A Day of Prayer and Mourning…

Friday, February 12th marked the one month anniversary of the Haitian earthquake. On the day when most Americans were waiting for the opening of the Olympic games, Haitians stretched their arms to the sky in prayers of remembrance and thanks. People poured into the streets of their capital, climbed on the rubble of destroyed buildings, and filled the parks with hymns that reverberated throughout the city of Port-au-Prince. Haitians stopped what they were doing to give thanks for their lives, for the aid they were receiving, and in remembrance of the loss of loved ones and friends in hopes that this catastrophe would never happen again.

The official death count stands at 212,000 with some estimates at 230,000 to 270,000. The actual numbers may never be known and don’t matter. We don’t need politics and the media to divert us from the fact that hundreds of thousands died on or around January 12, 2010, and that immediate life-support needs remain.

About 2,000,000 people have received two week rations by United Nation’s count, leaving 1,000,000 plus needing food. People are still living on the streets without shelter. Only 48,000 of the 200,000 tents needed have been supplied to-date. The other 152,000 won’t be coming; in a widely criticized move, officials have decided to hand out plastic blankets instead. Does that make sense, with the rainy reason approaching? Yes, aid agencies must try to look ahead and conserve, but is holding back funds for immediate relief going to help the long term problems? Americans have donated well over $500,000,000 toward earthquake relief, but only about half has been spent because agencies are starting to worry about the decline in donations. Questions of priorities, immediate and longer-term, need to be sorted out and coordinated.

And there are still plenty of legal and infrastructure problems. Clean water supply is a continuing issue. There are only 900 latrines in and around the capital, serving some 900,000 people. Administrative problems need to be resolved so sick and injured children can be brought to the United States for treatment. Of course, there must be adequate safeguards against trafficking, but unreasonable paperwork hurdles must not stand in the way of humanitarian efforts. Bureaucratic blocks to the licensing of new business ventures also need to be streamlined. Turf wars, finger-pointing, and political quibbling over who’s responsible for what need to be recognized for what they are so help – still desperately needed – reaches the Haitian people efficiently and soon.