Because I was able to bring back lots of donated diapers this time when I came back to Haiti, I have been visiting Pinchinat a lot lately. Been talking to a lot of moms. Kissing a lot of babies. Beginning to realize HOW MANY babies we're talking about.
Conditions at Pinchinat are not very good these days. When I go during the day, there are a lot of moms and babies-- usually who I talk to, and really, who I am there to talk to. When I come later in the afternoon, or the evening, it's not the same dynamic. (I do not go after dark.) There are A LOT of men there. A LOT. This is encouraging in one sense because maybe that means the men are working? I am not sure. But it makes me really nervous. I've read many articles about the high occurrences of rape in these post-quake camps. The way I am treated and spoken to in the camp when I go in the late afternoons often leads me to believe the stories are not an exaggeration. The downside of being a blanc who speaks Kreyol is that you understand what people are saying when they think you do not understand. Needless to say, I like to go earlier in the day.
The biggest concern I hear OVER and OVER and OVER is that the tents are really, REALLY hot. It's starting to get really hot in Haiti these days. These heavy, dark green canvas tents have no ventilation. There are no windows. They are so closely placed to one another that the "alley" between them is practically impassable because of the ropes. There's no space to catch a breeze. It's just HOT. Many mamas are telling me that it's too hot for their children to sleep in the tent and it's making them sick. I've seen babies with heat rash all over them. Mamas will pull their babies out of the tent to greet me when I come and they will be all hot and sweaty, as if feverish. But it's just from being in the tent. There's been a new sense of frustration about this and I am asked for tents every time I come so that they can go somewhere else where they can be cooler... I have none to give. I honestly don't know who does. And this is only April. May, June, July, August, and September are still coming.
And then there's the mud...
Still, I think the camp seems like it has less people in it these days. I could be mistaken. I think this could be attributed to many different things.
- I think some people are finding tents and moving to other locations. I drove by a tent city that I had no idea even existed the other day when I was driving our security guard home. I actually had no idea he lived in a tent. (I am a stellar employer, don't you think?) He sleeps in a tent every night because the house he has is damaged. So he still keeps stuff in it, but he's afraid it will fall on him in his sleep. I tell his story because I think his story is the situation that many people are facing. I think some people have just returned to houses that are damaged because the conditions are so bad in the camps.
- I am starting to see some houses repaired. I've seen some temporary structures (wooden frames with tarps nailed on) constructed on the cleared slabs of former houses.
- And I have heard that there are some homes being rebuilt. I haven't seen a lot of that, but I have seen isolated cases and I believe it's happening.
