Haiti earthquake: Canape Vert

The Haiti earthquake on Tuesday 12 January destroyed towns and cities, made hundreds and thousands of people homeless. The affects of the earthquake are visible down every road you walk especially around the Canape Vert area. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 14/1/10.

Despair, fear, help that reaches Haiti, but not its people

Most of the bodies have been removed, but not those underneath the rubble. A heavy stench of corpses and excrement fills the air.

Piles of rubble everywhere

Many have been lost, those dear and less dear, the faceless, just like the ruined homes, unrecognisable, razed to the ground, without dignity. A country damned, and without a shred of luck.
One of the biggest fears, on the radio and in official conferences is that the Haitians, once more, are going to be perceived as incapable, unable to manage this emergency: people who do not deserve mercy, evil people who steal and rape in situations like this.

Reconstruction will take time, and if politicians allow it, there will be a country with some infrastructure, one hopes simply. Who believes it? We must believe, but we are skeptical…... See More... See More

Today, dismay and bewilderment. Even more, tomorrow

In all of this, what stands out is the habitual way the situation is being addressed.

Many have lost much, some everything, but it almost seems as if it was inevitable in a Haiti used to catastrophes, since the beginning, with the arrival of the “white man”, all the way up to the massacres, slavery, hurricanes, political coups, embargoes, floods, wildfires, dictatorships, foreign occupations, etc… and we complain about Haitians…

I saw people cry only on the night of the quake. Mostly parents who couldn’t find their children. Then nothing. Never. When I got to the refugee camps, I was greeted by smiles.. Even today, a week later, almost without any aid, a smile follows a smile, a genuine one. If they say there is violence, rape and rioting, it must be true, but I’ve seen very little of it, though I’ve traveled the city far and wide.
Life in Haiti is a gamble, and, after all, we know today exists the way it is, however, tomorrow, as it has always been, is only "si dye vlè" (God willing). And at times it seems like God is angry, and that He’s not willing…

The sense of helplessness is so strong because aid doesn’t get through, or too little of it does. The funny thing is that there seems to be more tension between the thousand or so members of the various aid organizations, then among the population. Then came the Americans, with the Marines and Coast Guard (!) among others, with their usual arrogance, verbal violence and aggressiveness, a real Godsend for pacifying the situation.

Beginning yesterday, a people used to dealing with catastrophe, like others in many different parts of the world, begin to deal with their winter, as they bear down and get back to work. Of course, only those who are able, in their own way, and with the means available. The market, was your regular everyday market.

Is this cause for joy?

I see it as a symbol for a population who knows that they cannot afford a moment for mourning, nor a break for themselves no one is ready to grant them.
Today’s situation is sad. Tomorrow’s is full of fear. The immediate future, when the emergency is over and the large mass of journalists who descended upon the city from one day to the next, as typically occurs in any disaster, have left (in 10 days?), then the real issues will rise to the surface for a situation that will become explosive.
Today, for the first time following the quake, clouds have appeared, gray and heavy.

Last night it started to rain.

I have a tent to sleep in, but I know few of us share this privilege.

Warm regards to everyone.

The Haiti earthquake on Tuesday 12 January destroyed towns and cities, made hundreds and thousands of people homeless. The affects of the earthquake are visible down every road you walk especially around the Canape Vert area. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 14/1/10.

Despair, fear, help that reaches Haiti, but not its people

Most of the bodies have been removed, but not those underneath the rubble. A heavy stench of corpses and excrement fills the air.

Piles of rubble everywhere

Many have been lost, those dear and less dear, the faceless, just like the ruined homes, unrecognisable, razed to the ground, without dignity. A country damned, and without a shred of luck.
One of the biggest fears, on the radio and in official conferences is that the Haitians, once more, are going to be perceived as incapable, unable to manage this emergency: people who do not deserve mercy, evil people who steal and rape in situations like this.

Reconstruction will take time, and if politicians allow it, there will be a country with some infrastructure, one hopes simply. Who believes it? We must believe, but we are skeptical…... See More... See More

Today, dismay and bewilderment. Even more, tomorrow

In all of this, what stands out is the habitual way the situation is being addressed.

