Reflection: Haiti, three years later

(In this picture taken Jan. 8, 2013, a cross memorializing the victims of the 2010 earthquake who are buried at the spot in mass graves is silhouetted against the setting sun in Titanyen, north of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Saturday marks the third anniversary of the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that destroyed an estimated 100,000 homes across the capital and southern Haiti, including some of the country’s most iconic structures. The government put the death toll at 316,000, but no one really knows how many people died. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery))

It has been three years and three days since the tragic 7.0 earthquake in Haiti claimed the lives of an estimated 316,000, injured 300,000 and left an overwhelming 1,000,000 homeless. The catastrophes only continued in the days following, with weeks of aftershocks. Haiti’s cry for help was urgent–and not left ignored. The international response was overwhelming , bringing in thousands of volunteers from across the globe and contributions from the governments of the United States, Brazil, Israel, the U.K., Dominican Republic, Canada, Italy and Cuba.

The constant news coverage made clear scope of the devastation. Port Au Prince hospitals were overwhelmed with patients, many left untreated due to the lack of supplies. Stories from the weeks following the disaster were unimaginable, especially to those of us hundreds of miles away, unaffected. What would it be like to lose everything you have in life? How can you begin to even begin the spiritual and physical rebuilding process?

I met Jenna Rogers back in 2011, a year after she had worked in Haiti. We were both graduate students at The New School studying human rights and international development. Jenna was one of the early volunteers to the scene and her experiences in Port Au Prince painted incredibly vivid images in my mind. She allowed me to share some below.

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I decided to participate in the Haiti relief effort because I felt like I was in a position to depart immediately and be of some small help. At the time, I was still a student without work commitments, I had already received any needed vaccinations in preparation for previous trips, my passport was valid and I speak French fluently.

Being in Haiti was very surreal. Although the damage was widely publicized through photos and videos in the media, it was haunting to see virtually all of Port Au Prince reduced to twisted steel and crumbled cement. The structural damage paled in comparison to the sheer number of people who had been displaced by the earthquake. Every square foot of available space was occupied by disaster victims huddled in makeshift shelters–there was barely room to walk. Despite the conditions, plenty of evidence of the country’s vibrant culture remained, the brightly painted taxi buses with their intricate patterns stood out as a friendly reminder of better times and the streets still bustled with opportunists selling basic self-care items or assisting with clean-up using homemade wheelbarrows for a small price.

The physical damage caused by the earthquake was evident everywhere, but the earthquake had only exacerbated serious problems that had existed in Haiti long before. I spent the majority of my time in Haiti translating for an American nurse who had set up an impromptu medical clinic south of Port Au Prince next to a camp of displaced persons. For every patient who came to us seeking care for an earthquake-related injury, there was another in need of routine medical care. Before the earthquake was even a tremor, the majority of Haitians lived below the extreme poverty line without access to basic resources such as shelter, food or essential medical care. These needs became more pressing after homes were lost and medical supplies and foodstuffs became scarce. My group had originally planned to work within the local government-subsidized hospital but, upon arriving there, we learned that the doctors and nurses were not coming in to work because there were no supplies for them to use. There weren’t even paper products or disinfectants to wipe the pooled blood from surfaces in the emergency room.

My experience in Haiti was difficult to think through. Although I have witnessed great need and hardship through my work as an international development practitioner, the level of utter destruction was new for me. While I was in country, I had to stay focused on whatever I was doing to avoid feeling hopeless in the face of such hardship. It actually wasn’t until several days after I had returned that the full impact of my time in Haiti caught up with me. A few days after i returned to New York, I met my cousin’s newborn daughter for the first time. I started to cry uncontrollably, thinking about how different her life would be from that of the many young children I saw in Haiti who had already experienced a lifetime of pain and hardship after their families lost what little they had in the earthquake.

I have not returned to Haiti since I was there following the earthquake. I imagine it will take many years and even more failed attempts at aid before sustainable change occurs in the country. It is a triage situation where there are immediate needs that will likely consume the majority of the resources going to Haiti; deeper issues keep the country vulnerable and impoverished. At this point, addressing access to education or jobs may still seem like a luxury but cannot be put off too long if a full recovery is to occur.

**Jenna currently resides in Brooklyn, NY and is the executive director of the non-profit S.O.U.L. Foundation: Supporting Opportunities for Ugandans to Learn.