14 January 2010 -- Disaster Relief

"Man, I cannot write a book about this because people will just think I am bitter," are the words of Tim Schwartz after a day of driving a Search and Rescue Team around Port-au-Prince. We went to the US Embassy to help, since they had evacuated so many embassy personnel that they are now short-handed. We helped a Search and Rescue team from Fairfax Virginia drive around town. Tim's fluent Kreyol and knowledge of Port-au-Prince seemed to be the only thing that kept them on the right track, in the right place, and out of the traffic jams. In the afternoon, Tim's pickup truck was the only transportation they had. Embassy vehicles I saw were either sitting empty and waiting to go on some convoy, or sitting broken in the parking lot. The Fairfax team had sniffer dogs and we went to several collapsed buildings where high-profile people were trapped. For some reason we drove past the buildings where Haitian peasants would have been trapped. The dogs were not impressive and by the end of the day we had not found anyone, but the team did present themselves well for the media. At the end of the day, the back section of the Embassy compound was filled with groups of additional searchers and their equipment. They did not have vehicles available to go out and do anything, but they seemed to entertain themselves with stories of how well trained they were. The Haitians seem resigned to facing another disaster. Many have left the city and are living with relatives in the countryside. Once relief efforts actually start distributing aid, it will probably only attract crowds of people back to a city that is still lacking a full complement of services. The first thing I would provide is gasoline. The indigenous transportation network could provide services, if it only had fuel. I could go on and on, but you would just think I am bitter....