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Words are futile when it comes to the tragedy of Haiti, a country that for the last couple of hundred years has fallen victim to colonialisation, coups, take-overs, superstition, gang violence and obscene levels of corruption. Clearly the country doesn’t have the infrastructure to deal with a fraction of what happened a week ago, and thank heavens that the international community has rallied round and is doing their best in difficult circumstances to sort things out. Thank heavens also for the millions of ordinary people who are making donations to the various relief funds.
Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes and are camped outside in makeshift and unsanitary conditions. Many, if not most, lost members of their families along with their livelihoods in just seconds. At this time, around a third of the population is desperate for water, food and shelter and already mob violence and looting has emerged as desperate people try to survive in what is still a living hell in parts of the country.
The number of reporters that seem to be on the ground at the moment is somewhat surprising. You have only to scan the news channels and newspapers to get idea of their numbers, and I have heard one commentator say that, while their presence brings the plight of Haiti into the public eye, there does seems to be a lot of them. Where are these reporters staying and who provides their food and drink?
Another surprise is that just sixty miles away from the centre of this disaster, cruise ships berth at Labadee, a privately and heavily guarded resort owned by a cruise line, where passengers enjoyed watersports, barbecues, and shopping for trinkets at a craft market. Even though the cruise line has pledged $1 million dollars to relief efforts as well as giving water, canned and other foods, you have to wonder whether such calls are appropriate at a time when bodies lie in the streets not far away and where the country is on the brink of anarchy.
But, given the immensity of this disaster, which the UN says is far worse than that of the tsunami, these questions may be trivial by comparison. The important thing is to help the poor people of Haiti get water, food and shelter and some stability.
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Words are futile when it comes to the tragedy of Haiti, a country that for the last couple of hundred years has fallen victim to colonialisation, coups, take-overs, superstition, gang violence and obscene levels of corruption. Clearly the country doesn’t have the infrastructure to deal with a fraction of what happened a week ago, and thank heavens that the international community has rallied round and is doing their best in difficult circumstances to sort things out. Thank heavens also for the millions of ordinary people who are making donations to the various relief funds.
Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes and are camped outside in makeshift and unsanitary conditions. Many, if not most, lost members of their families along with their livelihoods in just seconds. At this time, around a third of the population is desperate for water, food and shelter and already mob violence and looting has emerged as desperate people try to survive in what is still a living hell in parts of the country.
The number of reporters that seem to be on the ground at the moment is somewhat surprising. You have only to scan the news channels and newspapers to get idea of their numbers, and I have heard one commentator say that, while their presence brings the plight of Haiti into the public eye, there does seems to be a lot of them. Where are these reporters staying and who provides their food and drink?
Another surprise is that just sixty miles away from the centre of this disaster, cruise ships berth at Labadee, a privately and heavily guarded resort owned by a cruise line, where passengers enjoyed watersports, barbecues, and shopping for trinkets at a craft market. Even though the cruise line has pledged $1 million dollars to relief efforts as well as giving water, canned and other foods, you have to wonder whether such calls are appropriate at a time when bodies lie in the streets not far away and where the country is on the brink of anarchy.
But, given the immensity of this disaster, which the UN says is far worse than that of the tsunami, these questions may be trivial by comparison. The important thing is to help the poor people of Haiti get water, food and shelter and some stability.
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