One month on update
Oxfam's Ian Bray reports from Haiti, one month since the earthquake hit. (Recorded 12 Feb) Today's a day of mourning in Haiti. It's exactly one month since the catastrophic event, the earthquake, happened on the 12th of January. Nearly a quarter of a million people were killed in that event. It was supposed to be a cause to mourn, and many Haitians of course are mourning and pausing. But Haitians don't really pause all that much, for example our driver came into work today. His daughter is in the hospital with broken legs and also broken arms. He's lost his sister, his house is destroyed, yet he still turned up to work. The aid effort is also a month on. And it has moved mountains in that time, but it's still got more mountains to shift. 1.6 million people have been given food - an enormous logistical effort. Nearly a million people now have safe clean water, no mean achievement either. In one month here the aid effort is really gearing up, but it still has a lot to do. The big challenge is getting emergency shelter to people - plastic sheeting, tents, but mainly plastic sheeting. And also getting safe, clean sanitation to people - if they don't have sanitation, then public health can be at risk. People need to wash their hands of course. We're always told as children to wash our hands, and there are real reasons why you have to do that. It's very dangerous, especially when a lot of human waste is not being disposed of. And the race is on because it will be rainy season in 6 weeks time. Yesterday morning it rained just before dawn. It lasted only half an hour, but it showed what a tropical downpour can do. Today Oxfam has a team in one of the camps, it's repairing one of the toilet blocks that it put up. Just that short burst of rain had damaged part of that toilet block and they're now shoring up the sides, making sure it's safe. Oxfam have been setting up toilet blocks in more than 10 camps around Port-au-Prince, but it is a race against time - six weeks till the rains come. The aid effort has been remarkable in overcoming all the obstacles it has faced - destroyed infrastructure, offices destroyed, warehouses destroyed, and the UN losing 90 of its people. And there's a lot more to do. But thanks to the generous support of the public, and more importantly, the hard work and the resilience of the Haitian people, we are getting there. It's slow, it's painful, it's heartbreaking, and it still has a long way to go, but it's getting there. This is Ian Bray of Oxfam in Haiti. Thank you very much.
Oxfam's Ian Bray reports from Haiti, one month since the earthquake hit. (Recorded 12 Feb) Today's a day of mourning in Haiti. It's exactly one month since the catastrophic event, the earthquake, happened on the 12th of January. Nearly a quarter of a million people were killed in that event. It was supposed to be a cause to mourn, and many Haitians of course are mourning and pausing. But Haitians don't really pause all that much, for example our driver came into work today. His daughter is in the hospital with broken legs and also broken arms. He's lost his sister, his house is destroyed, yet he still turned up to work. The aid effort is also a month on. And it has moved mountains in that time, but it's still got more mountains to shift. 1.6 million people have been given food - an enormous logistical effort. Nearly a million people now have safe clean water, no mean achievement either. In one month here the aid effort is really gearing up, but it still has a lot to do. The big challenge is getting emergency shelter to people - plastic sheeting, tents, but mainly plastic sheeting. And also getting safe, clean sanitation to people - if they don't have sanitation, then public health can be at risk. People need to wash their hands of course. We're always told as children to wash our hands, and there are real reasons why you have to do that. It's very dangerous, especially when a lot of human waste is not being disposed of. And the race is on because it will be rainy season in 6 weeks time. Yesterday morning it rained just before dawn. It lasted only half an hour, but it showed what a tropical downpour can do. Today Oxfam has a team in one of the camps, it's repairing one of the toilet blocks that it put up. Just that short burst of rain had damaged part of that toilet block and they're now shoring up the sides, making sure it's safe. Oxfam have been setting up toilet blocks in more than 10 camps around Port-au-Prince, but it is a race against time - six weeks till the rains come. The aid effort has been remarkable in overcoming all the obstacles it has faced - destroyed infrastructure, offices destroyed, warehouses destroyed, and the UN losing 90 of its people. And there's a lot more to do. But thanks to the generous support of the public, and more importantly, the hard work and the resilience of the Haitian people, we are getting there. It's slow, it's painful, it's heartbreaking, and it still has a long way to go, but it's getting there. This is Ian Bray of Oxfam in Haiti. Thank you very much.
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