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Haiti - Still Starving 23 Days Later
You can walk down many of the streets of Port au Prince and see absolutely no evidence that the world community has helped Haiti.
Twenty-three days after the earthquake jolted Haiti and killed over 200,000 people, as many as a million people have still not received any international food assistance.
On February 4, the UN World Food Program reported they had given at least some food, mostly 55 pound bags of rice, to over a million people. The UN acknowledges that it still needs to reach another one million people. The 55 pounds of rice are expected to provide a two week food ration for a family. Beans and cooking oil are scheduled to come later.
The Associated Press reported that people in Haiti at small protests were holding up banners reading “Help us, we’re starving.” Over a million people are displaced. About 10,000 families are in tents, the rest are living under sheets, blankets and tarps.
One of the people living under a sheet is a brand new mother with her one-day-old baby. The New York Times reports that Rosalie Antoine, 33, and her one day old baby were living in a neighbor’s yard with puppies and chickens under a sheet in the Bel-Air neighborhood of Port au Prince.
Haiti and the United Nations estimate 250,000 children under the age of 7 are living in temporary housing. Most need vaccinations.
Flavia Cherry, of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action, this week witnessed a pregnant double amputee give birth on the ground in one of the tent camps without any medical assistance at all. “This poor mother had nothing, no milk, no clothing for the baby, nothing!”
Even people who can afford to purchase food are having a difficult time. A 55-pound bag of rice costs 40 percent more today than it did before the earthquake. Dr. Louise Ivers, a Partners in Health physician in Port au Prince, reports a 25 kg (55 pounds) bag of rice that sold for $30 US dollars (1,207 Haitian Gourdes) before the quake, now costs $42 US dollars (1,690 Haitian Gourdes).
The World Food Program reports prices are still rising and people outside the earthquake zone are having difficulty meeting their basic food needs.
Twenty-three days after the quake.
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28 Comments so far
Show AllI'm concerned that the US militay is engaging in a policy of genocide by blocking the distribution of food, water and medical supplies.
Is this way off base?
Genocidal Policies conducted by western powers are more than just a notion.. these policies have been demonstrated time and again in the modern era, and appear to have one overiding consistency, namely, that the genocidee's are people of color.
Do you have *specific* evidence that "Genocidal Policies" are currently being conducted in Haiti via the presence of US military? Else your post sounds like idle self indulgence. Thanks in advance.
It's all part of The Plan. Those at the highest levels of money, inside and outside of our own government, know damn well that the number of people on this earth has to be reduced or limited in some way. Each event that kills off the "inferiors" ... the poor and most often not of the color white ... is GOOD!
Humanitarian aid has been cut off from the Sudan/Darfur because UN and other aid workers were killed. Currently 4 1/2 million people are slowly starving to death. I cry at night for the desperation of the mothers and their babies and children. Think about that and all the other issues that we write and comment about.
Gazan Palestinians ... with humanitarian aid/food cut off and with that steel wall being sunk into the ground 60 feet between Gazan and Egyptian borders to prevent "smuggling" of food and medicine and all that, and the wall being paid for in part by the U.S. of A. in its strange love affair with the Zionist leadership, who never, ever do any wrong, ...
Well, if you can't eat, you are going to die sooner or later. Just part of POLICY OBJECTIVES.
Is this rocket science to figure out what is happening? And all over the world this is happening, but the U.S. of A. needs more drone bombers and military and etcetera, and Israel is stepping up more bull-dozing of farms and homes in Gaza.
The world watches or ignores ... or writes about it ...
The point is THIS IS WRONG. THERE IS SUCH A THING AS RIGHT BEHAVIOR.
So ... now, how do we move the mountain of apathy, ignorance, go-alongism, and etcetera and overwhelm the EVIL that is being perpetrated in all of our names each and everyday by men ... primarily ... whose mindsets are to KILL IT IF IT MOVES ... and who are in service to those they may not even know who move the pieces on chessboards and Monopoly boards to acquire or secure actual or anticipated holdings with less of those needy, pesky people around? ... Let 'em die. Too bad.
Every creative faculty, every bit of intelligence of each of us must be brought to bear on these questions, instead of accepting that this is the way it is and will be.
And I'm not attacking anyone here. It is something I agonize about all the time. How do we get out from under this yoke that is getting heavier and heavier and is relentlessly crushing the lives of ordinary people, including those of us in the U.S.
Iran is on the list now and so is Venezuela and Bolivia and others. Disruption, destruction, chaos ... Ah, another chunk of human beings killed ...
Reminds me of Richard Cheney going "hunting." 500 pheasants raised in a cage waiting for his highness to arrive. The birds who have never flown are released and, somewhat wobbly about it, discover their wings and FLYING. BANG! BANG! BANG! The pheasants drop from the air one by one. Retrievers go after them. Good Dog!
