World aid response to Haiti quake falls short

MUCH of Haiti’s earthquake-hit population still live in dangerous conditions and the international aid response to the cholera outbreak has been insufficient, a critical health charity report claims today.

Cholera, which has killed 3,500 Haitians in recent months, is set to remain in the Caribbean country for years to come, it warns.

Ahead of the first anniversary this week since Haiti’s devastating earthquake, the Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) report says the international aid effort can be much improved.

In the gang-ridden and slum area of Martissant in west Port au Prince, one of the health agency’s hospitals has treated 4,000 suspected cholera cases since the outbreak last October.

Irish MSF aid worker Danielle Ferris, 36, from Malahide, Dublin, who has worked in Haiti since September last said: “It’s pretty terrible to see what’s happened to the country after the earthquake and now to see them go through cholera as well, and the election violence.”

Dispute over November’s presidential election has left Haiti in a limbo where the already inadequate action by the government has compounded the lack of aid coordination and security among the population.

The slum hospital regularly sees victims of violence, in an area beset with gangs and even kidnap of aid staff.

“We get quite a lot of conflict between the gangs as well as police and the gangs. We get gunshot victims from robberies, random acts of violence and machete attacks,” said the Irish MSF project coordinator.

The MSF report points to a delay in co-operation from the Government in setting up a hospital for pregnant women and that insufficient support is being provided to health workers battling against the cholera epidemic outside the capital.

“The aid response has been unable to fully meet these needs; throughout the year the assistance provided, whether for shelter, clean drinking water or cholera treatment, was not enough.

“There is much about the international aid system that can be improved . . . cholera is now expected to remain in the country for years to come,” the report adds.

At the end of last month, the Ministry of Health had reported 150,000 suspected cases of the deadly disease.

The streets of Port au Prince are still filled with rubble, with estimates suggesting that, since the earthquake, only 5% of debris and collapsed buildings have been removed.

With over one million people in over 1,000 camps across Haiti, the security of families is also under threat, especially ahead of the release of an investigation into the election results this week which could see large-scale protests.

‘All I want is a better life for my family’

YOUNG mother Pierre Polie stares into the dusty ground as her naked, crying children cling to her legs. The 18-year-old Haitian mother has been sleeping in a 2x2 metre hut in the slums of Port au Prince with her two sons for almost a year.

“It’s safe but sometimes there’s violence. I want the government and aid groups to give me a home to live in,” said Ms Polie.

This is the reality for many Haitian families. Having survived the earthquake, nearly a year ago to the day, and battling against the infection of a cholera outbreak that has killed thousands, families are still housed in towns of tents and tarpaulins.

In the Concern-run camp of St Bernadette in western Port au Prince where some 506 families have taken refuge, the Irish charity has provided shelter, water, cooking utensils and hygiene kits. But conditions are taking their toll on the frustrated families inside the camp.

Ms Polie added: “What I want is to move from here and have a better life.”

While the streets of the capital are less chaotic and the bodies of earthquake victims have been removed since I last visited Haiti just days after the earthquake last year, the city’s population is still on its knees.

The emergence of sexual violence against women in camps has led to Concern providing inhabitants with “rape whistles” to warn of attacks and the use of solar-powered lights for safety at night.

Many streets in the downtown area still have overflowing sewers filled with rubbish while mounds of rubble and collapsed buildings lie untouched. The stigma of cholera in camps has also seen infected families shunned and even chased from their tents because of the lack of knowledge about the disease among communities.

Some NGO estimates suggest the numbers infected could rise to close to half a million this year, unless the outbreak is curbed.

Ahead of the national day of commemoration this Wednesday, a year since the quake, there is even a feeling that not enough is being done by aid agencies.

Out of the over $5 billion (€3.8bn) pledged by international donors, it is thought only as much as $2bn has so far reached Haiti.

For many, the basic needs such as food and water are still a priority. Housing, jobs and education would still be considered a luxury among the near one million homeless.

Later this week, businessmen, entrepreneurs and state leaders are expected to arrive for the earthquake anniversary. Let’s hope they take a sober look at the dangerous and dismal conditions that plague this Caribbean island and its courageous people and make some simple, but brave, decisions. Give more help.