Many have lost much, some everything, but it almost seems as if it was inevitable in a Haiti used to catastrophes, since the beginning, with the arrival of the “white man”, all the way up to the massacres, slavery, hurricanes, political coups, embargoes, floods, wildfires, dictatorships, foreign occupations, etc… and we complain about Haitians…

I saw people cry only on the night of the quake. Mostly parents who couldn’t find their children. Then nothing. Never. When I got to the refugee camps, I was greeted by smiles.. Even today, a week later, almost without any aid, a smile follows a smile, a genuine one. If they say there is violence, rape and rioting, it must be true, but I’ve seen very little of it, though I’ve traveled the city far and wide.
Life in Haiti is a gamble, and, after all, we know today exists the way it is, however, tomorrow, as it has always been, is only "si dye vlè" (God willing). And at times it seems like God is angry, and that He’s not willing…

The sense of helplessness is so strong because aid doesn’t get through, or too little of it does. The funny thing is that there seems to be more tension between the thousand or so members of the various aid organizations, then among the population. Then came the Americans, with the Marines and Coast Guard (!) among others, with their usual arrogance, verbal violence and aggressiveness, a real Godsend for pacifying the situation.

Beginning yesterday, a people used to dealing with catastrophe, like others in many different parts of the world, begin to deal with their winter, as they bear down and get back to work. Of course, only those who are able, in their own way, and with the means available. The market, was your regular everyday market.

Is this cause for joy?

I see it as a symbol for a population who knows that they cannot afford a moment for mourning, nor a break for themselves no one is ready to grant them.
Today’s situation is sad. Tomorrow’s is full of fear. The immediate future, when the emergency is over and the large mass of journalists who descended upon the city from one day to the next, as typically occurs in any disaster, have left (in 10 days?), then the real issues will rise to the surface for a situation that will become explosive.
Today, for the first time following the quake, clouds have appeared, gray and heavy.

Last night it started to rain.

I have a tent to sleep in, but I know few of us share this privilege.

Warm regards to everyone.

The Haiti earthquake on Tuesday 12 January destroyed towns and cities, made hundreds and thousands of people homeless. The affects of the earthquake are visible down every road you walk especially around the Canape Vert area. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 14/1/10.

Despair, fear, help that reaches Haiti, but not its people

Most of the bodies have been removed, but not those underneath the rubble. A heavy stench of corpses and excrement fills the air.

Piles of rubble everywhere

Many have been lost, those dear and less dear, the faceless, just like the ruined homes, unrecognisable, razed to the ground, without dignity. A country damned, and without a shred of luck.
One of the biggest fears, on the radio and in official conferences is that the Haitians, once more, are going to be perceived as incapable, unable to manage this emergency: people who do not deserve mercy, evil people who steal and rape in situations like this.

Reconstruction will take time, and if politicians allow it, there will be a country with some infrastructure, one hopes simply. Who believes it? We must believe, but we are skeptical…... See More... See More

Today, dismay and bewilderment. Even more, tomorrow

In all of this, what stands out is the habitual way the situation is being addressed.

Many have lost much, some everything, but it almost seems as if it was inevitable in a Haiti used to catastrophes, since the beginning, with the arrival of the “white man”, all the way up to the massacres, slavery, hurricanes, political coups, embargoes, floods, wildfires, dictatorships, foreign occupations, etc… and we complain about Haitians…

I saw people cry only on the night of the quake. Mostly parents who couldn’t find their children. Then nothing. Never. When I got to the refugee camps, I was greeted by smiles.. Even today, a week later, almost without any aid, a smile follows a smile, a genuine one. If they say there is violence, rape and rioting, it must be true, but I’ve seen very little of it, though I’ve traveled the city far and wide.
Life in Haiti is a gamble, and, after all, we know today exists the way it is, however, tomorrow, as it has always been, is only "si dye vlè" (God willing). And at times it seems like God is angry, and that He’s not willing…

The sense of helplessness is so strong because aid doesn’t get through, or too little of it does. The funny thing is that there seems to be more tension between the thousand or so members of the various aid organizations, then among the population. Then came the Americans, with the Marines and Coast Guard (!) among others, with their usual arrogance, verbal violence and aggressiveness, a real Godsend for pacifying the situation.