The dead pheasants are distributed to individuals and organizations that feed people. Commendable!
We are going under, and who lives and who dies, who thrives and who suffers are matters increasingly not of our choice.
So what are we going to do about this before it's too late? It's the only question that matters as far as I am concerned.
/cm
Sioux Rose
IOWA: All the crap about security while 23 days have passed? Either allowing the military to control protocols warrants priorities as rusty as a piece of equipment left out in the rain, or their incompetence is purposeful. It reminds me of New Orleans and the way guards prevented people from leaving the flooded city, while doing nothing to alleviate their hunger and fear. The vision of this ruined land is apocalyptic; and the fact that so many ARE donating money precisely so that these souls will not continue to go hungry and the aid is not getting through sure supports your contention. It would seem that the US leaders, bankers, military, and corporatists know no limit to the hell they seem intent upon creating for others, with or without what another poster put off as "God's" will. What human beings do in the form of helping one another when disasters strike is where our pale semblance of Divine possibility is inspired to emerge. That bright prospect is utterly NOT the case in this all too tragic instance. The world is watching as the US military bungles up yet another mission. Perhaps this is how humanity learns to disarm the warrior culture so that a caring culture might evolve in its place. That transition is sorely needed and overdue.
Where are these folks supposed to get money and with all the donations who is profiting?Is it all a big scam and Clinton and Bush just there for show?This is shit stuff and beyond belief.Tony
Why has aid, that we know has been sent long since, not been received by those who need it? Is one major bottleneck the reportedly U.S.-controlled airport as we read early on in the aftermath of the disaster? No offense, but this article is unhelpful in its lack of detail.
And to point out an obvious small discrepancy in “This poor mother had nothing, no milk, no clothing for the baby, nothing!” - Er, a new mother HAS milk, hello? Clearly, she needs food herself in order to produce it, and some clean cloth for blankets and diapers would be in order, too.
Maybe we need another Facebook page to coordinate the relief effort (there should be a better way, though)? Assuming the UN and/or the U.S. is in charge of the stumbling relief effort, we're talking about a blindfolded knight in rusty armor and the U.S. military - both crippled by a U.S. political agenda.
"Er, a new mother HAS milk, hello?"
A starving new mother will not lactate. If lactation does not start it cannot be induced by feeding her.
How much of the donated money is actually getting to the people? One report stated that only one cent out of each dollar actually got to the people. How can that be changed? Who is watching? What is the best way to help? What precautions are in place to assure that children will be kept with family when possible?
Seems to me that it would be hard to distribute rice with one hand while holding a gun with the other hand. The troops should be disarmed when carrying out any humanitarian mission.
Check your facts. 1 cent is going to the Haitian Government. I'm fine with that seeing how the Haitian Government has long been known to be corrupt.
Besides those figures only relate to the money donated by the Federal Government whatever you donated to charity is another matter.
By the way, if you donate money its on you to make sure you're giving it to an institution that is respectable. If you don't bother to investigate what the charity plans to do with it then you ought not complain.
Why should troops be disarmed? The slums of Haiti are one of the most violent places on earth and now the situation is componded by mobs of starving people and it's well known that a mob is capable of violent acts. To demand that people must walk into the gang ridden slums of haiti with no protection is ludicrous.
American troops should not be there with guns or without.The UN should be in charge and training Haitians to do what police work there is.While relief supplies were waiting to land the US military had to get there first before any aid was given and 100 million?Bullshit is what I call it.Tony
The Homicide rate in Haiti is one of the lowest in the entire region. It 1/4 that of The Honduras, Jamiaca, half that of the Dominican Rebublic. It lower then El Salvador, Brazil and Columbia. It is lower then Puerto Rico, Panama and Paraguay.
How can you claim it one of the most violent places on Earth?
First of i suggest you read what i post next time before you make comments.
I was speaking about the slums of Haiti..."The slums of Haiti are one of the most violent places on earth."
Cite Soleil is widely regared as being the most dangerous place in the western hemisphere. The UN rates the crime rate of Haiti as critical. The slums of haiti are in most respects outside the law. Crimes are not reported b/c the police don't even enter the area. It took a 8,000 UN Peacekeepers 3 months just to allow the Haitian police to enter Cite Soleil in '07. By the way, the Police would still only enter the slum under the protection of armored vehicles. If the Hatian police force demands armored transportation to enter the slums how can you demand that the US staff enter unarmed?
