Haiti needs urgent attention after ‘devastating’ earthquake, says Concern aid worker

The people of the Caribbean nation are barely hanging on, having suffered “one thing after the next” in the last decade, said a Haiti-based aid worker.

Makayla Palazzo, an aid-worker for Concern US, told The Irish Catholic that the people are in “shock and disbelief” after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake, which killed over 2,200 people, left 12,000 injured and over 650,000 people in need of humanitarian aid.

“It has had an absolutely devastating effect,” Ms Palazzo said. “Something that’s been really difficult, is that it’s been one thing after the next for the last decade. You begin to wonder how they are hanging on.”

The country needs aid “urgently”, she continued, saying Haiti was already struggling to recover from previous disasters.

Ms Palazzo listed off a string of disasters which have struck the country, beginning with the 2010 earthquake that killed over 200,000 people.

“People are still living in tents from that,” she continued. “Then in 2016, there was hurricane Matthew, people are still recovering from that. In 2019, the country was shut down due to gang violence.”

The pandemic had already left the country “reeling” economically, while gang violence is only increasing, Ms Palazzo added.

“A colleague said to me that the people are resilient, but at some point, you know, you’ve got to stop asking us to be resilient,” she said.

She urged people to support international and local aid organisations as they continue to provide humanitarian assistance on the ground.

Ms Palazzo explained that, while the death toll was not as high as in 2010, it is difficult to access the areas affected due to poor infrastructure and gangs.

“Roads on the way down were completely covered at several points, I went down three days after the earthquake, there were still debris and it took twice as long as normal,” she said.

“But we are still responding, providing normal humanitarian aid, giving people things for rebuilding and cash for what’s important.”