Every newly born Haitian child has a given inheritance: to struggle and to survive. Today, the struggle seems to be worst. Each family struggle to adopt in living inside a tent, where there is scarcity of water and sanitation is almost absent. Hunger has always been Haiti worst problem even before the earthquake. Most people living in slum areas are often forgotten in this tragedy. Government is almost absent. Foreign relief workers are worried of their safety inside the slum areas. It took me weeks before I could manage to bring help inside the parish.
Contrary to the report of tons of food aid, there were very few food lines available to the people. Many complained that food aid is not getting into them. In the parish, there are still many smaller evacuation camps that are not getting help at all. The obvious need today is food and water. But as long as people stay in tents, the needs will just keep increasing. Sanitation for one, I was lucky to have an organization working with me to provide latrines for the people in my parish. Proper tents and stronger quality of tarpaulins is desperately needed as people seem to be living in camps for many more months.
Weather in Haiti is unpredictable as the economic and political situation of the country. After three months, so many people still have no proper tents, most of them using only bed sheets to cover their heads. Their worst fear is rain. It had rained heavily and so many people were completely soaked inside their tents. Some evacuation camps suffered floods. However, aside from the rain, the heat is also unbearable. People complain that they cannot stay inside their tents during daytime when the sun is high. It was reported to me that a child was found dead inside a tent due to heat. The mother left the child alone inside the tent for some errand, after an hour she came back and found the child already dead. We started to educate families living in tents about the danger of heat to small children.
Donations we received from everywhere are use to provide food, water, clothes and tarpaulins to most families living in tents or in the streets. The parish has been blessed with few medical volunteers from the states. Their services had been a big relief to so many who hunger for medical care. Some were just happy and content to be told that are well and doing fine.
The Haitian people are resilient people. Their courage amidst misery is encouraging. I came here in Haiti full of dreams but I end up being blessed instead. Hope never gives up in Haiti. Amidst tragedy, they always find a way to get with it and look ahead. Hope will not surrender because we all believe here we are never alone in this difficult journey.
I beg everyone not to stop talking about Haiti. As the country is no longer at the world’s headline, we need people to rally behind us. The road to recovery is long and very difficult. We are grateful for the outpouring support we received from everywhere. Your generosity was a miracle. It sustains every surviving Haitian to face this ever grim reality. The task is yet unfinished. It is just a beginning. The momentum to recovery and hopeful future is high but we need so many hands to lift us high.
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