In any case murder and crime are not synonymous, the kidnapping rate in Haiti is among the highest in the world, there are daily reports of gun fire in the city of Port-au-Prince and the true homicide rate is significantly higher than reported due to the fact that Port-au-Prince is over 3 million in population yet has a police force of just 6000. Worst of all, the Haitian Ministry of Women has determined that half of all women in the slums have been the victim of sexual assault. That really isn't all that surprising seeing how it wasn't till 2005 that Haiti actually passed a law that made raping a women a crime! Amnesty In'l has said that most of the attacks are on girls under the age of 18.
yeah i say Haiti is one of the most violent places on earth...
Sioux Rose
STEEL: I suppose it never dawned on you that starving desperate persons might not have the luxury of being entirely "law"ful. What does law mean when humans are turned into virtual ferrel animals who must scavenge for their daily bread crumbs? What is it about the way elites have designed, enforced, and directed economic systems that leads so many to lives of misery? Until JUSTICE is served in its most basic form, how DARE you judge what desperate persons do to survive? From your cold STEEL ivory tower you can babble about statistics all day long. Your heart appears to be dead.
First off, there is a significant criminal agent present in the Haitian Slums. The need to protect the US staff from said kidnappers is self evident. While the gangs my be small in number they are never the less quite capable of causing great harm in an already critical situation.
With regard to the general population of Haiti, it isn't that my heart is not dead but i temper my heart with reality.
The people in the slums are the same as you or i and yes i have no doubt that most any person would, in the same situation, commit actions that aren't "entirely 'law'ful."
They need help, they must be helped, however, we must also look after the well being of the US staff. To demand that all US personel entering Haiti be disarmed is the demand of a person detached from reality.
There must be an organized effort to deliever supplies to the starving people and you are a fool if you think you can drive a truck load of food and supplies into the Slums and not be attacked. The Gangs, for starters, will seek to horde the goods for he who holds the food in Haiti right now holds all the power. Second the people themselves will seek to horde the food. It's human nature. People will rush the trucks and the first one's on sight will grab as much as they can carry and in this chaos people will be hurt and then the people who weren't able to get anything will try to take it from those who are carrying away the goods. People will fight and people will die.
The only way to organize the delivery of food and supplies is to have an armed presence. The very presence of US and Haitian military/police will bring order to what is now lawlessness. I don't want the US military in Haiti but the only way to expedite the aid is with the military. They are unriveled in logistics. Sadly some politics crept into the matter recently with the Gov. of Pennsylvania demanding a landing for PR matters. The Gov. called Washington had the military ordered to allow him to land. Fault for this incident belongs to the Administration in Washington not with the troops on the ground in Haiti.
I do not judge what desperate people do to survive i know that every person has a breaking point where the only thing that matter is the well being of themselves and direct family. You must realize that singing cumbia isn't going to do a damn thing.
The road is long, but there is an end to it. The people will emerge stronger as a result of their hardship. We can only respond to the acts of God...as best we can. The ways of the world do not change in the midst of hardship; Man survives in spite of himself. Who among us can say, that Life and the Good that may come of it is better than Death? Life is simply all that we know. Death, I believe opens a new dimension of Life.
Transition Analyst: "We can only respond to the acts of God...as best we can."
And so far the response by the U.S. of A. is lousy based on ulterior motives.
And I'm not so sure this particular Haitian earthquake is an "act of God" or whether it is part of the HAARP program and experimentations and targeting of areas.
Every damn time we drop bombs, especially the mega ones to test them, that is a cause of disruptions, vibrations, etcetera, that affect the inner earth and surface areas and atmosphere. HELLO, TSUNAMI ...
Humans may not survive this time if we keep up what we are doing, and billions of species will become extinct.
I agree with some of what you say, T.A. However, all of us here in this human incarnation are here for a reason at this particular time.
Now I happen to be passionate about LIFE. I also have no discomfort with the notion that there is a passage called DEATH. But while I'm here, it isn't enough to just say, well, Man [sic] survives in spite of himself. ... and maybe Death is better than Life and the Good [of just surviving].
"Life is simply all that we know." Is it? My experience has been that there are all kinds of deaths during a life lived and there are all kinds of resurrections also. And I happen to believe that "Death" is just another dimension before it's on to the next thing. And why I believe that is particular experiences I have had in my own life.
Oh, it's GOD's WILL. What a terrible thing to lay everything stupid and foolish and destructive we do on "God." We make choices. Going along with others' rotten choices is a choice.
ETERNITY is designed as one hellava' PLAYground. The Wheel keeps going round and round and we get on and we get off and we get on again, etcetera. Absolutely infinite varieties of experiences in this we call LIFE. You get as many chances as you need/want to experience experiences, and maybe then there's some timeout to experience Bliss. But Eternal Bliss? ... BORING! And "God" knows that. That's when new creations happen.
