PORT-AU-PRINCE–(ENEWSPF)– One month after the catastrophic quake that leveled most of Port-au-Prince, CARE and other aid agencies are in a race against time to get people waterproof shelter and decent sanitation before the rainy season hits at the end of March. Most people crammed into overcrowded temporary camps are huddled under bed sheets strung between poles or sticks – hardly enough to block out the sun, but useless against the torrential downpours of Haiti's rainy season.
"The coming month will be all about the rain. We need to get these people waterproof shelter. Acute respiratory infection is rising, because they are sleeping on the bare ground, and they get damp at dawn from the dew," said Lizzie Babister, senior shelter advisor for CARE in Haiti. "Drainage will be the next issue, partly because of excrement near the sites, and partly because they'll have rivers running through their shelters. It's going to be a real push to get this done in time for the rainy season at the end of March."
...
Sanitation is the other half of the ongoing crisis in post-quake Haiti. While organizations like CARE are building latrines in the camps, we are doing "sanitation triage" in camps built on hills or areas without access to latrines, said Paul Shanahan, CARE's senior water and sanitation advisor.
"We're still fighting the latrine battle in the sanitation war, but we've also started the second line of defense, which is going into the camps and removing the excrement that is piling up. It's not pretty, but it needs to be done," said Shanahan. "Our biggest fear at this point is the outbreak of disease. It's one thing to see half your family die in an earthquake, but it's another to watch the other half die slowly from diarrhea. It's more than any flesh and blood can bear." (From ENWSPF, sourced from Care)
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Sean Penn is in the house!
Sean Penn is on Larry King, talking about his three week trip to Haiti. I'd like to make fun of him, but as soon as people talk about how Haiti is, I lose my sense of humour. He says Haiti is two weeks away from the rainy season, when things will take another turn for the worse.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Where would I be without you?
4 comments:
Sanitation Triage .... shows how basic the needs are when everything's been stripped away. I have some MAF fundraising leaflets to distribute and I've been "undermotivated" to get it done. But now I see how important it is. Ta
Sean Penn was on the flight with John Edwards into Haiti. Which means their celebrity got them out of taking the long haul in from the Dominican Republic like all the regular people are having to do. Which rather makes me sick to my stomach, honestly. Also, really and truly, what did Penn and Edwards have to offer Haiti? People are acting like "good intentions" are all that's needed, which is how we get stories about ten American missionaries trying to take undocumented not-really-orphans out of the country. I wish ignorant people would just back off. It's not like *anyone and everyone* is needed at a time like this. Many of us would just be in the way, when it comes down to it.
Oops -- I posted from my store's gmail. Try this again...
Kristin - Oh yes, I agree. It's just that, the content of what he was saying overwhelmed my let's-mock-the-celebrity-do-gooders instinct.
Post a Comment