Haiti Scenario Poses Challenges, Relief Organizations Say

There is a tremendous gap between the difficulty of the operation on the ground and the strong desire of the world for things to immediately improve in Haiti, Nan Buzard of the American Red Cross said at a Newsmaker Feb. 18.

Buzard said there is a need to look beyond the statistics of the relief operation. "We have all said this is off the charts," she said. "This is much harder than the tsunami, which is remarkable."

She also emphasized the importance of the Haitian people's involvement in the recovery.

Gordon Duguid of the Department of State denied any knowledge of a request from the Haitian government for a "prison ship" to house convicts. "I am not sure if we have a facility like a floating prison ship," he told the audience in reply to a question.

He noted that the goal of the U.S. government is to restore "self-sufficiency for Haiti in the aftermath of this disaster," with as much help as possible from the mainland.

Niurka Pineiro of the International Organization for Migration said the agency is working out of makeshift offices because its offices were razed by the earthquake.

Jennifer Parmelee of the United Nations World Food Program said it's important to provide shelter and help where residents live so they can continue generating a livelihood in familiar environs.

Jaspreet Singh of the United Sikhs, a U.N.-affiliated organization, said his agency is "the only NGO [non-governmental organization] providing hot food within days of the earthquake, with the only other hot food initially being provided by a camp set up by the government of the Dominican Republic."

Singh said noted that "there are many cases of children orphaned from families who have relatives here in the United States who are citizens willing to adopt; cases where parents are killed and grandparents wish to adopt grandchildren."

He added that the United Sikhs' legal team is involved in assisting these families at a Haitian family support center in conjunction with the Red Cross.