Ayiti. Sometime after Day 23 and before Day 29...part 3.

On Monday afternoon we visited one tent (camp) city in Jacmel. At this first one, Sydney passed out baby bottles to the women that had infants. The numbers of babies and toddlers there was incredible, as was the number of pregnant women. Sydney said that it will be really overwhelming come mid-October, which will be 9 months since the earthquake.

If you have kept up with the news reports, you will know that since the earthquake, and especially in the tent cities, many women have been victims of sexual assault, so many of the pregnancies were not planned. Yelline and I also had a conversation about this and she said that many young women in hopes of gaining shelter, food, or other items, did things that they would not do under normal circumstances. Hence, there will be a lot of unplanned babies born, and probably many, many babies abandoned after they are born.

On Tuesday morning Syndey asked if we were up to helping her distribute supplies to some more camp cities, which of course, we were. We loaded up her SUV with a couple of boxes of sandals and some 110 lb bags of pinto beans and headed out.

These next photos don’t really need too much explanation. If you have read Tom’s messages lately, you know his view of the NGO’s (Non Government Organizations) and their impact here. Suffice it to say that the help that was offered from the world to Haiti is not reaching the people in the greatest need. The sites that we visited did have tents or tarps, some form of restrooms and showers, and water. Other than that, the people were left to fend for themselves.

And, when you look at these photos, I want you to picture yourself either in this tent, in 95-105 degrees, sitting on a cinder block, in the dirt, or walking the streets. There are no other options. Common sense tells us that there are many people, and probably most of them children, dying in these camp cities. I saw children that were ill, many with rashes, many with the rust color in their hair, which indicates malnourishment. This is a human crisis of huge proportion.

Many of the tents are falling apart...they weren't designed for a 7+ month stay....

This little girl latched onto me as soon as I got out of the
car...and didn't let go until we left....

I can tell you that from what we have seen here in our time, the church based groups seem to be doing the best job of getting help where it needs to go. Many other large organizations drive the best SUVs in the country, carry no supplies, and have their windows rolled up with the A/C on. It’s so blatant that I am embarrassed at times.

Every camp city has a leader, and at each one, we stopped and Sydney explained who we were, where we were from and what we wanted to do. They had a great system (in all but one case) of helping us distribute the supplies and were very appreciative. Sydney also go their names and contact information so that she could follow up with them again.

You can't see it from this angle, but there is no bottom on his cast. I have a feeling that he was injured in the earthquake and has received no follow up care since. He is literally wearing his cast off.

This is when I had the opportunity to help distribute sandals.
We did not have enough for everyone...

these are the bare feet of the woman that helped us "police" the sandal distribution. she wasn't angry, but wanted me to know (and document) that after all that, she is left with no shoes....

I have to say at this point that I was continually amazed and impressed with Sydney’s loving, caring spirit with the people she encountered. She always had a smile, a laugh, and kind words to say to everyone she met. She is the church in action, and she had a great impact on me. Even in the one situation that got a little out of hand, she laughed when she got in the car and said, “That one was a little problem!”

This camp city is right next to the open water...on the south coast of Haiti. If there is a hurricane, or even a strong tropical storm that hits here, I hate to think of what will happen....

The children of Haiti, as a rule, have little to no toys.
These children were playing jump rope with a twisted up tshirt.

There seem to be 2 photos that won’t upload this evening, (one that was the "little problem," and another) but I’m almost out of battery on my laptop, so I am going to save them for tomorrow. But, these photos tell you enough this evening.

This was a great experience for me, but heartbreaking. I do not know how we expect people to live like this, and the fact is, many are not. The church seems to be the most successful at giving aide, and we need to step it up. Children are dying.