Beginning yesterday, a people used to dealing with catastrophe, like others in many different parts of the world, begin to deal with their winter, as they bear down and get back to work. Of course, only those who are able, in their own way, and with the means available. The market, was your regular everyday market.

Is this cause for joy?

I see it as a symbol for a population who knows that they cannot afford a moment for mourning, nor a break for themselves no one is ready to grant them.
Today’s situation is sad. Tomorrow’s is full of fear. The immediate future, when the emergency is over and the large mass of journalists who descended upon the city from one day to the next, as typically occurs in any disaster, have left (in 10 days?), then the real issues will rise to the surface for a situation that will become explosive.
Today, for the first time following the quake, clouds have appeared, gray and heavy.

Last night it started to rain.

I have a tent to sleep in, but I know few of us share this privilege.

Warm regards to everyone.

The Haiti earthquake on Tuesday 12 January destroyed towns and cities, made hundreds and thousands of people homeless. The affects of the earthquake are visible down every road you walk especially around the Canape Vert area. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 14/1/10.

Despair, fear, help that reaches Haiti, but not its people

Most of the bodies have been removed, but not those underneath the rubble. A heavy stench of corpses and excrement fills the air.

Piles of rubble everywhere

Many have been lost, those dear and less dear, the faceless, just like the ruined homes, unrecognisable, razed to the ground, without dignity. A country damned, and without a shred of luck.
One of the biggest fears, on the radio and in official conferences is that the Haitians, once more, are going to be perceived as incapable, unable to manage this emergency: people who do not deserve mercy, evil people who steal and rape in situations like this.

Reconstruction will take time, and if politicians allow it, there will be a country with some infrastructure, one hopes simply. Who believes it? We must believe, but we are skeptical…... See More... See More

Today, dismay and bewilderment. Even more, tomorrow

In all of this, what stands out is the habitual way the situation is being addressed.

Many have lost much, some everything, but it almost seems as if it was inevitable in a Haiti used to catastrophes, since the beginning, with the arrival of the “white man”, all the way up to the massacres, slavery, hurricanes, political coups, embargoes, floods, wildfires, dictatorships, foreign occupations, etc… and we complain about Haitians…

I saw people cry only on the night of the quake. Mostly parents who couldn’t find their children. Then nothing. Never. When I got to the refugee camps, I was greeted by smiles.. Even today, a week later, almost without any aid, a smile follows a smile, a genuine one. If they say there is violence, rape and rioting, it must be true, but I’ve seen very little of it, though I’ve traveled the city far and wide.
Life in Haiti is a gamble, and, after all, we know today exists the way it is, however, tomorrow, as it has always been, is only "si dye vlè" (God willing). And at times it seems like God is angry, and that He’s not willing…

The sense of helplessness is so strong because aid doesn’t get through, or too little of it does. The funny thing is that there seems to be more tension between the thousand or so members of the various aid organizations, then among the population. Then came the Americans, with the Marines and Coast Guard (!) among others, with their usual arrogance, verbal violence and aggressiveness, a real Godsend for pacifying the situation.

Beginning yesterday, a people used to dealing with catastrophe, like others in many different parts of the world, begin to deal with their winter, as they bear down and get back to work. Of course, only those who are able, in their own way, and with the means available. The market, was your regular everyday market.

Is this cause for joy?

I see it as a symbol for a population who knows that they cannot afford a moment for mourning, nor a break for themselves no one is ready to grant them.
Today’s situation is sad. Tomorrow’s is full of fear. The immediate future, when the emergency is over and the large mass of journalists who descended upon the city from one day to the next, as typically occurs in any disaster, have left (in 10 days?), then the real issues will rise to the surface for a situation that will become explosive.
Today, for the first time following the quake, clouds have appeared, gray and heavy.

Last night it started to rain.

I have a tent to sleep in, but I know few of us share this privilege.

