Haiti Recovers

Ten days after the earthquake, things are slowly beginning to get organized. Many Haitians will now be located in camps outside of the capitol where aid can be distributed in an orderly way (?). Food and water donations are still pouring in to Haiti. This is a photo of a semi trailer parked at the grocery store where I usually shop, helping make it easy for people to donate right at the store. There are similar trailers at most of the stores in town and also in the hospital parking lots for medical supply donations.

The Dominican Republic continues it's generous donations to Haiti, not only of water and medicines but also of fresh fruit and vegetables. Donated items of this past week include: 200 pounds of squash, 1200 lbs. carrots, 200 lbs potatoes, 4300 lbs rice, etc.

Since there is no more space in Port au Prince to store all the food donations that are arriving, the Dominican Aduana is donating several acres of land close to the border to create a "dry" port where the donations will be stored and will be closer for easier transport into Haiti.

Dominican soldiers will also be entering Haitian territory for the first time in the history of the country. The mission of these Dominican soldiers will be to secure the highway that links Santo Domingo to Port au Prince to keep it open and traffic moving. Several vehicles have already been assaulted at the border, the donations stolen and the car dismantled.

Hotels in Santo Domingo are full - some reporting 99% occupancy. Government officials from other countries, the press, rescuers, charitable organizations, and international aid groups are among those who have come to stay. The drive from Santo Domingo to Port au Prince is about 8 - 9 hours (approx.) depending on weather (slower during rain) and amount of traffic.

I mentioned earlier this week that many Haitians are entering into the Dominican Republic from the north. Estimates now indicate that about 2,700 Haitians are crossing the border every day, most illegally, by walking across the river Lago de Peligro. It is estimated that at this rate, in five months, there will be 3 million illegal Haitians in the DR (that is the same number of people in the Haitian capitol!).