Big Universe ... Universes? Who can really get accurate counts within the INFINITE?
"The road is long ..." Blink of an eye, one human life ... "but there is an end to it." See above. Your "end" may be another or another's beginning ...
"The ways of the world do not change in the midst of hardship."
Oh, yes, they do, and yes, they can. ... CHOICES.
peace & love, and look forward to all the PLAYS and all the scenes and acts of the PLAYS that go on and on and on ... and the occasional chosen vacations in the State of BLISS.
/cm
cm;An infinite answer from an infinite Soul!"Occasional chosen vacations in the State of Bliss".Many mansions and you have named home.Tony
Yes, home feels good. But every one of us, when we grow feels the itch to leave home for a time and do something else and spread our wings to fly and grow some more, and then there's a pull to get home again, and it always feels so good when we open the door and cross the threshold. Ahhh ... Home.
Now, if I'm wrong about all this and there really are a very static one-dimensional heaven and hell, I would choose hell. We'd meet all the Quakers and Unitarians and Buddhists and such, and we'd start organizing peacefully and non-violently for cooler conditions, chanting AUMMMMMM or singing "Amazing Grace" and "We Shall Overcome."
;- )))
BUT ... my own knowings do feel like Truth. And I'll go with that. And maybe c'ya on vacation some time or other.
peace/cm
Ceemiracles
I respect the diligence in your thought, We should "watch as well as pray". I enjoyed reading your perspective.
Glad you so graciously accept another's perspective, T.A. Some one else might have gotten defensive.
Yes, let us "watch," and learn, and figure out, and decide and do something, and also, yes, let us "pray" and meditate, and let us also take an active and considered role in the "play," and not forget to laugh together when we can as we play the play.
... and maybe, just maybe with increasing awareness, and courage [and that's a toughie often], and doing what we can, that transformation of consciousness will happen and be enough for many of us to evolve to the higher consciousness that the Bible's Jerusalem symbolizes. Materially, Jerusalem is just another blood-soaked city through the ages with the usual human conflicts. And that is what I understand about the "Second Coming," that is, when we achieve that higher consciousness which the Great Ones have realized and demonstrated and taught in their time on earth.
We humans have such a hard time paying attention and not getting distracted with gew-gaws such as drone bombers and diamonds and being #1 to satisfy our egos and dispel the underlying fear that we are not enough.
And I plead guilty too, not for having to have those d&d desired items, but because I'm a human and need to keep learning until I go within again and find out IT'S ALL T/HERE, and there's nothing to fear so I don't have to attack someone else and get more than my share or more than what I basically need.
Ahhhh ... loving is better. It's so much more peaceful. And the Haitians would not be hungry now and they'd be smiling and dancing and singing and getting on with their lives, and we'd all feel better wherever we are.
peace to you, T.A., et al.
cm
Cee Miracles, Bravo, and I am always inspired by your messages. Thank you.
Ceemiracles
I respect the diligence in your thought, We should "watch as well as pray". I enjoyed reading your perspective.
This is horrendously unbelievable! Was all that "show of delivering aid" just a SHAM???
We're not really very good at providing aid to people in desperate need, are we? Yet we're in the process of producing hundreds of more drones to decrease the population of Afghanistan. It seems we're much better at killing people than rescuing them.
Sad!!! Sad!!! Sad!!!
FrankS...I agree. Also,have you noticed how a few celebrities have used the suffering to entertain on their TV shows. It seemed to me that the show 'The Doctors' exploited the suffering of the people. But maybe I am wrong.
Many others, I am sure, are motivated by genuine humanitarian concerns. Doctors Without Borders and others, such as Bill Quigley are real heroes.
Rosemarie, I haven't watched the show 'The Doctors," but I do believe that there are many generous doctors who will give of their time in cases of emergencies.
While he gave us Nafta, and outsourced our industrial base to China, The Clinton Circus was telling us how wonderfull it was.
Why should we trust that same Circus in Haiti? Is he looking out for Haitians or for himself? Do away with the Circus, there must tbe other responsible contractors and developers in this country who could take over the problems and settle the people in a more comfortable manner. What is Slick Willie's experince in this situation? The Clintons have been living in subsidized housing and feeding at the public trough ever since when..
Obomber should get of the Clinton Tit..
It is stunning, teh amount of corruption there-
I was digging around in the web this evening and found this headline-
Collapsed CARIBBEAN MARKET Sat On Huge Cache of COCAINE and DRUG MONEY. Owners Block Rescue Attempts. Many Died In Direct Result.
http://www.haitian-truth.org/
I looked a bit more into the site, and there is a TON of information there that you all will find a very interesting read.