Warm regards to everyone.

The Haiti earthquake on Tuesday 12 January destroyed towns and cities, made hundreds and thousands of people homeless. The affects of the earthquake are visible down every road you walk especially around the Canape Vert area. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 14/1/10.

Despair, fear, help that reaches Haiti, but not its people

Most of the bodies have been removed, but not those underneath the rubble. A heavy stench of corpses and excrement fills the air.

Piles of rubble everywhere

Many have been lost, those dear and less dear, the faceless, just like the ruined homes, unrecognisable, razed to the ground, without dignity. A country damned, and without a shred of luck.
One of the biggest fears, on the radio and in official conferences is that the Haitians, once more, are going to be perceived as incapable, unable to manage this emergency: people who do not deserve mercy, evil people who steal and rape in situations like this.

Reconstruction will take time, and if politicians allow it, there will be a country with some infrastructure, one hopes simply. Who believes it? We must believe, but we are skeptical…... See More... See More

Today, dismay and bewilderment. Even more, tomorrow

In all of this, what stands out is the habitual way the situation is being addressed.

Many have lost much, some everything, but it almost seems as if it was inevitable in a Haiti used to catastrophes, since the beginning, with the arrival of the “white man”, all the way up to the massacres, slavery, hurricanes, political coups, embargoes, floods, wildfires, dictatorships, foreign occupations, etc… and we complain about Haitians…

I saw people cry only on the night of the quake. Mostly parents who couldn’t find their children. Then nothing. Never. When I got to the refugee camps, I was greeted by smiles.. Even today, a week later, almost without any aid, a smile follows a smile, a genuine one. If they say there is violence, rape and rioting, it must be true, but I’ve seen very little of it, though I’ve traveled the city far and wide.
Life in Haiti is a gamble, and, after all, we know today exists the way it is, however, tomorrow, as it has always been, is only "si dye vlè" (God willing). And at times it seems like God is angry, and that He’s not willing…

The sense of helplessness is so strong because aid doesn’t get through, or too little of it does. The funny thing is that there seems to be more tension between the thousand or so members of the various aid organizations, then among the population. Then came the Americans, with the Marines and Coast Guard (!) among others, with their usual arrogance, verbal violence and aggressiveness, a real Godsend for pacifying the situation.

Beginning yesterday, a people used to dealing with catastrophe, like others in many different parts of the world, begin to deal with their winter, as they bear down and get back to work. Of course, only those who are able, in their own way, and with the means available. The market, was your regular everyday market.

Is this cause for joy?

I see it as a symbol for a population who knows that they cannot afford a moment for mourning, nor a break for themselves no one is ready to grant them.
Today’s situation is sad. Tomorrow’s is full of fear. The immediate future, when the emergency is over and the large mass of journalists who descended upon the city from one day to the next, as typically occurs in any disaster, have left (in 10 days?), then the real issues will rise to the surface for a situation that will become explosive.
Today, for the first time following the quake, clouds have appeared, gray and heavy.

Last night it started to rain.

I have a tent to sleep in, but I know few of us share this privilege.

Warm regards to everyone.

The Haiti earthquake on Tuesday 12 January destroyed towns and cities, made hundreds and thousands of people homeless. The affects of the earthquake are visible down every road you walk especially around the Canape Vert area. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 14/1/10.

Despair, fear, help that reaches Haiti, but not its people

Most of the bodies have been removed, but not those underneath the rubble. A heavy stench of corpses and excrement fills the air.

Piles of rubble everywhere

Many have been lost, those dear and less dear, the faceless, just like the ruined homes, unrecognisable, razed to the ground, without dignity. A country damned, and without a shred of luck.
One of the biggest fears, on the radio and in official conferences is that the Haitians, once more, are going to be perceived as incapable, unable to manage this emergency: people who do not deserve mercy, evil people who steal and rape in situations like this.

Reconstruction will take time, and if politicians allow it, there will be a country with some infrastructure, one hopes simply. Who believes it? We must believe, but we are skeptical…... See More... See More

Today, dismay and bewilderment. Even more, tomorrow

In all of this, what stands out is the habitual way the situation is being addressed.

