Partnering Amidst Devastation

After driving around earlier in the week, I am realizing more and more the extent to which the earthquake has affected Haiti. The devastation that happened downtown is much worse than other parts of the city due to poor infrastructure and how old the buildings were. It was really shocking for me to see the number of shops and homes that have been completely lost, one after another, and not like in other parts of the city. The biggest thing that people need right now are jobs and some inputs in order to restart business and built back all that that they have lost. It is only the people that had some savings that are able to start reconstructing their lives right away. After two weeks in Haiti, it’s becoming harder to comprehend the amount of pain families are experiencing. I became very ill this week and was up all night with severe stomach trouble which is making it hard to cope with the long work days and images that surround me… I have decided to take some time out and rest today.

In Delmas area

We visited the Delmas area of the city. This was the worst destruction I've seen so far. Buildings down everywhere. How the earth can contort and demolish the buildings is astounding.

Every open area of the city - parks, schools, etc. - has now become tent cities. People have strung up sheets to try and create some shade from the sun. And there are thousands of people packed into small spaces. I don't think there were a lot of open spaces in the city to begin with. People are receiving little to no services - clean water, health, food, etc. - at many of these sites.

We're working with the government for the Delmas area of the city to get life-saving support to people in these tent cities. We want to create some temporary structures for families who are now homeless and living in tent cities. There are also those people who have remained close to their flattened homes, reluctant to leave. We have to make these people feel comfortable enough they can leave their homes and get access to water, food, medical care and shelter elsewhere.

On a last note, people in Port-Au-Prince are trying to get on with life. Markets are opening. People are selling things (what there is to sell), trying to get water. Occasionally laughing. It's the rest of our (the world) responsibility to help them do that successfully.