DAVID ADAMS reports…
More than three months on from a devastating earthquake in January, the world’s media have largely turned their attention away from Haiti. Yet, for those worst affected by the disaster, even as rebuilding begins, the fight for survival is far from over.
Philippa Youd, a British doctor who recently spent time in Haiti, says the tens of thousands of people remain living on the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding communities in “tent villages”.
Dr Philippa Youd (middle) in Haiti.
“Suffering has been part of the Haitians’ life for so long. Once again, they are back on their feet trying to make a living and holding their families together.”
– Dr Philippa Youd
“The village our hospital served had 6,000 people and 100 tents. The rest of the people are living under plastic sheets or curtains and the rainy season had already started…” she says, describing the city as “devastated”.
“It is worse than it appears on the news because the news only gives a snapshot. Flying over Port-au-Prince or driving through miles and miles of rubble and collapsed buildings is breathtaking.”
At least 220,000 people are believed to have died in the 12th January earthquake and hundreds of thousands more left homeless.
Speaking ahead of a conference of donor nations this week, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he believed the rebuilding of the country will require some $US11.5 billion in spending over the next 10 years.
Dr Youd, a consultant in gastroenterology and general internal medicine but whose background also includes work in accident and emergency and paediatrics, was working with a small Christian charity called Haiti Hospital Appeal. Based in Cap Haitien, they had almost completed a new maternity unit when the earthquake struck and meant the new unit instead became a spinal unit for treating and rehabilitating trauma victims.
Dr Youd spent a week working in the unit and a further week working at a hospital in Port-au-Prince. She says that while she wouldn’t describe relief efforts as chaotic, they were “far from organised”.
“The place is full of American aid workers digging wells, doing needs assessments, doctoring and much more,” she notes. “There are lots of temporary clinics and hospitals run by the Americans. Overseas volunteers are very appreciated by the local people, but working out how we can genuinely be of help and how the country can move forward is complex to say the least.”
Dr Youd says that while rebuilding seems an almost impossible challenge – hampered by a lack of resources, money and even space, thanks to the rubble – the people she met remained “positive, open and hardy”. “Suffering has been part of the Haitians’ life for so long,” she notes. “Once again, they are back on their feet trying to make a living and holding their families together.”
While Dr Youd spent much of her time practicing medicine, she says her role was also very much one of prayer and support.
“God asked me to care for the team I was with, the missionaries and staff I met, the patients, bereaved and the homeless. It was a much more complex task than being a doctor here in the UK where I am much less free to share my faith with the sick and suffering. That was an honor and blessing to do. Seeing people die unnecessarily or holding sobbing victims was heart-wrenching, so yes, it was a challenge, but I’m glad I did it.”
Dr Youd, who lives in London with her husband and their two young sons, says the lead up to her trip and her time in Haiti took her on a “bit of a personal journey with God” and describes how He blessed her hugely in “teaching me lessons in love, in understanding how to hold His hand and (how to) rely on Him”.
She says seeing Nadia – a woman who had lost everything in the earthquake: her baby, husbands, parents, siblings, home and the use of her legs – leading one of the wards in prayer and worship of God every evening was awe-inspiring.
“I also experienced wonderfully simple answers to prayer…” she says. “(God) taught me that I was there for the one person at a time in from of me, not to change the world or save a nation.”
Dr Youd says the Haitians desperately need more tents to get through the rainy season. “Drinking water is not plentiful and sanitation is due to get worse as the rainy season sets in, malnutrition worsens and diseases easily spread.”
She says while aid being received seems a “drop in the ocean”, it is making a difference but advises that people liaise with charities working on the ground before sending anything. Or, for that matter, heading over there.
“You may be able to offer tender loving care, prayer or support for Haitian workers; they appreciate all the love they can get at the moment,” Dr Youd notes, adding, for those who can’t go to help in Haiti itself: “Money through the appropriate channels and, of course, prayer can do wonders.”
