Hope amid the ruins of Haiti – but another disaster looms

Born and bred in the South Yorkshire village of Armthorpe, the Oxfam worker had last visited Haiti in October 2008. Mired in poverty, the country was then plagued by gang violence and political unrest, but

when an earthquake struck last month, the already fragile society crumbled as quickly as the buildings.

Ian had heard Oxfam's Haitian headquarters had been reduced to rubble and been told one of his colleagues had been killed. Many more had lost family members, but when he arrived in the capital, Port-au-Prince, the true scale of the disaster became clear.

"It looks like it has been hit by an atom bomb," says Ian, speaking from the country which shares a Caribbean island with the Dominican Republic. "A beautiful place has been destroyed and that is so sad to see. There are 400 people still sleeping on one tennis court and everywhere you look, there are clusters of homeless families gathered in the smallest of spaces.

"The Haitians have showed incredible resilience in the camps, they have set up little kitchens and they have tried to find some order in the chaos. It's difficult, I saw one camp set up in the middle of a dual carriageway where everything is covered in a thick layer of dust.

"During the day time, many go back to what is left of their homes, still looking to save what few possessions they can, but at night they return to their makeshift shelters, which have been strung together with whatever they can find. When it gets dark, that's when the fear really sets in."

The Haitian's distrust of the night is understandable. When the ground began to rumble on January 12, it was just before 5pm and, as darkness fell, many spent hours searching in the pitch black for their friends

and family.

In the early days after the disaster, there were complaints aid wasn't getting to people fast enough. Roads in to the capital were almost impossible to negotiate and as grief turned to frustration, the threat of violence and looting grew.

Today, those early difficulties have been surmounted. Emergency relief has been given to those most in need, but a second and potentially greater crisis is looming.

In less than two months the rainy season will arrive and one severe hurricane could heap more misery on to the Haitian people.

"A lot of basic work has been done," says Ian. "Arrangements have been made to clear the rubbish which was piling up and most people have been given plastic sheeting and essentials like toothpaste and sanitary kits.

"On a golf course near to the capital we have managed to adapt the existing sprinkler system. Taps have been fitted and each day we are reaching more and more people. However, even in areas where there are toilets, they are being used by hundreds, if not thousands, of people and inevitably that has a knock-on for sanitation. When sewage gets in to the water system it's a catastrophe waiting to happen.

"We are clock watching. The rains are due to start soon and before they do we have to ensure that the basic utilities are in place. If they're not, the consequences don't bear thinking about."

The final death toll may never be fully known, but most recent

estimates put it at about 230,000. Still more could yet die from

disease, but even in the most grim of situations, there lies a glimmer of hope.

"It can sound trite, but there is a great sense of friendliness and willingness to make things happen," adds Ian.

"The infrastructure may have been buried in the rubble, but local community leaders have been exceptional. People are selling things on the street again and they are trying to get on with their lives.

"I visited one orphanage where teenagers, who have either lost their parents or whose families aren't able to look after them, are being paid by Oxfam to cut up plastic sheeting and ropes which are then packed up to give to those who lost their homes.

"These are people on the edge of society, but now for the first time they have a wage and, amid everything that's happened to them, they can

see a future."