Haiti earthquake: Outside Port-au-Prince, Haitians Say They've Been Forgotten

[tekisui]

Source: Christian Science Monitor

Léogâne, Haiti

This coastal town 20 miles west of Port-au-Prince, framed by the trim of sugarcane fields and banana trees, had its heyday as a French colonial outpost in the 1700s.

But after last Tuesday's 7.0 earthquake, Léogâne, Haiti, will be known as the epicenter of what some are calling the worst humanitarian crisis in recent history.

Its downtown has the eerie feel of the “day after.” The main streets are virtually empty, save residents trying to recover the bodies buried in the rubble. Only the brick arches of the main Roman Catholic Church, Saint Rose of Lima, remain standing.

Injured children moan on the ground outside their collapsed homes, their broken bones and wounds left unattended as a sense of being forgotten grows.

While Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, is overtaken by international rescue teams, and harrowing images of the quake´s aftermath have generated an outpouring of international aid, residents in outlying towns such as Léogâne say they have been left to fend for themselves.

“We are alive, so God has been good to us, but the government has not done anything,” says Jean Brunel Lemaire, whose house, which he shares with his family and his brother´s family, has crumbled to the ground. Their neighbor´s house also fell, killing all five people inside. And all five remain buried there.“We are the same country, but they are only focusing on Port-au-Prince," says Mr. Lemair. "They are being negligent and irresponsible.”

more: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/0119/Haiti-earthquake-Outside-Port-au-Prince-Haitians-say-they-ve-been-forgotten

[doc03]

1. This morning I saw a report on CNN about Missionaries from

Haiti arriving back home to the USA. Something doesn't quite sound right to me, shouldn't the Missionaries stay in Haiti and not be jumping on the first plane out? Maybe I am wrong but I thought missionaries were there to help the people not take off when things get tough. I would go down there myself and help if I wasn't on unemployment, you must be available and willing to work to get unemployment.

[malaise]

2. Turns out that many of the missionaries

are 'good times' folks. Not too many tithes around after this devastation. Gawd is calling them home to warm sheets, running water and no stench of death. If it weren't such a tragedy I'd be ROFL because it is so predictable it isn't funny.

[treestar]

3. Kind of harsh

this person was a missionary in the first place. Not many Americans are willing to live in third world countries. And who is to prove they could do more there, and not just be putting themselves in further jeopardy?

Sitting here in the U.S., I'm not going to be judgmental about anyone who was there to do good works before the earthquake.

[doc03]

4. I heard General Honore a couple days ago talking about

UN doctors that fled the country on the first plane out.

[kestrel91316]

5. With no way to help the locals, being traumatized and homeless and hungry,

the missionaries NEED to bug out and not be a drain on resources. Besides, there are plenty of aid workers still doing their thing in outlying less affected areas. Heifer International has lots of people and programs in rural Haiti(though not religious).

New aid workers, fresh and untraumatized, need to be brought in, and they are.

[Spazito]

6. Canada is concentrating some of it's aid to the out-lying centers...

Canadian ships arrive in Haiti, sailors get to work

Two Canadian naval ships have arrived off the coast of Haiti and 200 sailors are expected to deploy ashore within the hour.

snip

HMCS Halifax was launching its efforts just offshore from Jacmel, a town about 25 kilometres southwest of Port-au-Prince where Canada's DART team has based its efforts. It is also the hometown of Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean.

HMCS Athabaskan was docked near Leogane, west of the capital.

The two ships have a combined crew of 500 sailors, and teams deployed ashore will "help with the flow of aid."

"Today's efforts are light engineering work, what some would call humanitarian support services -- things like clearing roads and fixing up hospitals," McDonald said.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100118/ships_arrive_100119/20100119?hub=TopStoriesV2