Many have lost much, some everything, but it almost seems as if it was inevitable in a Haiti used to catastrophes, since the beginning, with the arrival of the “white man”, all the way up to the massacres, slavery, hurricanes, political coups, embargoes, floods, wildfires, dictatorships, foreign occupations, etc… and we complain about Haitians…

I saw people cry only on the night of the quake. Mostly parents who couldn’t find their children. Then nothing. Never. When I got to the refugee camps, I was greeted by smiles.. Even today, a week later, almost without any aid, a smile follows a smile, a genuine one. If they say there is violence, rape and rioting, it must be true, but I’ve seen very little of it, though I’ve traveled the city far and wide.
Life in Haiti is a gamble, and, after all, we know today exists the way it is, however, tomorrow, as it has always been, is only "si dye vlè" (God willing). And at times it seems like God is angry, and that He’s not willing…

The sense of helplessness is so strong because aid doesn’t get through, or too little of it does. The funny thing is that there seems to be more tension between the thousand or so members of the various aid organizations, then among the population. Then came the Americans, with the Marines and Coast Guard (!) among others, with their usual arrogance, verbal violence and aggressiveness, a real Godsend for pacifying the situation.

Beginning yesterday, a people used to dealing with catastrophe, like others in many different parts of the world, begin to deal with their winter, as they bear down and get back to work. Of course, only those who are able, in their own way, and with the means available. The market, was your regular everyday market.

Is this cause for joy?

I see it as a symbol for a population who knows that they cannot afford a moment for mourning, nor a break for themselves no one is ready to grant them.
Today’s situation is sad. Tomorrow’s is full of fear. The immediate future, when the emergency is over and the large mass of journalists who descended upon the city from one day to the next, as typically occurs in any disaster, have left (in 10 days?), then the real issues will rise to the surface for a situation that will become explosive.
Today, for the first time following the quake, clouds have appeared, gray and heavy.

Last night it started to rain.

I have a tent to sleep in, but I know few of us share this privilege.

Warm regards to everyone.

The Haiti earthquake on Tuesday 12 January destroyed towns and cities, made hundreds and thousands of people homeless. The affects of the earthquake are visible down every road you walk especially around the Canape Vert area. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 14/1/10.

Despair, fear, help that reaches Haiti, but not its people

Most of the bodies have been removed, but not those underneath the rubble. A heavy stench of corpses and excrement fills the air.

Piles of rubble everywhere

Many have been lost, those dear and less dear, the faceless, just like the ruined homes, unrecognisable, razed to the ground, without dignity. A country damned, and without a shred of luck.
One of the biggest fears, on the radio and in official conferences is that the Haitians, once more, are going to be perceived as incapable, unable to manage this emergency: people who do not deserve mercy, evil people who steal and rape in situations like this.

Reconstruction will take time, and if politicians allow it, there will be a country with some infrastructure, one hopes simply. Who believes it? We must believe, but we are skeptical…... See More... See More

Today, dismay and bewilderment. Even more, tomorrow

In all of this, what stands out is the habitual way the situation is being addressed.

Many have lost much, some everything, but it almost seems as if it was inevitable in a Haiti used to catastrophes, since the beginning, with the arrival of the “white man”, all the way up to the massacres, slavery, hurricanes, political coups, embargoes, floods, wildfires, dictatorships, foreign occupations, etc… and we complain about Haitians…

I saw people cry only on the night of the quake. Mostly parents who couldn’t find their children. Then nothing. Never. When I got to the refugee camps, I was greeted by smiles.. Even today, a week later, almost without any aid, a smile follows a smile, a genuine one. If they say there is violence, rape and rioting, it must be true, but I’ve seen very little of it, though I’ve traveled the city far and wide.
Life in Haiti is a gamble, and, after all, we know today exists the way it is, however, tomorrow, as it has always been, is only "si dye vlè" (God willing). And at times it seems like God is angry, and that He’s not willing…

The sense of helplessness is so strong because aid doesn’t get through, or too little of it does. The funny thing is that there seems to be more tension between the thousand or so members of the various aid organizations, then among the population. Then came the Americans, with the Marines and Coast Guard (!) among others, with their usual arrogance, verbal violence and aggressiveness, a real Godsend for pacifying the situation.

