The most powerful and largest earthquake struck Port au Prince, Haiti Tuesday, January 12th, and has shocked the whole world with the devastation it has caused. The city is no longer standing, except amid rubble. The earthquake flattened the President’s palace,, the main prison, the cathedral, hospitals, schools, and homes. Now it’s believed that over 200,000 people are believed dead., and those that escaped death are living in makeshift camps out in the open under the hot sun. Haiti is one of the poorest nations which has struggled under decades of corruption, natural disasters and poverty. Relief from all over the world is being flown to Haiti, but there has been so much confusion and lack of methods of distributing the much needed things as food, water, and medical supplies to the people who are suffering and close to death. The Red Cross said it had built latrines for over 1000 people and supplied medical kits for 2,000 patients to two hospitals.
President Obama promised an all out rescue and humanitarian effort, adding that the U.S. commitment to its hemispheric neighbor will be unwavering. “We have to be there for them in their hour of need,” Obama said. Some of the people who have been pulled from the rubble have been buried up to five days without food or water, but some of them are still alive yet need immediate medical care. Planes at the airport have been arriving with much needed supplies and medical team, with more promised from around the world. The problem has been getting these supplies unloaded and quickly rushed to the victims. It has been a very slow process due to confusion, blocked roads, and a lack of distribution process.
However, the quake has only strengthened the religious fervor many Haitians carry in their souls, and the prayers of Haitians can be heard wherever a group is gathered
Singing and praying, with preachers on megaphones exhorting the faithful not to lose faith, and that God remains with them regardless of what’s happened. The people don’t blame Jesus. They have faith. They believe Jesus saves and are thankful for that. Leaders of different denominations are relating to each other and working together to make a change.
Surgical hospitals set up include operative theaters, an intensive care unit, 100 bed hospitalization capacity, an emergency room, MASF teams are working around the clock in five different hospitals in Port au Prince, but only two operating theaters are functional because of the massive number of wounded. The group said two of its medical teams have performed more than 100 operations. The health risk from all of the thousands of Haitians living in overcrowded camps with poor or nonexistent sanitation however, is raising the risk of outbreaks of diarrhea, respiratory tract infections and other diseases.
Hard pressed government workers, meanwhile, were burying thousands of bodies.
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in mass graves. More than 100 paratroopers of the US 82nd Airborne Division arrived boosting the U.S. military presence to several hundred on the ground. They said other
paratroopers and Marines would raise the U.S. presence to 8,000 troops in the coming days. Aid from other countries is coming daily to help in the rescue attempts as well.
The situation is still very serious, and now the fear is disease from all of the dead bodies.
But, imagine, there would be no help at all if all of these relief workers were not devoting their time, money and lives to help the people of Haiti. They have come from all over the world with a heart for these people who are suffering. I believe they are all heroes, every one, because so many more would die without their help. Yes, they are all heroes and deserve our praise.
Helen L. Price
Excerpts from the Mail Tribune Newspaper)
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