Girl getting washed in the gutter in Port au Prince camp across from the palace

We had our earthquake here in California and south across the border yesterday, and today a soft, light rain is falling. I wonder about the people in Haiti, the ones without any home now, and if it is raining on them. I know many are being relocated from the "camps" of tent cities - tents that were made of bedsheets and anything else they could find - to safer areas less likely to flood. But still the problem of adequate shelter remains. The photo is of a little girl who is living in a camp across the street from the National Palace being given her shower - in the open gutter with a bucket of water. Only 30% of Haitians had running water before the quake. Now it is anyone's guess as to how many have access to any plumbing at all.

In the University of Miami field hospital the floor was plywood, but the 200 cot sleeping tent where I stayed had straw over a dirt floor. And the portable toilets and makeshift showers were outside about 20-30 feet away. We counted ourselves lucky, at least we had a real tent and facilities, although the water from our storage tanks for the showers ran out every day, and that's when the pumps were working. I found I could shower using 3 small bottles of water if the showers were not working. In the 90 degree heat and stiffling tent I was ready and willing to improvise. I can not imagine how the people are surviving in the small tents in the camps.

I heard from one of the directors of an orphanage in Port au Prince I am working with who gave an account of some of the horrific conditions in the camps. He said

two weeks ago, an eight year old girl was raped while her mother went out looking for food to feed her. Another girl who is 15 also was raped inside her makeshift shelter. She cried out for help but no one came to her rescue.

The security in the camps is neglible and not only do violent crimes against children take place there, but so does trafficking. AUSJ continues to work with UNICEF to try to improve the safety of children in and out of the camps. We work to build community so that people will look out for each other as well as their own families. Your donations via our website www.ausj.org help us make Haiti safer for everyone.

written by Sandra Kirkpatrick, Executive Director, AUSJ