, uncertainty 2 about what to do or where to go: That is what is facing survivors 3 of Tuesday's deadly earthquake in Haiti. The Caribbean island nation is home to around 9 million people. The Red Cross says that one out of every three of those residents was affected 4 by this quake.

Yesterday, Haiti's president told CNN that it was too early to know how many people had died in the tremor 5, although he had heard reports ranging from 30,000 to 100,000. To make matters worse, he said it's difficult to help people who have been injured because many hospitals were destroyed by the earthquake. Several Haitian officials have said that all of Port-au-Prince, the capital city, is either damaged or destroyed. The quake struck about 10 miles from the city. One CNN reporter on the scene described the devastation as "horrifying 6 and disturbing." In downtown Port-au-Prince, he said, "block after block after block, there is not one building."

The country's president is calling on the international community for aid, saying, "We need doctors, we need medicine, we need medical help." The U.S., along with nations from Europe, Asia and South America, as well as global relief agencies -- all of them have already begun sending relief workers and assistance to Haiti. President Obama has pledged that America will have a major role in the relief efforts.

The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble 7 and to deliver the humanitarian 8 relief: the food, water and medicine that Haitians will need in the coming days.

Haiti is part of the island of Hispaniola, along with the Dominican Republic. And that island has a fault line that runs along its southern side. That's why scientists have warned that Hispaniola was at risk for a major earthquake. Haiti itself is a little smaller than the state of Maryland. It's the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 80 percent of its population lives under the poverty line, and that economic situation might create additional challenges as the country tries to recover from this natural disaster.

That recovery process: likely to be long and difficult. We've already mentioned that several countries and agencies have launched relief efforts. But if you want to get involved, head to the Spotlight 9 section at CNNStudentNews.com and click on the "Impact Your World" link. You're going to find a list of organizations that can use your help.