|
Hi Rita, hope you are ok today. I agree with you, it must be devastating to see your family members starving to death. I think there is still stuff in some shops if it's accessible and maybe people in places which weren't damaged much have stocks which they are selling, also stuff can get in from Dom. Republic and maybe coming in away from main roads and being sneaked in.
Some miraculous recoveries of a few more people, and I hope they manage to get through the ordeal of being trapped for so many days before rescue appeared.
Lizx
|
|
hi Rita,
I too have been very upset at all the aid being sent and more paid for by the generosity of people everywhere and it is stuck at the airport with people dying of starvation.
That's partly why I put this thread up because I think with the money going directly to this charity it would get used properly and quickly to purchase what they need. It seems things are available to be bought in some parts of Haiti and this place is being used as a hospital even tho it was only partly built and not due to open yet, the shell is being used as shelter and the people are being helped with medical aid there. As it it 70 miles from Port au Prince it is probably not going to get much aid as the main distribution will be near the capital. I don't understand why Obama hasn't spoken out and said why things have stalled so badly, the aid has been there for days now and still packed up, a lot of it. At least they are doing drops from helicopters now so a little help is getting further afield, but how awful that because of the holds ups, many more have died waiting to be rescued or died because of lack of medicine, water etc
Lizx
|
|
I have put this on to explain a bit more about why Haiti is so poor and it's so hard to get the aid moved around. We live such privileged lives compared to the way these people lived before the quake, maybe their future might become better once they have got over such a tragic disaster, the world will be more aware and hopefully help them set up a better way to live.
---
Norwich health worker's tears for Haiti
SARAH HALL
19 January 2010 15:00
A Norfolk health worker has spoken out about her experience in crisis country Haiti and why she believes it will be so hard for the country to recover from such its devastating earthquake.
Annie Rangecroft, a senior paediatric physiotherapist at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, first visited Haiti in February 2009 to help build an orphanage and hospital.
She specialises in working with disabled children so was also there to help families learn to live with disabilities.
The 28-year-old got involved with the Haiti Hospital Appeal charity through her local church, the Gateway Vineyard in Norwich, and returned twice last year to the country to continue the work.
The hospital is based in the country's second largest city, Cap-Haitien, about 70 miles north from Port-au-Prince, where the earthquake struck. It was not due to open for another year but the shell of the building is now being used to treat refugees who are fleeing north for desperately-needed medical treatment.
Miss Rangecroft's friends, who run the hospital, have told her it is a “living hell” in Haiti. “They have made the hospital ready to treat injured people and more are turning up each day,” she said. “The staff are doing what they can but many have children missing themselves.
“It is absolutely heartbreaking to see what is happening out there. Before the earthquake, people were living in the most basic conditions, but now it is unthinkable what is happening to them.
“People live in primitive shacks surrounded by waste and rubble; most do not work and 98pc of the country has been deforested. It is extremely depressing. And roads are barely-constructed and full of pot-holes so it takes ages to travel anywhere, which is why it must be such a struggle to get aid to them.”
Haiti's government has been plagued by corruption since the beginning of its existence, and voodoo - comprising black magic curses - makes up much of the substance of Haitian religion.
It partially due to this religion that so many disabled children are abandoned because many regard them as “evil” or “cursed” and families are scared to care for them.
The deforestation is caused by the need for charcoal for cooking fuel. Rice is the main produce in Haiti with many too poor to eat and forced to eat “clay cookies” - literally made of mud - as they have no other food.
Miss Rangecroft said: “There have been a lot of sleepless nights and tears since the earthquake. To know a country so well and to have friends out there makes it so close to home and I will do anything I can to help.
“It is difficult to see how such a destitute country can survive this earthquake, but I hope it has made the world sit up and take notice of how much help these people need.”
To make a donation toi the hospital visit www.haitihospitalappeal.org and click on “donate”.
To donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee visit www.dec.org.uk.
|
