Page 16
jdortlanb (Observer
January 20, 2010
Haiti’s Aftershock
co n tin u ed ¿ ^ f r o m F ron t
and the lim itations o f the w orld's
g o v e rn m e n ts. E x p e c ta tio n s e x ­
ceeded w hat m oney, will and m ili­
tary m ight have been able to achieve
so far in the face o f unim aginable
calam ity.
R escue groups continue to work,
even though tim e is running out for
those buried by the quake. A M ex i­
can team created after that nation's
1985 earthquake rescued Ena Zizi,
69. She had survived a w eek buried
in the ru in so f the residence of Haiti's
R om an C atholic archbishop, w ho
died. O ther team s pul led tw o w om en
from a collapsed university bu ild ­
ing.
But m ost efforts are focused on
getting aid to survivors.
"We n e e d so m u c h . F o o d ,
clothes, we need everything. I don't
know w hose responsibility it is, but
they need to give us som ething
soon," said Sophia Eltime, a 29-year-
old m other o f tw o w ho has been
living under a bedsheet with seven
m em bers o f herextended family. She
said she had not eaten since Jan. 12.
It is not ju st H aitians questioning
why aid has been so slow for victim s
' ™ " y ^uu
ia u w u inio d c-± f uiooemaster at trie Port-Au-Prmce airport in Haiti for a flight to Orlando, Fla. i / / c c v a u u c c i
of one o f the w orst earthquakes in
were Americans, visa holders and Haitians with children or parents in the U.S.
history — an estim ated 200,000
dead, 250,000 injured and 1.5 million by Dr. Paul Farm er, the deputy U.N. ing D om inican Republic, o r left h o v ­
daily capacity from 30 Hights before U.S. aid efforts, although his boss.
hom eless. O fficials in France and envoy to Haiti. "O ur m edical d irec­ ering in the air. T he nonfunctioning the quake to 180 on T uesday.
P re sid e n t N ic o las S a rk o z y , d e ­
Brazil and aid groups such as D o c­ tor has estim ated that 20,000 people seaport and im passable roads c o m ­
"W ere doing ev erything in o u r fended the U.S. on T uesday, as did
tors W ithout B orders have co m ­ are dying each day w ho could be p licate e ffo rts to g et aid to the
p o w er to speed aid to Haiti as fast as the U nited N ations. U.N. spokes­
plained o f bottlenecks, skew ed p ri­ saved by surgery."
people.
hum anly possible," said G en. D o u ­ w om an Elisabeth Byrs credited the
orities and acrippling lack o f leader­
G o v e r n m e n ts h a v e p le d g e d
A id is being turned back from the glas Fraser, head o f U .S. S outhern U.S. w ith bringing in great am ounts
ship and coordination.
nearly $1 billion in aid, and th o u ­ single-runw ay airport, w here the Command.
o f aid and expertise, and said the
"Tens o f th o u san d s o f e a rth ­ sands o f tons o f food and m edical U.S. m ilitary has com e under c riti­
T he W orld Food Program said airport w ouldn't be w orking w ithout
quake v ictim s need em ergency su r­ supplies have been shipped. But cism for poorly p rioritizing flights,
m ore than 250,000 ready-to-eat food U.S. m ilitary help.
gical care n o w !" said a press release m uch rem ain s trap p ed in w are- although the U.S. A ir Force said
rations had been distributed in Haiti
U.S. defense officials acknow l­
from Partners in H ealth, co-founded houses, diverted to the neighbor- T uesday it had raised the facility's
by T uesday, only a fraction o f the 3 edged bottlenecks, but said they have
m illion people thought to be in d es­ been w orking aggressively to elim i­
perate need. T here have been a n ec ­ nate them. They note that many m ili­
dotal stories o f starvation am ong tary flights also carry aid, and W hite
the old and infirm , but apparently no House spokesman Tom my V ietor said
w idespread starvation — yet.
that by M onday, few er than a third o f
The W FP said it needs to deliver flights into Haiti were U.S. military.
100 million ready-to-eat rations in the
A bout 2,200 M arines established
next 30 days. Based on pledges from a beachhead w est o f Port-au-Prince
the U nited States, Italy and D enm ark, on T uesday to help speed aid d eliv­
it has 16 million in the pipeline.
ery, in addition to 9,000 already on
Truly making a difference in the lives of
So far, international re lie f efforts th e g ro u n d . L t. C m d r. W a lte r
Auto Accident victims and Injured Workers for 16 years.
have been unorganized, d isjointed M atthew s, a U.S. m ilitary spokes­
If you or someone you know has been in an accident,
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need o f such basics as food, w ater aid from the airport into Port-au-
and m edical care. D octors W ithout Prince and the nearby town o f Jacm el
B orders says urgently needed su r­ as fast as they can.
We are located on the
gical eq u ip m en t and drugs have
T he U .N. w as sending in rein ­
corner ofM LK and Russell
been tu rn ed aw ay five tim es, even forcem ents as w ell: T he Security
Street, on the second floor
though the agency received advance C ouncil voted T uesday to add 2,000
au thorization to land.
peacekeepers to the 7,000 already in
above the coffee shop.
"It's frustrating to see planes land­ H aiti, and 1,500 m ore police to the
ing, officials com ing in and m ilitary 2,100-strong international force.
planes co m in g in, carry in g m ilitary
"The floodgates for aid are start­
p e rs o n n e l a n d th e ir s u p p lie s ," ing to open," M atthew s said at the
M arie-N oelle R odrigue, the g ro u p ’s airport. "In the first few days, you're
W
Parking Ai ea
deputy o p eratio n s m anager, said lim ited by m anpow er, but w e’re start­
333 NE
from Paris. "W e see there are p rio ri­ ing to bring people in."
Riixsell
«00
ties being given but don't u n d er­
T he W FP's A lain Jaffre said the
stand on w hat grounds."
U .N. organization was starting to
F
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Russell St
find its stride after distribution prob­
A
lain
Jo
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w
ent
as
far
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­
lem s, and hoped to help 100,000
s
m anding a U .N. investigation into people by W ednesday.
Chiropractic Auto Injury Clinic, PC
Zchon R. Jones, DC
333 NE Russell St., #200, Portland, OR. 97212
(503) 284-7838