After The Rubble Is Cleared

The international community should consider the long-term needs of Haiti as well as the immediate ones.

We spoke with a grandmother in Port-au-Prince about one week after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti. She had white hair and wore a handmade top with a pleated skirt. Despite the exhaustion that appeared through the lines on her face, she kept a watchful eye over a number of small children.

“I already told them not to go back inside, never ever to go back,” she said. “I also told them that if an aid truck ever comes here that everyone needs to react calmly. Across the street they jumped on the truck and now the aid won’t come here.”

The kids who received this advice were mostly orphans. Some had been disconnected from parents who were at work when the tremors started and couldn’t find them amidst the mass exodus. Others had lost their families entirely.

The grandmother told us that neighbours were taking care of them. They feed them as best they can with what little is available, give them a place to sleep, and make sure they are safe. It’s an informal foster network that has been set up in each camp for internally displaced persons we visited.

Children are most vulnerable in this crisis. Prior to the disaster, Haiti already had the highest rates of infant, under-five, and maternal mortality in the western hemisphere. On a previous visit to the country, we went to an orphanage where there were three babies to a crib because they were so malnourished. Knowing this, we have to wonder what will happen to them. Once the immediate short-term crisis has passed, will they find a permanent place to live? Will they receive an education? What kind of country will be awaiting them in adulthood?

The immediate response to the disaster by the international community has been remarkable. But, as we witnessed in hospitals, orphanages, and makeshift camps across the country, this crisis is going to extend well beyond urgent need. Already, there is only enough dressing to treat wounds one time and antibiotics that help stave off infection are in short supply.

No one embodies this need more than a boy named Ti Komik. He had long been a member of a street youth centre in the coastal town of Jacmel that is run by our friends and colleagues. Ti Komik was born HIV positive and needs anti-retroviral therapy to treat the disease. For ARVs to be effective, the patient needs to take them every day. Missing a dose can cause the virus to build up immunity. That can, in turn, mean a death sentence.

In the days following the earthquake, we became concerned Ti Komik wasn’t receiving this life-saving medication. Through an appeal, we were able to get him the drugs. But in the coming months, he will need proper nutrition to keep him healthy. In the coming years, he will need hospitals to ensure he receives care.

Given North America’s extensive ties to the country, we will be instrumental in helping Haitians rebuild in the coming weeks, months, and years. Unlike the region devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Haiti doesn’t have a multitude of profitable resorts that companies will rebuild. It doesn’t have a large population of expatriates around the world, ready to send money home.

After we have finished treating the immediate medical needs of the injured, we must ensure there will be continued access to treatment so children do not die of preventable illness. After we have cleaned up the rubble of collapsed schools, we need to rebuild them so that kids can receive an education.

What we are witnessing today in Haiti is truly a tragedy. Worse would be if we allowed it to continue.