Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Haiti 3 weeks later

Three weeks after the devastating earthquake in Haiti there are still bottlenecks to aid. With all the outpouring of donations, can't fifty people be hired to figure out how to coordinate getting tents, medical assistance, food, water, job applications to the people that need it. I understand everything takes time. There is so much destruction and so much need. An island with Haiti's infrastructure is a huge challenge I'm sure but come on. During times of war, bases are set up for thousands of men. They get latrines, electricity, water, refrigeration, beds, televisions, mess halls. How do those things get there? Any where, even the mountains of far away lands.
I am humbled by the amount of help Haiti is getting. It is a small island and there is all this concern and folks sacrificing money, time, energy, blood to help Haitians. I couldn't watch the telethons with the slide show of the tragedy and the songs. I saw something breifly and started crying. I want to stay hopeful. I wonder with this much trouble still just to get food how will it be rebuilt.

The UN has started a new program to get food distrubted in a more organized fashion. They haven given women a special coupon that entitles them to a big bag of rice. Only women get the coupons which of course has some men upset because they head their families. The UN feels giving the rice to the women ensures the folks that need will get.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/31/haiti.food.aid/index.html


A woman who had been buried for six days, her life now.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/02/03/haiti.buried.six.days/index.html?hpt=C2

A great video by Frederic Dupoux. He lives in Haiti and has been giving assistance, sharing information with all of us.
http://www.zaboka.net/2010/02/what-you-dont-see-in-the-news/

The US stopped evacuating critically injured Haitians.


The US restarted evacuating critically injured Haitians.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/01/haiti.earthquake/index.html?iref=allsearch