Before recent tragic events, few people in Ireland paid much attention to Haiti, an island in the West Indies about one-third the size of this country but with over twice the population.

Since its “discovery” by Columbus in 1493, Haiti been colonised by the Spanish and the French, but became the first independent black-dominated republic in the world after a slave rebellion in 1804. Having an independent black state on its doorstep was a major irritant to racist USA governments, and Haiti was occupied by the USA from 1915 to 1934. The country subsequently suffered the tyrannies of various despots, including the notorious Papa Doc Duvalier and his son Baby Doc.

Jean-Bertrand Aristide, once a Catholic priest, became Haiti’s first democratically elected president in 1991. He was forced into exile after a 2004 rebellion amid widespread accusations of human rights abuses. A provisional government assumed control, with security in the hands of the United Nations Stabilisation Mission. Rene Preval was elected President in 2006.
So with a history of violent oppression and a level of poverty reckoned to be the worst in the Western hemisphere, the last thing the country needed was the recent earthquake that may have killed upwards of 250,000, left at least a million homeless and destroyed what little infra-structure the country seemed to have.

Susan Finucane, from Limerick, works for the Concern relief organisation from its New York office, and she arrived in Haiti soon after the earthquake struck.

She pulls no punches in her description of the scenes there. “It’s grim. Everywhere I’ve been there’s devastation, entire streets and neighbourhoods destroyed beyond repair. Buildings have been pulverised into dust. There’s something deeply symbolic about seeing the Palace collapsed. But when you’re working every day around the clock you have little time to really comprehend all that you’re seeing. You look into people’s faces and you can see the hurt and the pain and the helplessness. It’s heart-breaking talking to locals who never had very much anyway in terms of material possessions, but now they have nothing at all. In spite of that, the people are very resilient,” she told Hot Press.

“I don’t think there’s anybody here hasn’t suffered personally and deeply from this disaster. In less than a minute, their entire lives were transformed. All of the Haitians working for Concern here have lost at least one family member, yet they’re still coming to work! It’s been impossible to move around the capital Port-au-Prince without seeing dead bodies in the streets or mounds where people have made makeshift graves.”
One of the worst sights was a small boy, perhaps eight or nine years of age, whose body was left rotting on the street, she says. “It took all of my self-control to hold back the tears. I’ve seen signs that signs that read ‘Please Help Us – Bodies in Here’. And then there are the awful smells lingering throughout the city. Vermin is another key issue Concern is trying to address. I’ve lost friends who lived here, but there’s great camaraderie among the people too. Concern has been in Haiti since 1994, so we have a good relationship with the people and we’re determined to help them to rebuild their lives,” she says.

The tragedy is exacerbated by the fact that many of those who might normally be expected to run things, including the local United Nations office, the government and other vital services, have themselves been killed or injured, and the apparently slow arrival of real aid in the wake of fast promises, did not help.

According to Finucane, “The locals were naturally frustrated by this, but they got on with doing what they could, setting up makeshift camps in whatever empty space they could find. Some camps are horribly over-crowded with major sanitary problems. There’s a football field which is now home to about 7,000 people. Concern has built latrines there and set up waste-management committees of five men and five women, who advise the people about better hygiene practices and help clear away the rubbish. The weather is warm but cool at night, so that helps. It hasn’t been raining either.”

While there have been some suggestions of rioting and looting, Finucane says it’s not the full story. “When the water truck pulled up to distribute water, everybody queued in a very polite and orderly fashion and it went off without a hitch. It isn’t always like that, of course, but generally people are calm and are sharing what they have with others. They feel they’re all in this together.”

Finucane says that prior to the earthquake there were security precautions in place. “I wouldn’t wander around by myself even back then. But I’ve spent time in the slums area over the last few days and I feel perfectly safe with the Concern team. It’s not a major issue.”
Power is a real problem though. “If they can, most people are using generators for electricity. The state power was cut off because the earthquake had damaged lines and people were being electrocuted by fallen electricity lines. Some hotels have TV, so information filters out, but generally there’s little information coming from local radio or TV stations because people can’t access them.

“But,” she adds stoically, “we have to get on with doing what we can. We’re distributing water to 50,000 people. We’ve tents and plastic sheeting for up to 30,000. We’re building 300 latrines and distributing hygiene kits so people can have some basic privacy and dignity. No matter which way you look at it, this is going to be a very long road back to anything we might think of as normality.”

Readers can donate to the Concern Haiti appeal through this number: 1850 410 510 or online through the Concern website at www.concern.net. There are regular updates online direct from Haiti from Concern staff at these Twitter addresses: http://www.concern.net/twitter and http://twitter.com/aidwkr, or through the Concern Website, www.concern.net.