Haiti earthquake: six months on

The smell of death has perished in Haiti, but once in a while a missing person is still found in the ruins. However, everyday life is taking over again. Except a few hundred soldiers working in the docks, most helpers have gone back to their own countries again. The aid agencies that stayed are not focusing on emergency relief anymore, but on long term projects.

Haïti, a poor country as it was before the earthquake is now immersed in even more misery. There is a lot of money to help the survivors, but because of lack of leadership most of this money is stashed. The Haitians are disappointed because of all the waiting. There were millions promised for rebuilding, but up to today most survivors of the earthquake are still living in shelters made of wood and waste.

guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/10/haiti-earthquake-aid-survivors

My reaction:

After a disaster of this size it probably very hard to get the help organised in the right way. Nevertheless, the survivors have gone through a lot and are in desperate need of a little hope and looking forward to something. Instead, they are still living in their self made shelters and they are trying to make some money by selling small things. It seems that once again poor people are the victims of today’s bureaucracy.