Hunger causes unrest during food distribution after earthquake in Haiti

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The hunger that many inhabitants of Camp Perrin have been suffering since the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that shook southern Haiti has generated tensions during the distribution of food carried out on Thursday by the World Food Program (WFP).

According to official estimates, the earthquake has killed nearly 2,200 people, injured more than 12,000, and left more than half a million people in need of urgent humanitarian aid.

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The logistics organized at the Fréres Unis school in this commune near Les Cayes got out of control due to the nervousness of people who wanted to access the premises at all costs to take rice, beans, and oil to feed their families.

As soon as they noticed the disorder, the police officers guarding the humanitarian operation, armed at all times, put on their bulletproof vests and helmets, a gesture that was enough to begin to calm things down and, with some patience, to get the people out of the schoolyard.

A few minutes later, the food distribution was resumed, which will be repeated this Friday and Saturday, to benefit about 3,000 people from 600 families affected by the earthquake, explained the WFP representative in the country, Pierre Honnorat.

If it is not enough, the delivery of humanitarian aid will be extended to meet the population’s needs in the area, where food was already delivered on Wednesday for 2,500 people affected by the earthquake.

In the moments of chaos that have led to stop the distribution of aid, among the crowd stood out a tiny older woman, dressed in white and wearing a little black hat, who advanced very slowly through the place, helped by a cane.

The 87-year-old woman, Izaelle Chine, made a Herculean effort to get there, accompanied by her son but left empty-handed. As she explained when she arrived to get the help, she was told that she was not included in the organization’s lists.

Caresise Sederne, on the other hand, has not had any inconvenience, in a few minutes, she had the food for the family, composed of eight members, who have barely found anything to eat since the earthquake, the woman said.

The WFP should have continued on its way to the city of Jérémie to deliver more aid for those affected in that city and surrounding towns, also badly hit by last Saturday’s earthquake. However, road conditions have forced them to suspend this journey.

TRANSFER AT LES CAYES AIRPORT

The food is already in Jérémie since a shipment left this morning from the airport of Les Cayes in a helicopter of the organization.

The aircraft was on the tarmac with several other flights, including a light aircraft that had been sent to Port-au-Prince to transport two women in serious condition due to crushing.

In addition, a U.S. Army helicopter, which is making return trips from Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), landed, carrying doctors from the humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse.

The aircraft pilot, Commander Mortimer, said upon landing that he does not know how bad the situation was before the disaster, “but there is a lot of damage to infrastructure, roads, there are reports of many injured. I see a lot of medics coming and going. Some isolated communities high up in the mountains have been badly affected.”

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), some 500,000 people, 40% of the total population of the Grand’Anse, Nippes, and Sud departments, need emergency humanitarian aid after being affected by the earthquake.

Civil Protection puts the provisional death toll at almost 2,200 and injured people at more than 9,000. However, these are provisional figures that will increase in the coming days once the data corresponding to municipalities that are still isolated are reported.

With respect to material damage, almost 61,000 houses have been destroyed and more than 76,000 damaged in the most affected areas, leaving thousands of people without shelter.