( CNN ) -- On January 12 , I went to basketball practice and then spent time with a kids ' basketball league . The whole time my phone was in the car . When I finally looked at it , I had about 50 messages saying , `` Have you been watching the news about Haiti ? '' It still haunts me to think that , as I went about my business that day , my homeland shuddered , crashed , and crumbled . More than 220,000 of my fellow Haitians died . Another 1.6 million were instantly left homeless -- most with nothing but the clothes on their backs . About 800,000 of them are children . Haiti has never been an easy place to be a kid . When I was growing up in Port-au-Prince , I felt lucky because I always had at least one meal a day . Some of my friends were starving . But we all shared what we had with each other . We figured out ways to have fun with nothing but a small patch of dirt to play in . We got along with very little , and we told ourselves that -- if we got just the slightest opportunity -- we would grab onto it and use it to do great things . That is what Haiti 's children need now . They need opportunity . They need our help . It is amazing what kids can endure . Haiti 's children have held the hands of parents as they lay crushed and dying beneath rubble . They 've lost families , best friends , homes , schools . They can survive all that . But they ca n't thrive without us stepping up . Right after the earthquake , the immediate and enormous generosity from people in the U.S. made such a difference in Haiti -- and it made me very proud to be part of this huge-hearted nation . Organizations like UNICEF , which I have partnered with for years through my Samuel Dalembert Foundation , were able to provide emergency relief that stopped another wave of disaster in the form of disease and starvation . In the last six months , UNICEF has been providing water , food , shelter , immunizations , medicines , child protection , and education supplies to hundreds of thousands of Haitian children and their families . But in many ways , the hard work is just beginning . And the need remains huge . Those 1.6 million people left homeless are still living in tents and makeshift shelters -- and hurricane season is fast approaching . More than one third of the spontaneous settlements that have been created lack adequate sanitation , and this can make kids ill and lead to major disease outbreaks . People in settlements still rely on water being trucked in every day , and many do n't get enough considering the near 100-degree heat . Learn more about helping Haiti at Impact Your World . Education is going to make all the difference to Haiti 's future . Given the opportunity to learn , the children who survived the earthquake will grow up to transform their nation and lead it towards prosperity . But before the earthquake , only four in ten kids went to school , and that number is even lower now . Teachers are also absent because so many lost their homes and are now displaced . I was lucky enough to get the opportunity I dreamed of as a child in Haiti . And I started my foundation because I wanted to give other kids that chance , too . It 's my deep belief that those who are lucky enough to have success in this life should do something -- anything -- to help others . So I ask : Even if you 've already been generous , do n't forget Haiti now that it 's dropped from the news headlines . Organizations like UNICEF are there for kids , but they need funds to rebuild schools , train teachers , set up feeding centers , immunize against disease , dig wells , install water pumps ... There are hundreds of thousands of very resilient kids in Haiti who are surviving despite all they 've been through . They can endure a lot . Parents dying . Living in tents in 100-degree weather and rainstorms . Hungry bellies . But we do n't want a nation of kids just barely surviving -- we want a nation of leaders . Haiti 's children ca n't become leaders if they do n't go to school . They ca n't become leaders if they 're so hungry they ca n't concentrate . Or if they have to spend their days selling sodas in the street to make a few pennies . They ca n't become leaders if the water they drink makes them chronically sick . Or if they never get the vaccines that will keep deadly diseases away . If you join me in giving Haiti 's kids the opportunities they deserve , I can promise they will do great things . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Samuel Dalembert .
As Haiti recovers from January quake , children bear a heavy burden , says Samuel Dalembert . He says it 's important that kids not only survive , but are educated and kept healthy . Dalembert recalls growing up poor in Haiti , sharing with friends who had less . He and other kids vowed if they got any opportunity , they would use it to do great things , he says .