1/19/2010

Report from Petit Goave: No Aid getting Through

This is a list of facebook posts by Ed Lockett in Petit Goave, Haiti, which has been devastated by the earthquake. It was emailed to me. Because not everyone has access to facebook, I've reposted it here.

From: Joel Goldstein

These are the Facebook messages from Ed Lockett this morning. The situation
where he is in Petit Goave is deteriorating fast and growing more desperate.
Most recent messages from this morning are first:

Edwin J Lockett Jr Here's an article from the news I just found.
http://newsblaze.com/story/20100118171449zzzz.nb/topstory.html

Edwin J Lockett Jr The longer they wait to help, the harder it will be to
help... and the fewer there will be to help.

Edwin J Lockett Jr I am venting these feelings with the hope of sharing more of
the human element involved here. People here have felt abandoned for years. The
world goes by as they wait to die.

Edwin J Lockett Jr It is unnerving to hear so much noise in the night. All of
this in the pitch black. If not for the Lord, we would perish with fear. Danger
in the streets from gangs and thieves, danger by the water, the mountains
continually rumble, and danger IN YOUR HOME. Where? Where do you go?

Edwin J Lockett Jr The hungrier people get, however, the more they will start
doing anything they need to to survive. There is also an anger boiling that
nothing is being done here in this area. We hear of PAP and all the help there
while we whither away here. There is enough for everyone, but it is clogged up
in politics and poor planning in PAP.

Edwin J Lockett Jr The house is standing but we do not trust it yet. I'm also
very concerned that the longer we go without help, the more people will start
roaming in gangs and looking for food and things to take. Right now the
population is ready to, and will, kill any thieves that get caught. There is no
jail now. Several thieves have been killed in PAP and some in this area.

Edwin J Lockett Jr Imagine a world where taking a nap on your bed has the very
real possibility of killing you. Praying to live through each shower.

Edwin J Lockett Jr We have enough food for ourselves for a few more days. We're
not eating real healthy, just eating. I have yet to get my appetite back. The
kids are all pulling through. The Happy House is still standing with what
appears to be not too much damage. But the continual tremors make it a scary
place.

Edwin J Lockett Jr So where are, the Happy House folks at? We have been helping
a few hundred people by giving rice, beans and medicine. We have sent a
continual flow of money and food to several families, groups, and
neighborhoods. We had a bunch of rice and beans in the school for our feeding
program and have given all of that away.

Edwin J Lockett Jr Each night that goes by, sleeping in the streets, dealing
with tremors, running out of food, no help coming, all of this puts everything
closer to the edge of a population earthquake. There are more and more thieves
at night. Gunfire at night. Dogs everywhere bark all night long. The nights
here are not restful but keep getting noisier and more dangerous..

Edwin J Lockett Jr Eight days after the quake, helicopters pass over head but
do not touch down. No soldiers or police in the streets. People's nerves are
getting thinner because many feel we are not on the help map and we are just
waiting to die. The tremors keep everyone on edge and they feel if death
doesn't come by another earthquake, it will come by starvation.

Edwin J Lockett Jr Here is what is happening on the ground in Petit Goave. The
population, all of us, continue to sleep outside. Food supplies are going down.
Gas is at best very hard to find. When a little comes in, there are long lines
and fights at the gas station. Needless to say the price has gone up
considerably. We get NO news her...e of any kind of a schedule or of plans for
help to start arriving.

Edwin J Lockett Jr Tuesday 8:11 AM Still here. Still waiting. I am truly amazed
at the lack of communication and lack of coordination in this relief effort. We
have a UN base here in town but there is no activity coming out of there. No
police in the streets. A building full of rice was looted right up the street
from here yesterday.

1 comment:

Lisa said...

Thanks for posting this,all of this. I just finished The Road, and this has terrible shades of that apocalypse.