Haiti’s Homeless: Looking For A Place To Call Home

Two months on from the devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti's crowded capital, Port-au-Prince, and shelter remains the number one issue among those displaced, and among the aid agencies scrabbling to lend a hand. Over one million people are thought to have been displaced in the disaster.

Having shelter is about more than a roof over your head. Shelter provides privacy, and can offer a barrier against those who might commit abuses. It offers some level of protection against sexual violence. Without some form of shelter, assets that are needed to make a living are at risk of being stolen. And as the impending rainy season comes ever closer, the threat of disease outbreak is in the back of everyone's mind.

Amazingly, makeshift shelters are still going up across the overcrowded city. Some people are returning from rural areas, having found no way to earn a living beyond the capital. Others are moving from more dangerous locations, perhaps from the 'red zones' which were designated by the government as being at high risk of flooding or other threats. But speculation is that others are moving to displacement camps in the hope of receiving some of the aid that has been pouring into the country.

Whilst donors are giving money that is to be used only in support of the displaced, one has to ask if these people are any less deserving of assistance. Many of them were living in dire conditions before January's quake, with no job prospects. They are just as vulnerable as those who recently lost heir homes. Should they not also receive some of the assistance from abroad?

It's hard to tell what the real story is behind many of those who are settling the camps. But one thing is for sure, one has to be desperate to chose to move to a makeshift shack without access to toilets, without guaranteed water, and with nothing but cardboard boxes between you and the elements.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 10:45 and is filed under humanitarian, photography, photojournalism and tagged with disaster, displaced, earthquake, emergency, Haiti, home, homeless, humanitarian, need, photography, shelter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.