haiti part 2

“Who’s heading to Haiti? Who is on the ground now? I am heading down tomorrow morning.”

“Houston to Port Au Prince is doable I am now told, Delta, $850 one way… keep in mind- without the resources and backing of an organization, you are basically another body to feed, house and take care of. All images have to go out via satellite, Power is sketchy at best, more likely nonexistent. No food, no potable water, shelter or security- looting and violence is almost assured. You are another body, a drain on the recovery and aid system. If you have backup and backing of an organization- and someone who will take your pics, since its already getting flooded right now- partner up with others and go for it. All out there- be very very careful and best of luck."

“I’m seriously thinking about dropping everything and heading to Haiti as well. The NGOs are slammed right now; do you have any contacts?”

“If you can not hook up with a NGO, team up all together.”

“Yea, I’ve personally been making contact with a lot of NGO’s to hook up with them. Some apparently were getting calls all day and nearly hung up on me. Others were much more open to having me with them. I’m going to be headed down sooner or later. I may miss the first week due to some prior obligations. But I’m sure there is going to be plenty to cover in the coming weeks. My prayers go out to all the workers there already and the Haitian people. They’ve got one hell of a situation after another.”

“I think you need to prepare for anything and everything. A CNN journalist reported hearing gunfire on the streets last night. Another declaration I read was that an assistant doctor said that they ‘don’t have water. We don’t have anything. People are going to die of thirst’.”

This is just some of the chatter I’ve been following on one of the photo humanitarian/journalist on-line groups I belong to.

Yesterday I spent the better part of my afternoon on the phone with various NGOs trying to find a way to get to Haiti. I felt a strong pull to be there. I, like so many other photographers who have become involved in humanitarian work, felt strongly about doing more than making a cash contribution. I’d roll up my sleeves and do whatever is needed. It became apparent after my first couple of calls that without medical training or international disaster training, I would have to sit tight. (My Red Cross training is not international, and the work I did in New Orleans after Katrina was strictly manual labor.)

Speaking of New Orleans, it was fourteen months after Katrina that I was there, helping tear water and wind damaged houses down to their studs so that people could rebuild them. I think, even though I want to be in Haiti now, there will (unfortunately) be plenty of opportunities way down the road to pitch in. For now, I’m still waiting to hear from a couple of small groups who are trying to get there and I am making (as I hope you are) donations to various aid groups.