Rate This Blog
 0 rating(s)
Categories
• CARE
• Poverty • Empowerment • Women • Myanmar • Disaster • Relief • Food • Aid • CARE National Conference • Education • Maternal Health • HIV and AIDS • India • Trip to field • Children • Dr. Helene Gayle • Village Savings and Loan • Microfinance • Girls • Haiti • Africa • Climate Change • Gaza • Emergency • Pakistan • Asia • Refugee • IDP • War • Conflict • Disease • Health • Natural Disaster • Earthquake • Haiti Earthquake • Shelter • Floods • Drought • Niger • Haiti Hurricane • Haiti cholera • Japan • Dadaab • Kenya • Somalia • Water • Ethiopia • Violence • Humanitarian • Syria • Jordan • DRC • Lesotho
Archives
• Current Entries
• May 2013 • April 2013 • March 2013 • February 2013 • January 2013 • December 2012 • November 2012 • October 2012 • September 2012 • August 2012 • July 2012 • June 2012 • May 2012 • April 2012 • March 2012 • February 2012 • January 2012 • December 2011 • November 2011 • October 2011 • September 2011 • August 2011 • July 2011 • June 2011 • May 2011 • April 2011 • March 2011 • January 2011 • November 2010 • September 2010 • August 2010 • July 2010 • June 2010 • March 2010 • February 2010 • January 2010 • November 2009 • October 2009 • August 2009 • July 2009 • June 2009 • May 2009 • March 2009 • February 2009 • January 2009 • December 2008 • November 2008 • October 2008 • September 2008 • August 2008 • July 2008 • June 2008 • May 2008 • April 2008
Latest Entries
Loading...
|
Notes from the Field
Stoic
by Rick Perera, CARE's Emergency Media Officer in Haiti Friday, February 5, 2010 This will be my last blog entry from Haiti – but certainly not the last about Haiti, a country that has worked its way into my heart. I leave tomorrow on a special charter flight for aid workers.
I first visited Haiti just over five years ago, in the aftermath of the devastating Tropical Storm Jeanne. It was an unkind introduction to a country, and I'd hate to think I'm one of those people who only notice Haiti when it is struck by catastrophe. But it's worth noticing Haiti, even now. Because when things are at their worst – and it's hard to imagine anything worse than the great earthquake of 2010 – the Haitians show a level of courage and resilience that is nothing short of inspiring. To say the people of Port-au-Prince are stoic would be an understatement. They are incredibly strong. Though virtually all have lost close loved ones, they have put aside the business of grieving in order to deal with more pressing matters: how to feed their children, remain safe in dark and dangerous corners of a ruined city, and brace themselves for the inevitable mud bath of the coming rainy season. It can be jarring to discuss the matter of personal loss with a Haitian. Shoulders are shrugged; work goes on uninterrupted. One frequently hears the phrase, "It's God's will," equal parts faith and resignation. Some Haitians even seem to feel responsible for the disaster than has befallen them. At open-air religious services across the capital, worshippers repent for the nation's sins and seek divine forgiveness. One feels intense sorrow and sympathy for those who have lost so much, who bear their pain with such dignity. But mostly I feel admiration. Haitians are intelligent and patriotic. Most – especially women – are amazingly hard workers. They've borne more suffering in three weeks that anyone should endure in a lifetime, and kept their heads high. The Haitian diaspora is renewing its commitment to the homeland – returning to lend a hand, or digging deeper into hard-earned funds to support those left behind. By rights these gifted, diligent people ought to be as rich as anyone on the planet. But they've been saddled with intractable problems – from weak government, to poor health care, to disastrously bad stewardship of the environment. Until those challenges are addressed, any kind of recovery is unthinkable. None of these, of course, could have prevented an earthquake, but they most certainly could have limited damage and fatalities. On any block you can see well-constructed buildings that suffered little visible damage, side by side with the rubble of shoddily-built dwellings. Corruption and lack of building code enforcement are as responsible for the death toll as are tectonic shifts. Things will never be the same here – and they shouldn't. The impetus for a reinvented Haiti will have to come from Haitians themselves, but the rest of the world must firmly commit to stand by these lovely, long-suffering people for as long as it takes. I've written before of a "new calendar," denominated in B.C. and A.C. – Before and After the Catastrophe. Haiti needs a new clock, too. It's zero hour.
Send This | Categories: Aid, CARE, Disaster, Earthquake, Empowerment, Haiti, Haiti Earthquake, Natural Disaster, Relief, Women
|
