'They don't come for us': Haitians face agonising wait for help after quake

[Judi Lynn]

People in need of water, food and shelter are fending for themselves as aid response complicated by heavy rain, gangs and distrust of international agencies

Joe Parkin Daniels in Les Cayes
@joeparkdan
Fri 27 Aug 2021 05.01 EDT

On the morning a catastrophic earthquake struck southern Haiti, Jackson Mason, a barber, was picking up water and other shopping from Cavaillon’s bustling market.

“The earth below me started to shake – people were thrown into the air, others yelled, praying to Jesus to save them,” Mason, 35, says. “Everything flew in the air, even the wallets in people’s hands.”

Nearly two weeks later, with aftershocks still being felt, Mason, his wife and two children – aged 13 and one – are in a makeshift shelter for survivors, just a few paces from his cracked home. The camp was set up on the perimeter of a football pitch by the local community. Support from the government has been nonexistent, with two charities providing the only help by installing a water tank.

Without food or medicine, the displaced community club together to buy supplies when they can, missing meals on most days. Without toilets, people rely on neighbours for access to bathrooms.

The magnitude-7.2 earthquake that rocked southern Haiti on the morning of 14 August has claimed more than 2,200 lives and made 30,000 families homeless. Many of those whose houses are still standing are terrified to stay in them, worried that they will be levelled by the persistent aftershocks. On most nights pelting rain drenches the shelters, built from gathered wood, tarpaulins and bedsheets, and turns the pitch to a quagmire.

Camps like this are in towns and cities across the island, with hundreds of public spaces – sports pitches, schools and squares – full of newly homeless families.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/aug/27/haiti-earthquake-haitians-face-agonising-wait-for-help