Friday, February 12, 2010

Haiti: The emergency phase is not over - news - MSF UK

You have seen and possibly even experienced disasters before. This disaster is different.

Even here in the States we have recent experience with tragic national catastrophe. But to understand the current situation in Haiti, we have to let go of our assumptions about what happens afterwards.  The disaster after the disaster.

Imagine the process of recovering from a national catastrophe if there were no military, police, or other government agencies to provide some semblance of order. Imagine if there were no well-equipped local hospitals to which injured victims could be evacuated. Imagine trying to mount a disaster recovery effort in an area that is not only densely populated, but which also has no power, communication, or transportation infrastructure.

For example, I reached Brian Lloyd (Harvest Field Ministries) in Haiti this morning by cell to ask about donated solar power equipment that we are shipping for him.  I learned that before the quake, residents of urban PaP who were actually connected to the grid were lucky to have power for 2-3 hours each day. Today, in this city of over 2 million, the electrical grid is still shut down one month after the earthquake because it is in shambles and completely unsafe.  We kept the conversation short to conserve Brian's battery.

Imagine being a survivor. No home. No news. No phone. No way to get or give information about what's going on. No emergency services. No services of any kind.  Unreliable access to food or water at best.  For a week. Two weeks.  A month?

This post is already longer than I intended, and I still need you to read the article linked below.  It conveys with more authority than I can how desperate the situation still is.  After you've read the article, head over to our Equipment and Supply Needs page or our Volunteer page and think about how you can help.  Join in.  We are in this for the long haul.  Please share this info and the article link.

Haiti: The emergency phase is not over - news - MSF UK

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