Storm-battered Haitians left in despair

By Mike Thomson
Today programme, Haiti

Hundreds have been queuing for food and fresh drinking water

They are getting hungry - and angry.

Haitians are struggling to cope after the devastation caused by four hurricanes which swept across their country in the past three weeks; rendering areas difficult to reach by those trying to deliver food and water to the hundreds of thousands who desperately need it.

But even in towns and villages close to the capital, there are many who as yet have received no help at all.

And in a country where rioting and civil disturbance are never far from the surface, such problems can be dangerous.

The small town of Cabaret, just north of the capital, Port-au-Prince, I was surrounded by 200 to 300 people desperate for food and medical supplies.

Many, though, left empty handed.

A young woman in the town, Asna, clutches an empty water container. That - and the clothes she is standing up in - are all she has left.

"About one o'clock on Sunday morning, water came gushing through our home and all of a sudden the wall collapsed on us all," she says.

Assessing needs

"The next thing I knew I was in the middle of the river. Fortunately I was able to hang on to something and stopped myself being swept away.

"But six members of my family were lost. They just disappeared. Only one of their bodies has been found so far."

And she says the government is not doing anything to help.

"I don't know whether anybody came when I wasn't here but I certainly haven't received anything. Nothing at all. And it's been the same for all my friends who are here with me now."

There is no sign of government help, UN or other charity workers - private individuals are handing out food at the centre. Foreign aid organisations are in the country but are accused of not doing enough.

Sarah Wilson is part of an assessment team from the charity Christian Aid and she says charities like hers need time to identify the areas that need help and find the most vulnerable.

"If they just hand out food willy-nilly on the street or private individuals do that, it can cause more problems than it solves.

"If aid is dropped from airplanes as has been done in the past that can cause massive migrations of people - people can walk for miles to get that food - and that weakens them further and there might not be enough food when they get there."

There has been criticism of the government - and international agencies

But back in Cabaret, Madeline Sharl, another victim of the devastation caused by the hurricane, also blames the government. "We're really suffering but we haven't had any help from them," she says. "Some of us were fortunate enough to get a small amount of water. Other than that, nothing."

And the scale of the human tragedy still reverberates. "Right where we're standing… in this courtyard, one family lost 10 people. Ten people perished here," she says.

"People are reacting like this because they are so hungry, they are desperate. That is why."