From: Alison Thompson
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 08:24:25 -0800
To: David Perez
Subject: Re: Southcom and WFP/USAID rejecting our aid of Food, meds and water
My days are filled with strike force medical teams going out with military and gunners into the streets of Port Au Prince, we usually treat 400 to 700 a patients a day then in camp we have a medical tent that treats around 500 a day .. in addition to that we do food drops to smaller starving contained sattelite areas with around less than 3000 families in camp.. Then we work on the vunerable patients in camp whose tents have been flagged, they are paraplegics and mothers with newborns and amputees etc who can’t leave their tent, we check up on them daily… Also arranging Haitians to clean up rubbish piles and clear creeks before the rainy season as Oscar and others are working on water with Oxfam .. Oxfam are here and building 150 latrines today and trying to clear rubbish, but our camp is a good example and army are doing great work .. But everywhere else none of this stuff is in place, this is just one small splash in the sea..everywhere else we see starving people and medical problems still in the initial stages.
This morning I met with 50 healthcare workers we have identified in our village to help with sanitation issues and to help mark tents for immobile patients so we can find them again each day to care for them.
It’s not improving in the sense that people are getting hungrier and more infected and short tempered in the hot sun and long food lines… For example our camp has swelled to 100,000 and only 65,000 food tokens are given out by CRF (who aren’t giving out any more tokens to encourage those extras moving here every day to move to other areas, as it is too big and dangerous to contain.. In the meantime there those other 30,000 who don’t get food or get to eat. Finding people every day who haven’t eaten in a week.. But what do we do? I can’t walk food in to a few people, it is too dangerous and a mob of thousands would mob me.. It sounds cruel, but CRF (Catholic Relief Services) are doing a great job distributing rice here in this camp, but as it grows we can’t handle those sweeping numbers, neither can their camp. I can only really type one blog every day to everyone as I’m swamped working and can’t be typing and emailing and my phone keeps dying. I’ll do each night and cc you on it as I have been doing.
I know they are reporting that it’s getting better, but the reality on the ground is always different .. Watch the third wave movie I sent you, did you get it??? The problems are the same, but on a larger scale and many more injuries and medical needs. New problems arise daily and sewage in the streets is disgusting. No electricity or sewage problems have been tackled, still dealing with initial medical food and water…lots of aftershocks .. No, not ready to come home, too much work ahead and can’t leave them while they are this desperate ... It’s hard typing this on my little iPhone, my fingers hurt. People not living indoors are out in the streets everywhere.. I’m not frightened to go into our refugee camp, as I know the people..and they are God-loving and beautiful .. It’s always that small mob of trouble makers that ruin it for everyone.. But in the palace war zone area near the University Hospital one needs security, the ARMY goes with us and we have hired local heavies with guns.. It happens sporadically that Sean [Penn] turned down one street yesterday and a mob came towards the car and then the driver hit reverse and they got out of a scary situation…..mostly people are good, but there have Been 450 mob-style executions in the Palace area and also Haitian police are hand tying the criminals who escaped from prisons and are executing them with a gun shot to their head, as they have no prisons to put them in…..quick short-term solution.
They are robbing us blind with general food and goods purchases, but bread is steady at 50 cents a roll and litre of milk is 2.50$ U.S.
But I feel safe walking around as medical and also with my faith in God. But driving with a truck, one needs ARMY or police on the back as a mob will stop your truck and loot goods..
Food is so expensive I bought basic items for one night meal and it was $180 bucks American …back home I could have gotten food for a week with that, but that was just for one day .. Petrol prices vary from $8 to $12 and up. There is a great shortage, so remote areas charge up to 26$ but here I’ve seen it for 12$
I can’t put all this on my tweets since Twitter only takes a few sentences.. Sean [Penn] leaves in a few days, but returns on 12th if you want to come back in with him from California.
Xx my fingers hurt from typing this, but I know you need it.
Alison,
Sent from my iPhone
[This post has been lightly edited by B.McDonald to help with clarity - special thanks to Alison for writing these tremendous posts during such a difficult time.]
