International donors have earmarked more than US$400 million for relief in Haiti after the massive Jan. 12 earthquake walloped its capital, leaving Port-au-Prince in chaos.

The Haitian capital saw its presidential palace destroyed in the 7.0-magnitude quake, the UN peacekeeping headquarters collapsed and 4,000 inmates escape from a prison that fell to the ground. An estimated 300,000 people are homeless and thousands of victims have been buried in mass graves. The international Red Cross believes the death toll could be as high as 50,000 by the time all of the bodies have been recovered.

For now, the focus of foreign investment is in keeping the people who survived the quake alive and well.

Pam Aung Thin, the national director the Canadian Red Cross, told CTV News Channel that her organization would use its donations -- which reached $10.9 million as of Friday afternoon -- to meet help meet the basic needs of the survivors.

"It goes for meeting the basic humanitarian needs of people following a disaster," Thin said during an interview from Ottawa on Friday afternoon.

"So, initial efforts are search-and-rescue and then we move to making sure that we provide shelter, food, clean water, blankets and making sure that people are supported that way."

Also Friday, World Vision said it had raised $2.5 million for relief in Haiti, and the Humanitarian Coalition -- made up of CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam Quebec and Save the Children -- estimated it could provide $1.5 million in pledges. Another $750,000 was committed to UNICEF.

But Haiti, often described as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has long depended on aid from foreign governments, charities and private donors, well before Tuesday's massive quake.

The country of nine million has received billions from the UN, U.S., and other countries, including Canada, which is Haiti's second-largest bilateral donor. Only Afghanistan receives more Canadian dollars from Ottawa than Haiti does.

In general, the Canadian government has provided long-term development assistance to Haiti, a country with which it has held diplomatic relations since 1954.

Most recently, Canada committed $555 million to Haiti over a five-year period, according to figures posted to the Canadian International Development Agency website. The money is supposed to go towards building government institutions, improving access to basic services and to make social and economic improvements over the 2006-2011 period.

Private Canadian citizens have also been kind to Haiti, giving to a multitude of charities that target its people.

A search of Canada's online Charities Directorate finds 49 active charities with the word Haiti included in their name. Forty-six of these Canadian charities filed tax returns last year, a total declaring more than $7.9 million in the 2008 tax year.

In Washington, U.S. lawmakers have given at least $800 million to Haiti through the U.S. Agency for International Development in its 2004-2008 budget years.

At least $700 million more was pledged for Haiti by governments, international givers and charities at an April 2009 donors conference. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, a United Nations special envoy to the country, told the U.N. Security Council in September that he was "100 percent committed to delivering tangible results to the U.N. and most importantly the people of Haiti."

And in the wake of Tuesday's disaster, U.S. President Obama pledged an "immediate" $100 million in aid, an investment that will is likely to be further buttressed by American taxpayers. That was on top of $100 million from the World Bank and a pledge from Canada to offer up to $50 million.

But even with all the money Haiti has received in the past, its people have still suffered.

The country's standard of living is dismal, with Haitian people typically living on less than $2 per day. Nearly half its population is illiterate and its government is unstable. Even before the devastating earthquake, few homes had safe drinking water, sewage disposal or electricity.

A Gallup survey conducted last December found that 60 per cent of respondents had times when they didn't have enough money to buy food in the last year. And 51 per cent of those surveyed said there were times when they couldn't afford shelter.

"Attention on Haiti is often focused in times of disaster but not necessarily in the long-term," said Rich Thorsten, director of international programs for Water.org, a charity working to provide safe drinking water and sewage treatment to Haitians. "Funding that has been available does not necessarily go toward basic infrastructure like water and sanitation."

The Haitian government doesn't use its own resources for sanitation, and instead depends on charities, Thorsten said. In addition, international groups often do not coordinate, and there are also problems with security, corruption and political stability, he said.

"It is very important to keep track of the spending, and so when we work with partner organizations we make sure they have detailed accounting systems," he said. Supplies must be guarded, he added.

With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press