JANUARY 21, 2010

After the dramatic release of ‘Natalie’ and finally getting to bed at 4.30am, we were rudely awakened by what felt at first like a massive aftershock but turned out to be another earthquake in its own right – it measured 6.1 on the Richter scale. I’m proud to say I was the only person on the roof of the hotel who managed to get back to sleep after that, though not for long.

We wanted to find out whether the long-awaited American troops really were distributing food and if so where and how. Our driver, an off-duty policeman called Clark, had heard that the Petionville Club, near the American Embassy, had been turned into a feeding station for the refugees camped out in its grounds.

As the hungry came for their emergency rations, well-fed US army soldiers assigned to keep order watched from a safe distance.

Click image to enlarge (Chris Harris/The Times)

Other soldiers unload boxes of ‘humanitarian daily rations’.

Click image to enlarge (Chris Harris/The Times)

The world’s most powerful military can do anything, including throwing cases of bottled water down a hill.

Click image to enlarge (Chris Harris/The Times)

The Americans have been very anxious to ensure that their food aid is given out in an orderly fashion. They have taken their time, but today, at least for brief moments, the system seemed to be working.

Click image to enlarge (Chris Harris/The Times)

At other times, it didn’t. Queue-jumpers were hauled back into place by soldiers in soft hats. (The army has also been anxious not to seem to aggressive.)

Click image to enlarge (Chris Harris/The Times)

The head of one large family was determined to say grace, whatever the circumstances.

Click image to enlarge (Chris Harris/The Times)

Uncle Sam had wrapped the rations so well that sometimes the refugees for whom they were intended had great difficulty opening them.

Click image to enlarge (Chris Harris/The Times)

Eating them could be just as much of a challenge. A woman who gave her name as Petula persevered, and with any luck did not go hungry on the day we met her.

Click image to enlarge (Chris Harris/The Times)