Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 9:35p.m.
Yesterday we went to Port-au-Prince. We had to weave our way through back roads, around rubble, and over cracks and dips in the roads just to get to the airport. Though I had seen the devastation on TV, it was as though my eyes were new to the sights. House after house, building after building, walls, roads…collapsed, broken, lying in pieces. And it seemed so random: many a house untouched stood adjacent to another that had been flattened. I didn’t even want to think how many people had been inside – how many could still be under there.
We stopped at two tent camps to talk with people and take pictures. At one, the oh-so-intelligent Americans had decided to drive into the center of it, with an open truck full of food. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Of course, there were about twenty soldiers standing around the truck with guns, so they were managing to keep some kind of order. The other camp, which was farther from the airport, had received no aid that we knew of. Every single person in it had lost at least one child in the quake. They were hungry, thirsty, tired, and discouraged. We saw many of these refugee camps; the people had not seen one relief worker and were left to scrounge for their own food and water and construct their own makeshift tents with a few sticks, some ratty blankets and thin sheets.
It made me sick to my stomach when after we drove through these desolate areas we pulled into the airport and saw boxes piled ten feet high, fields and containers full of food, just sitting there. People come to help for a few days, stacking and unloading boxes of supplies, probably most never venture inside the city, then leave again, after giving themselves a little pat on the back, saying, “Look what I did for poor little Haiti.”
Perhaps I sound bitter…no, I am not bitter, only sorely disappointed. Everyone seems to think that this country, which was the poorest country in the western hemisphere even before the earthquake, and that had a broken and corrupt government already, will pick itself up within weeks. This is not only extremely optimistic, it is unrealistic. It will be years, decades, before Haiti will be on its feet, not again, but for the first time.
However, in the midst of this discouraging situation, there is hope. This is an opportunity for Haiti to change for the better, now that the rest of the world has finally noticed her. I only pray that the rest of the world will not fumble its chance to help.
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