Last night I had the most heavenly dreams which feel like an antidote to the hell I witness during the day. I dreamt that Robert and I were celebrating our 25th anniversary and Robert’s 60th birthday with a massive gathering of ALL our friends and family (including those who have died) and we were all in the Pacific Ocean or on the beach in a Big Sur bodysurfing with thousands of seals or bobbing with beguiling sea otters. Everyone was so happy and having so much fun together. It was absolute bliss. . .
In stark contrast, during the past two days I have had the opportunity to walk down into the camp/tent city to work with community health agents from J/P HRO. Despite nine months having passed since the earthquake, about 50,000 people are still crammed cheek to jowl on what used to be a golf course. As I walk in the sweltering heat past ‘houses’ (which have been upgraded from random tarps and boxes to 2x4 structures with well secured heavy duty tarps by teams of JP workers) on sand bags lining drainage ditches, I see plenty of astounding images.
However, no photos are allowed. A few word pictures will have to suffice: Small children playing with a piece of short string and a small plastic bag as a makeshift kite; women setting up their beauty parlors for the day; makeshift storefronts selling services of recharging cell phones; plenty of people just sitting on their stoops. . .
There’s a market “street” which has been established now. During the nightly torrential downpours I think of all those people in the camp as I lay dry, safe, snug and clean in my cosy tent.
J/P provides medical care, rebuilding and demolition and rubble clearing and community services, including a school which opened this week for the camp. Other aid agencies in the camp include Save the Children, OXFAM, IMC, Handicap International and the UN. All these entities have obviously improved the quality of life considerably for this population, but it is overwhelming how much more work there is to do.
Helen
Cholera Update:
This Oct. 25th New York Times article is a pretty good description of the scene at St-Marc, one of the areas affected by the cholera outbreak: Amid Cholera Outbreak in Haiti, Fear and Misery by Deborah Sontag
Also, have a look at this CNN interview with Sean Penn, co-founder of J/P HRO.
No comments:
Post a Comment