Haiti - Update # 2

Haiti Health Update #2

It’s been nearly 3 weeks since an earthquake devastated Haiti’s capital, and survivors are hungry. It’s far from normal in the city’s streets, and many places residents used to go for food remain buried under the rubble. So they eat what they can find.

Aid from abroad is arriving

Rice, water, ready-to-eat meals, beans and other staples have begun pouring in to the capital city’s airport. But distribution is a problem and much of the supplies aren’t making it to the neediest people. Obstructed roadways, logistics, too few vehicles, and too many unscrupulous thugs all cause delivery delays.

Patient Haitians spend hours waiting for deliveries of food and water. When it finally arrives, they sometimes have to fight to get their fair share. Food riots and outbreaks are frequent, and supplies often are unfairly distributed with the strongest taking the lion’s share. Then they turn around and charge outrageous fees for food that was distributed for free moments ago. Some pay, but many can’t afford to so hunger persists.

People need food to survive, and to heal. They also need it for strength. There’s a lot of clearing and rebuilding to do and the work won’t be easy. In situations like Haiti’s, the most vulnerable usually are the most taken advantage of. It’s already happening with food, and it’s also happening to orphans.

No one knows how many there are, only that there are a lot. Efforts are being made to gather newly parent-less and homeless children of all ages, and take them to safety. Otherwise they risk being taken and sold into slavery, or prostitution.


United States food aid waits to be delivered outside a U.S camp.

Airlifts cease

Wounds are still being treated and the demand for medical help remains great. But resources at Haitian hospitals are stretched thin. Some of the most critically-injured Haitians were lucky enough to be airlifted out of the country, but it’s difficult to say how much longer this will go on. Airlifts were suspended after Florida, which had received hundreds of the injured Haitians, made an urgent plea to cease transports into the state, claiming it didn’t have the resources to care for so many.

The noticeable effects of amputated limbs are all around. Estimates put the number of limbs amputated because of irreparable injury or infection at around 2,000. Entire wards have been set aside for amputees who need time and a safe place to heal. Upon their release, all will face difficulties adapting to life without a limb, without a job, without family, and without so much. The lucky ones will enroll in rehabilitation programs, and receive after care and prosthetics. But the magnitude of the problem and the number or people requiring help will likely overwhelm many organizations.

Money won’t fix this problem

As news crews pack up and leave, the spotlight on Haiti and its suffering will dim. Countries will still send money, and lots of it. But like the food, most will end up in the wrong hands and never help those who truly need it most.