PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Dominicans, with the help of NATO blue helmets from Bolivia deployed to the area to assure order is maintained, have
distributed thousands of plates of food only steps away from a shanty
town in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince
This marks the first concrete action on the ground that we have
witnessed on the devastated streets since we arrived in the capital. We
can hear a few helicopters and planes that are flying over Haiti but we
have yet to see rescue workers in the area we have been touring for
hours. Haitians are dying and they can't wait anymore.
The lineup is made up of hundreds and hundreds of people. Priority is
given to women and children. The blue helmets guide them towards a
trailer where a man gives them a good quantity of brown rice in a thick
sauce. Many people show relieved smiles. In the midst of chaos, this
scene is reassuring.
All morning, we patrolled one of the worst areas of the city. All of the
buildings along the Salines Boulevard have been destroyed. The horror of
the day before is multiplied by 10. Numerous bloated corpses are
decomposing in the sun. The stench of the rotting bodies is unbearable.
Other bodies remain trapped in the rubble. We see one body under the
porch of a hotel that is partially destroyed, stuck between two
collapsed floors. Others are piled up in the middle of the street.
There are people everywhere. We move through the city honking the horn,
zig-zagging our truck through ruins and electrical wires.
Suddenly, gunshots! One police officer, who is alone, is firing warning shots into the air to push back the people, some armed with wood sticks, that are
willing to do anything and everything to get their hands on valuables.
One man is shot in the chest. He is lying in a cart. He also has a
serious arm injury. He probably won't survive, as there is no hospital,
doctors or rescue. Haitians assembled around the man point fingers at
the police. Tension is rising in the capital. Haitian police are
insufficient. Food and water are becoming increasingly rare and people
fight each other for a gallon of fuel. Our chauffeur paid about $100 for
10 gallons.
Chickens, pigs and goats chew on everything they find. Makeshift
shelter, made with canvas, pieces of wood and sheet metal, surprisingly
are still standing. Still, young businessmen busy themselves making new
shelters.
Thousands of Haitians march towards the unknown with a bag of clothing
or a small suitcase. In most cases, that's all they have left. Haiti was
already very poor; now, it's the third world more than ever.
