Haitians...Lost but not forgotten, outside of Port-au-Prince, seeking our help
Mass burials are upsetting the locals' voodoo religious beliefs
Cody Maggi
Issue date: 2/2/10 Section: News
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Starvation, dehydration, shelter, medical assistance and even the voodoo belief of zombies threatened life for Haitians prior to this catastrophic event.
Although the main concern for relief has been directed towards Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital city, there are many other places in desperate need of assistance as well. For example, Jacmel is a city of around 40,000 people located just south of Port-au-Prince in Haiti.
Not only have most of the houses been destroyed but there is no food, water, or electricity. What some people do not understand is that when reporters say that all buildings have been destroyed that means not only homes, but schools, hospitals, and also prisons.
Nego, a native Haitian who is an inside source living in the city of Jacmel said, "The prisoners are all out because the prison has been destroyed, can you imagine how the situation would be".
Although prisoners are not located in the city of Jacmel it still worries residents and volunteers. The survivors in Jacmel fear the world will forget about the prisoners in its rush to provide relief to the capital, Port-au-Prince.
According to Nego, " the road out of Port-au-Price was destroyed so all transportation is at a stand still." While aid is extremely slow to trickle into the population of refugees has doubled.
"Something like 80,000 homeless now, and Jacmel only had a population of 40,000," said Annie Nocenti, an instructor at the Ciné Institute, a school in Jacmel for future film makers, which suffered heavy damages. "The population is exploding. I don't know where they are coming from."
The dramatic increase of people, who have made there way into Jacmel in search for any sort of help or relief, has caused an even greater increase for the need of medical attention as well as food and fresh water.
Nocenti said they are running out of fresh water, and doctors in the makeshift hospitals have been performing surgeries without anesthetics.
The surge of hope that consumed earthquake survivors has disappeared now that they are dying from lack of treatment and supplies.
Aside from forgotten cities, Haitians face another shocking and unusual concern.
Many Haitians who practice the belief of voodoo are strongly objecting to the mass burials following the earth quake.
More than half of Haiti's 9 million people are believed to actually practice the religion of voodoo, in which they believe, "Dumping the dead in hurriedly excavated mass graves without proper rites is seen as desecration in a country where many believe in zombies- dead bodies brought back to life by supernatural forces who could persecute the living," said Joseph Delva, a writer for Reuters.
Haitian officials say that over 50,000 bodies have been dumped in mass graves outside the capital city Port-au-Price. Haitian officials have viewed this as the best and most efficient way to get rid of the rotting corpses, which is adding to the distress, pain, and sadness the people of Haiti are already facing.
Whether you focus your attention on the forgotten city of Jacmel, extreme suffering of the Haitians, or the issues involving mass burials; it is of the upmost importance to remember the earth quake and its victims weeks, months, and even years from now.
Although the media coverage will decrease, their need for money, water, food, and shelter will be ever lasting as the long process of rebuilding their cities begins.
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