Out and About

We rose early, partly due to the activities of night time friends but also because of time difference and a need to freshen up as best we could. As we were situated in the special police (CIMO) car park, we had the luxury of being able to use their facilities, which included a flushing toilet and a shower. Fresh was certainly the operative word as I stood under the cold water to wash my hair, but it was a most welcome moment and we could face the day clean and bright like the morning sun that was rising over Port Au Prince. When we returned to the tent, children from the surrounding tent cities were already lining up for "scholar's breakfast". This consists of breakfast bar or porridge and a drink; essential for allowing children chance to stave off hunger and concentrate at school. One by one they signed their names in the book as some of our boys stood by on duty to serve them.

Today we were off to visit orphanages, the purpose being threefold; to take some of the supplies that we had brought with us, to spend time with the children and ascertain their longer term needs and for doctor Abner to check them over and prescribe any medication where necessary. It was the most glorious day, with bright sunshine by this time and for the first time, the extent of the earthquake damage was fully visible as the car valiantly traversed the city.

It is hard to fully describe the state of the roads and buildings and also extremely difficult to process what you see unfold before your eyes as you take it all in. It seemed surreal on many levels. The mounds of rubble appear to have barely moved since the disaster struck a year ago and yet around them life carries on..Life in all its fullness too, with street sellers exhibiting their wares, groups of children in uniforms off to school, vehicles coming from every direction and people, people, people...all bravely trying to go about their daily life. And all this is played out against a backdrop which, to all the world seems like a Universal Studios set for the latest disaster movie. As far as I could make out, each and every road in the city has been affected. One house down here, another two doors down...then a shop, which has lost its ground floor and the remaining two floors perched almost happily on top, as if somebody might just step outside and walk off down the street at any moment. Then; more rubble, more damage, more disarray.




As I surveyed it all through the car window, my feelings oscillated wildly. On one level there was a sense of disbelief, then horror, then a matter of fact assessment of the damage, and finally a sense of real awe. What incredible resilience and strength displayed by the Haitian people that they can carry on in such conditions. My mind swiftly returned to home - how would we cope in this situation? Given our response to an unexpected winter snowstorm in the UK which all but closes the country down, I think we would have to dig very deeply indeed...

Fact:

According to the UN Development Programme (UNDP), almost 200,000 buildings collapsed in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, creating an estimated 10 million cubic metres of debris. This is enough rubble to fill London's Wembley Stadium two-and-a-half times over. To date about 2 million cubic metres ( one fifth) has been cleared. Jessica Faieta, the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) senior country director in Haiti acknowledges  that there was a certain amount of "paralysis" regarding rubble removal during the first half of 2010. Haiti's political instability before and after the country's elections in November contributed to that paralysis, she says, and it took time to choose which neighbourhoods should be cleared first - a decision that has now been made. The political instability has also been exacerbated by the fact that 17% of the country’s civil servants were killed in the earthquake and that the national records office was destroyed.