Today is our final day in Haiti and plans are in place for our departure first thing tomorrow morning.

We have spent the last few days trying to establish the facts about the distribution of aid. 621st Contingency Support Wing from the United States set up the base at the airport and at first were co-ordinating one hundred and fifty landings of relief planes per day which was . They are responsible for unloading the aircraft and preparing the aid for distribution and their operation is as efficient as expected.

Two women walk through Port au Prince carrying sacks of rice.  After initial teething problems there is a steady supply of relief getting to survivors of the Haiti earthquake.  Click to enlarge  (Ben Gurr/The Times) 

The ‘node’ is their name for the holding area for incoming aid and their is stuff here ready for distribution but its a fraction of what has come in. Tons has already gone out. But where has it gone? On the streets and in the camps there is another story.

People queue for water at a make-shift camp (for Internally Displaced People) in Port au Prince.  Click to enlarge  (Ben Gurr/The Times) 

Some people are lucky and have been relocated to camps organised by the Haitian Government with neat lines of tents donated by foreign Governments such as the Turkish. Local committees have been set up to ensure fair distribution of food, water and other essentials to the occupants. These people are smiling making the best of their new living conditions.

A Government supported camp (for Internally Displaced People) in Port au Prince.  Click to enlarge  (Ben Gurr/The Times) 

But other areas are not so well off. At the big shanty town being built in the centre of Port au Prince people are left to fend for themselves, their shacks are built from whatever they’ve been able to find. Cotton or plastic sheeting, thin planks of wood, some have found some corrugated metal. Beans and rice are the staple food with dried fish added for flavour and these are cooked on charcoal fires. Some people have received rice and agencies distributing the aid are issuing coupons to regulate the service but gangs are still operating and people are being forced to part with their coupons. There are rumours that some aid is going on the open market. There are too few portable toilets so people use other means. The place is starting to smell. Piles of rotting food lie in the gutters home to thousands of flies.

A woman carries a child towards a make-shift camp (for Internally Displaced People) in Port au Prince.  Click to enlarge  (Ben Gurr/The Times)

In the hills over looking the sun drenched city the village of Croix des Prez has been mostly flattened. These people are living in apparent poverty which is stark contrast to how they used to. Before the earthquake they had solid houses with running water to wash in and electricity to power their televisions. They now have nothing. Families live in hastily constructed huts and the children play in the dirt. These Haitian people are very resilient. They’re not unhappy having had three weeks to get accustomed to their new situation but they too have received very little. A couple of Croixe Rouge (Red Cross) vehicles drive along the single lane track that winds through the village. They don’t stop.

Children at a make-shift camp in Port-au-Prince.  Click to enlarge  (Ben Gurr/The Times) 

Many live without a roof sufficient to keep dry when the rains come in March and hurricanes are expected from July. Many of the camps will be washed out, disease will spread and people will die. The Government of Haiti cannot do this work itself it desperately needs more international aid. When the stories fade from the newspapers Haitians will still be suffering. This is an opportunity for the world to help give Haiti a brighter future.

Government funded workers help clear rubble from the Canape Vert district of Port au Prince.  Click to enlarge  (Ben Gurr/The Times)