HAITI
After The Quake
A visit to Haiti’s earthquake zone
reveals little has changed in the
ten months since the disaster

A city of tents is were most Haitians from Port au Prince live.

Despite the damage, commerce continues in Port au Prince.

The catastrophic earthquake which struck near the sprawling city of Port au Prince, Haiti almost ten months ago, created the worst natural disaster this already challenged country has endured in more than two centuries.

Scugog doctors Tony Brown and Paul Puckrin were among the first people from this community to respond to the disaster, helping bring medical care to the thousands of severely injured people.

Ten months have passed since the quake, so when I arrived last month along with local dentist and friend Dr. Jack Cottrell, to assist setting up a dental clinic at the Mission of Hope, the smell of dead bodies and sewage which had permeated the air for months was gone - but the devastation remained.

While nobody really knows how many were killed, injured or lost, estimates of the dead range from 200,000 to 300,000, most of whom are buried in a mass graveyard about 15 miles from the centre of Port au Prince. Some estimate there are still more than 50,000 bodies buried under tons of rubble within the city.

Dr. Jack Cottrell at work at the Mission of Peace dental centre.

In addition to those killed and injured, more than 1.5 million Haitians were left homeless by the quake. This was immediately evident as we travelled from the airport and saw tents and tarped shelters scattered along the sides of roads throughout the countryside.

Tens of thousands of people now call these cramped shelters home, with no end in sight as to how long it will be before they have a ‘real’ home again.

The dental clinic, which Dr. Cottrell has constructed and outfitted, is located in a medical facility at the Mission of Hope at Titanyen, about 20 miles from Port au Prince. It is now fully operational, furnished with equipment similar to that found in any modern North American dental office, and is ready for dentists from around the globe to come and provide their services.

So after working two long days in oppressive heat and humidity, repairing and finishing installations of equipment, we arranged a trip into Port au Prince to witness first-hand, the progress accomplished in the ten months since the earthquake.

Hitching a ride with a doctor of prosthetics and her two Haitian technicians, we headed towards the city. After dropping the doctor and technicians off at a prosthetics clinic, our driver Pierre offered to give us a tour of the city. Pierre lost his sister and 11 more relatives in the quake and is now parent to his sister’s two-year-old boy.

Two of the thousands of buildings in Port au Prince
damaged by the earthquake.

For the next hour, we weaved our way up, down and along city streets crowded with thousands of people carrying on as best they can. Our guide told us we were lucky not to have been here after the quake, when the bodies and injured people were scattered all over the streets.

Merchants and vendors have set up their stands along the streets, in front of the damaged concrete buildings which their businesses formerly occupied.

Shielded only by brightly coloured tarps and umbrellas, the busy streets have taken on an almost carnival-like atmosphere. But that image is shattered by the collapsed or partially collapsed buildings which provide a depressing backdrop.

Despite little progress having been made towards rebuilding the city, the Haitian people appear to have adapted to the conditions and have gotten on with their lives as well as could be expected.

Commerce appears to be alive and well, as the streets bustle with activity and vendors offer almost anything imaginable (car parts, electronics, food) for sale from their dingy street side shops.

The Haitian people are desperate for help, and while millions of dollars in aid have been poured into the country, it appears very little has reached the people who need it the most.

Thankfully, there are a number of places, like the Mission of Hope, which provide shelter and schooling for orphans as well as food and medical treatment, but unfortunately the need is far greater than the services currently available.

The extent of damage, poverty and homelessness encountered during this brief visit was extremely heartbreaking and the images will no doubt remain with me for the rest of my life.

J. Peter Hvidsten
Focus on Scugog