Monday, May 31, 2010

Dying in Haiti Like Never Before


John has been in Haiti for almost a week now. It's his first trip there since the earthquake. I can tell, even though he has made countless trips over the past 25 years and spent cumulatively years there, that he is shocked by what he is seeing. He's writing about much of it at his blog, Dying in Haiti

In an e-mail to me, John wrote:

The driver came and picked me up at 10:30 and he took me downtown where I met Frandy. Took about 300 pictures and walked through the middle of the tent cities until I was advised not to do that anymore by my driver for my own safety.

The Ministry of Health building is gone, the Minisitry of Justice is gone, the tax building is gone, the Palace is gone, the Cathedral is demolished, Sacre Couer Church where David Volk got married is gone, the nursing school is gone at General Hospital with 100 or so nursing students.

The tent city in front of the Palace goes on for blocks. It is called Champ Mars. Very dangerous place with dangerous guys I am afraid. Squalid, horrible, rotten, fetid conditions is the best I can say for 10's of thousands of people.

PAP is really destroyed. Have pictures of two collapsed hospitals. And the Pediatric Building at General Hospital is cracked and vacated. The little peds patients are in 3 big hot terrible tents outside. Horrible. And it has been 4 months. Babies appear sick.

The most shocking thing is the Cathedral. The power of nature.

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