Haiti's Earthquake leaves no one in charge

Destruction from the earthquake in haitiHaiti is not in good shape- we know this. Tens of thousands dead and more injured, government and residential buildings are being described as rubble, and aid facilities and hospitals in the communities hardest hit by the disaster are likewise- hard hit and in pieces on the ground. A big question right now is who is in charge of anything and when there will be someone to direct aid workers and those within the country about what to do?

Many of the citizens are getting fed up with what they see as the government’s slow response to the disaster, or lack of response altogether.

"Look at us. Who is helping us? Right now, nobody," said Jean Malesta, the 19-year-old student who was the sole survivor of her destroyed apartment building.

She is living in a make-shift tent village, like many others of the 9 million population in Haiti.

"So far, they have brought us nothing. We need water, food, shelter, everything, but we are on our own," she continued.

Rather than being an indictment against any one agency, it is a glaring reminder that Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. It didn’t have much to begin with, and now that the governmental buildings and U.N. buildings are all destroyed, it doesn’t even have the aid facilities, let alone the supplies, to take care of the people who are dealing with a gigantic crisis.

International aid is not having much of an effect, and while smaller aid groups from the U.S. are getting access with people and supplies through the neighboring Dominican Republic, there is not much infrastructure within Haiti to help.

"The problem is that unlike traditional disaster situations we have few local partners to work with, because most of them have had their buildings destroyed and are looking for their own dead and missing," said Margaret Aguirre, senior official with International Medical Corps.

There is, essentially, no one in charge.

…"The sad truth is that no one is in charge of Haiti today. This vacuum, coupled with the robust response from the Obama administration, has inevitably created a situation where the U.S. will be the de facto decision-maker in Haiti."

The President of Haiti is now technically homeless. "My palace collapsed. ... I can't live in the palace, I can't live in my own house," said President Rene Preval to CNN.  Instead of reacting to the crisis, most people are hunting for or counting the dead in their group. I can’t even imagine what that is like.

Inevitably, the lack of leadership and supervision is spawning looting. I mean, you have to get food for yourself. If you can’t buy it and there are no police stopping you, do you just take it? For some, sure. The bodies of the dead are piling up at hospitals and beginning to decompose, offering another health threat on their own.

"There is no one in our country capable of sorting this out. Everyone is looking after their own families. Only the world can come to our rescue," said shop owner Edner Baptiste.

That says it all. My heart goes out to them.

Photo Credit: United Nations Development Programme (via Flickr under CCL)