Beginning yesterday, a people used to dealing with catastrophe, like others in many different parts of the world, begin to deal with their winter, as they bear down and get back to work. Of course, only those who are able, in their own way, and with the means available. The market, was your regular everyday market.

Is this cause for joy?

I see it as a symbol for a population who knows that they cannot afford a moment for mourning, nor a break for themselves no one is ready to grant them.
Today’s situation is sad. Tomorrow’s is full of fear. The immediate future, when the emergency is over and the large mass of journalists who descended upon the city from one day to the next, as typically occurs in any disaster, have left (in 10 days?), then the real issues will rise to the surface for a situation that will become explosive.
Today, for the first time following the quake, clouds have appeared, gray and heavy.

Last night it started to rain.

I have a tent to sleep in, but I know few of us share this privilege.

Warm regards to everyone.

The Haiti earthquake on Tuesday 12 January destroyed towns and cities, made hundreds and thousands of people homeless. The affects of the earthquake are visible down every road you walk especially around the Canape Vert area. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 14/1/10.

Despair, fear, help that reaches Haiti, but not its people

Most of the bodies have been removed, but not those underneath the rubble. A heavy stench of corpses and excrement fills the air.

Piles of rubble everywhere

Many have been lost, those dear and less dear, the faceless, just like the ruined homes, unrecognisable, razed to the ground, without dignity. A country damned, and without a shred of luck.
One of the biggest fears, on the radio and in official conferences is that the Haitians, once more, are going to be perceived as incapable, unable to manage this emergency: people who do not deserve mercy, evil people who steal and rape in situations like this.

Reconstruction will take time, and if politicians allow it, there will be a country with some infrastructure, one hopes simply. Who believes it? We must believe, but we are skeptical…... See More... See More

Today, dismay and bewilderment. Even more, tomorrow

In all of this, what stands out is the habitual way the situation is being addressed.

Many have lost much, some everything, but it almost seems as if it was inevitable in a Haiti used to catastrophes, since the beginning, with the arrival of the “white man”, all the way up to the massacres, slavery, hurricanes, political coups, embargoes, floods, wildfires, dictatorships, foreign occupations, etc… and we complain about Haitians…

I saw people cry only on the night of the quake. Mostly parents who couldn’t find their children. Then nothing. Never. When I got to the refugee camps, I was greeted by smiles.. Even today, a week later, almost without any aid, a smile follows a smile, a genuine one. If they say there is violence, rape and rioting, it must be true, but I’ve seen very little of it, though I’ve traveled the city far and wide.
Life in Haiti is a gamble, and, after all, we know today exists the way it is, however, tomorrow, as it has always been, is only "si dye vlè" (God willing). And at times it seems like God is angry, and that He’s not willing…

The sense of helplessness is so strong because aid doesn’t get through, or too little of it does. The funny thing is that there seems to be more tension between the thousand or so members of the various aid organizations, then among the population. Then came the Americans, with the Marines and Coast Guard (!) among others, with their usual arrogance, verbal violence and aggressiveness, a real Godsend for pacifying the situation.

Beginning yesterday, a people used to dealing with catastrophe, like others in many different parts of the world, begin to deal with their winter, as they bear down and get back to work. Of course, only those who are able, in their own way, and with the means available. The market, was your regular everyday market.

Is this cause for joy?

I see it as a symbol for a population who knows that they cannot afford a moment for mourning, nor a break for themselves no one is ready to grant them.
Today’s situation is sad. Tomorrow’s is full of fear. The immediate future, when the emergency is over and the large mass of journalists who descended upon the city from one day to the next, as typically occurs in any disaster, have left (in 10 days?), then the real issues will rise to the surface for a situation that will become explosive.
Today, for the first time following the quake, clouds have appeared, gray and heavy.

Last night it started to rain.

I have a tent to sleep in, but I know few of us share this privilege.

Warm regards to everyone.